Altered Carbon

[freshie]

I've actually picked up a fictional work for the first time while not on vacation in a long while.

Altered Carbon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345457684/qid=1076433803//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-5833047-1493722?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Richard Morgan draws inspiration from the Cyberpunk and 30's Noir Detectve novels. The Sci-Fi aspects of the novel are the strongest in the which the author details a future where peoples "personalties" are contained into a "cortical stack" which can be downloaded into new "sleeves" i.e. human bodies.

The book is best when describing the details of the sleeving and interstellar needlescasts and the politicial and social fallout there of. I'm hundred pages in and it's not been adding anything new to the noir genre.

[thelonecrouton]

I'm halfway through "Market Forces," his third, I believe.

Just reading the blurb cheapens you.

Morgan is not strong on original ideas, but is best approached as a zen-master pulp hack. He's much better than most, and he does have a few tricks up his sleeve.

No pun intended...

If Morgan doesn't do it for you, try Greg Egan. Hardcore, intelligent sci-fi. Stay clear if you're a homophobe though.

Failing that, if a Steve Aylett book doesn't have you ROFL'ing, you need a humour-gland transplant. :p

[freshie]

I finished "Altered Carbon", and found it a bit hard to follow. Most of the characters aren't fleshed out enough to give you a sense of who is who. Some interesting ideas. I've picked up his second, "Fallen Angels" but haven't started in on it yet.

I'll check out some of those other recomendations.