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Altered Carbon cover art

Altered Carbon

Written by: Richard K. Morgan
Narrated by: Todd McLaren
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Publisher's Summary

In the 25th century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person's consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve") making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched 180 light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats "existence" as something that can be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning.

©2003 Richard K. Morgan (P)2005 Tantor Media, Inc.

What the critics say

"This far-future hard-boiled detective story is a lovely virtual-reality romp." (Booklist)
"Fast-paced, densely textured, impressive....Morgan's 25th-century Earth is convincing, while the questions he poses about how much Self is tied to body chemistry and how the rich believe themselves above the law are especially timely." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Altered Carbon

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

recording is super bassy

the recording quality is rather poor. The mic used by the reader has bass boosted to trap house levels, frankly I wish producer knew about EQ.

it is so bassy that you have to blast the book super loud just to hear the words.

real shame because the story is good, and reader has a good voice.

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2 people found this helpful

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Wicked listen

To me I found the writing and dialogue a little weak compared to some of the other books I've been reading, but the world building and SciFi were top notch! I really enjoyed this one. Downloaded the next two books as soon as I finished this one. Hope to see more written in this setting.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

SCI-FI at its best!

This book has been made into a min-series, need I say more? This has taken Sci-Fi to a new level with its unique look at body sleeves and living forever.... #Audible1

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator doesn't know the main characters name

William Dufris pronounces Kovacs name wrong the whole book. Considering the emphasis Takeshi places on the ch sound at the end of his name in the earlier in the book it's a grating oversight by the narrator. They also distort the narrators voice during some scenes for some reason especially during flashbacks and it sounds like he's talking into a can. A shame since the book is great but the narration really ruined it for me.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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better than the Netflix series

He lives in a solid consistent universe, with the tech explained when it's relevant, in a way that isn't off-putting to the reader; hard to get that done right in this genre.

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    3 out of 5 stars

great book. trash audio quality.

story is great. audio is garbage. background noise. way to bassy. completely horrible listening experience.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

High octane action mixed with deep thought

Altered Carbon mixes the thrilling action/mystery genre with the thought provoking topic of never truly dying, and how people can act when they know the reaper is no longer knocking at their door. The book kept me interested all the way through, and the narrator performed excellently throughout the whole reading. Would definitely recommend.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, not a great performance

Great story, different from the show which has better suspense and intrigue in the writing. Voice acting is unfortunately very flat

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4 people found this helpful

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Enjoyable Light Read

Not a deeply moving, life altering read but I did not expect that. A very solid and fun sci fi read by someone with a voice for the character. Definitely different than the show but I never expect any book that was a basis for a show to be the same. Personally enjoyed it as a way to get outside my own head and world and travel somewhere else in my minds eye for a bit.

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Way better than the show!!!

Loved the show but this was 10x better much more backstory, and overall story line

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