Altered Carbon
- 512
- Pages
- about 9 h
- Reading time
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About the book
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 - a person's consciousness can be easily downloaded into a new body, making death nearly obsolete. Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly brutal. Resleeved into a new body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco), Kovacs is thrown into a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that buys and sells human existence. As a warrior-for-hire, he is called to help a far-flung planet's government put down a bloody revolution. But when a rogue pilot and a sleazy corporate fat cat offer him a lucrative role in a treacherous treasure hunt, he's only too happy to go AWOL with a band of resurrected soldiers of fortune. All that stands between them and the ancient alien spacecraft they mean to salvage are a massacred city bathed in deadly radiation, unleashed nanotechnology with a million ways to kill, and whatever surprises the highly advanced Martian race may have in store.
Reading order · Takeshi Kovacs
Full order & progress →- Altered CarbonThis book
8.08.0 / 10 - Broken AngelsBroken Angels–Not ranked yet
- Woken FuriesWoken Furies–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.0 across 1,042 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 87% of the weight and the score stays at 8.0 — the Science fiction average of 7.8 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.7 | 60 | 6% |
| Hardcover | 8.0 | 982 | 94% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“My first transhumanist book, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. Good pacing and a few clever plot-twists kept me smiling, and I'll definitely read the sequels :)”
“One thing I'm struck by is how the female characters in this book are much more numerous, important, and striking than the men.”
Frequently asked
How long is Altered Carbon?
It has 512 pages — longer than 67% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Science fiction — and a score of 8.0, the closest to this book.
