Broken Angels

February 9, 2004
Despite its slick formulaic structure, Morgan's SF–hardboiled hybrid, the sequel to the well-received Altered Carbon
, bursts with energy and intelligence. Protagonist Takeshi Kovacs is the product of a brutal future in which corporations and politicians fight for supremacy. Humanity has spread to the stars by deciphering charts left behind by the long-extinct Martians. Since people haven't discovered how the Martians surpassed the speed of light, however, they usually travel through space by broadcasting their digitalized personalities from one planet to another and having them installed in new bodies, a technique that gives virtual immortality to the most unscrupulous individuals. One such is Kovacs, a young sociopath whom the interstellar government transformed into a super warrior before he went freelance. Kovacs resembles a smarter and deadlier Mike Hammer; part of the pleasure is watching him not only use his skills and conditioning but also struggle past his limitations to develop empathy for other humans. The few people Kovacs gets close to are the team that accompanies him on an expedition to claim the ultimate Martian relic—a functioning FTL starship. Morgan is good at presenting Kovacs's mastery of high-tech weapons and other gadgets, as well as his reactions to disturbing alien artifacts. The mystery aspect of the story is also well handled, always hovering in the background of the violent action as Kovacs gathers clues. It all adds up to a superior, satisfying cyberpunk noir adventure. (Mar. 2)

Forecast:
Warner Bros. has picked up the movie option to
Altered Carbon . A six-city author tour, backed by blurbs from Peter Hamilton, Ken McLeod and Larry Niven, should help ensure sales at least equal to its predecessor's.

January 1, 2004
In the far future, UN Envoy and special operative Takeshi Kovacs travels to the planet Sanction V to crush a revolution. When he joins a secret team assigned to recover an archaeological find, he becomes involved in a deadly conspiracy that threatens the existence of the human race-and war seems an easy ride in comparison. Set in a grim future in which consciousness is transferable and death is a temporary state of being, Morgan's sequel to Altered Carbon combines sf noir with technothriller overtones to produce a first-rate action-adventure that belongs in most sf collections.

Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

February 1, 2004
Thirty years after the events of "Altered Carbon" [BKL F 15 03], Takeshi Kovacs is serving as a mercenary in a messy, Protectorate-sponsored war. Gambling on a long shot, he joins a covert team aiming to claim the most important archaeological find since the Martian star maps. Of course, there are complications, beginning with funding and extending to corporate betrayal, which make actually getting to the site rather difficult. When the team gets to it--a Martian ship poisonous with radioactive fallout from a city destroyed during the war--they have only one working beacon with which to stake the claim. Once aboard, they discover that an ancient battle between the Martians and some unknown enemy is still playing out in empty space. Kovacs gets the team out with some fast action, though, and they have only to explain what happened, which is more difficult than it sounds, because they have obtained an entirely new slant on Martian civilization. A lively follow-up to an energetic debut, with a still refreshingly cynical hero. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)