366 pages
English language
Published Nov. 10, 2004 by Del Rey.
Welcome back to the brash, brutal new world of the twenty-fifth century: where global politics isn't just for planet Earth anymore; and where death is just a break in the action, thanks to the techno-miracle that can preserve human consciousness and download it into one new body after another. Cynical, quick-on-the-trigger Takeshi Kovacs, the ex-U.N. envoy turned private eye, has changed careers, and bodies, once more . . . trading sleuthing for soldiering as a warrior-for-hire, and helping a far-flung planet's government put down a bloody revolution.But when it comes to taking sides, the only one Kovacs is ever really on is his own. So 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 …
Welcome back to the brash, brutal new world of the twenty-fifth century: where global politics isn't just for planet Earth anymore; and where death is just a break in the action, thanks to the techno-miracle that can preserve human consciousness and download it into one new body after another. Cynical, quick-on-the-trigger Takeshi Kovacs, the ex-U.N. envoy turned private eye, has changed careers, and bodies, once more . . . trading sleuthing for soldiering as a warrior-for-hire, and helping a far-flung planet's government put down a bloody revolution.But when it comes to taking sides, the only one Kovacs is ever really on is his own. So 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 nanotechnolgy with a million ways to kill, and whatever surprises the highly advanced Martian race may have in store. But armed with his genetically engineered instincts, and his trusty twin Kalashnikovs, Takeshi is ready to take on anything--and let the devil take whoever's left behind.From the Trade Paperback edition.
This book further expands on the dynamics of the fictional universe where Kovacs was born into; the story moves away from the typical noir cyberpunk setting to embrace a different but nonetheless compelling scifi style.
Broken Angels is, ultimately, a good science fiction story hobbled by horrible characters and poor pacing. I nearly gave it three stars, but finally settled on two since despite the strong points, I was ultimately more annoyed than anything else.
Our protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs, is an insufferable, all-capable, unbelievably cynical cyberpunk stereotype. Of all the POV characters you could theoretically have to look into a world as peculiar as this, using one who has no empathy and practically no sense of wonder is a very uninspired choice. A 13-year-old me might have thought it cool and badass (ooh, look, twin Kalashnikovs), an older me just finds it juvenile and tiresome. The numerous minor characters made me suspect that the author may actually be incapable of writing anyone except tough-as-nails macho assholes. At least they had interesting names.
Broken Angels has a planetary war, a treasure hunt, alien mysteries, corporate espionage …
Broken Angels is, ultimately, a good science fiction story hobbled by horrible characters and poor pacing. I nearly gave it three stars, but finally settled on two since despite the strong points, I was ultimately more annoyed than anything else.
Our protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs, is an insufferable, all-capable, unbelievably cynical cyberpunk stereotype. Of all the POV characters you could theoretically have to look into a world as peculiar as this, using one who has no empathy and practically no sense of wonder is a very uninspired choice. A 13-year-old me might have thought it cool and badass (ooh, look, twin Kalashnikovs), an older me just finds it juvenile and tiresome. The numerous minor characters made me suspect that the author may actually be incapable of writing anyone except tough-as-nails macho assholes. At least they had interesting names.
Broken Angels has a planetary war, a treasure hunt, alien mysteries, corporate espionage and treachery; it's got all the building blocks of an excellent science fiction thriller, but somehow always manages to focus on exactly the wrong things. The story takes way too long to actually get going, and the journey to the Really Interesting Stuff (which, it has to be said, was interesting enough to keep me reading) has numerous speed bumps where stuff happens to nasty people I don't care about in the least. The morally strange area inhabited by the characters would have been interesting, if they hadn't all been bloody sociopaths.
I was kind of looking forward to Altered Carbon the TV series, but on reading this, I was reminded what a tiresome protagonist Kovacs was, and now I wonder whether I can stomach him on the small screen.
