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Altered Carbon Reread

Finished up rereading Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon for a third time. My opinion hasn’t changed much since my last read. Still a great noir opening, lots of great action, and an entertaining science fiction premise.

And of course Quellcrist Falconer’s philosophies hold:

The personal, as everyone’s so fucking fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power player, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry. The Machinery of Justice will not serve you here – it is slow and cold, and it is theirs, hardware and soft-… If you want justice, you will have to claw it from them. Make it personal. Do as much damage as you can. Get your message across. That way you stand a far better chance of being taken seriously next time. Of being considered dangerous.

After this time around though, I feel trimming the text by about 15 to 20% would have really tightened things up to no ill effect. All of the nemesis encounter stuff between Kovacs, Kadmin, and Kawahara could have been more tightly woven early into the novel.

Still highly recommended.

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