Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23539 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-02
• Released on: 2004-03-02
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.com
Critics have compared Richard Morgan's first novel, Altered Carbon, to the classic hardboiled fiction of Raymond Chandler. The comparison doesn't accurately describe Morgan's second novel, Broken Angels. Morgan's prose never approaches Chandler's metaphoric excess, and Morgan's antihero, Takeshi Kovacs, doesn't wisecrack nearly as often as Chandler's hero, Philip Marlowe. Also, Kovacs's far-future universe is considerably darker than Marlowe's noir world. In Kovacs's universe, high-tech implants called "stacks" record memory and personality; this means soldiers can be sent to their deaths, have their stacks implanted in new bodies, and be sent to their deaths again, and again, and again. Generals needn't quibble about wasting lives in massacres or nuclear explosions. The slaughtered soldiers will soon be back in action--unless their stacks aren't recovered. Then their consciousness will go mad, isolated in an indestructible, inescapable virtual reality. The proper term for the Takeshi Kovacs novels isn't "hardboiled." It's "brutal."

The Martians disappeared long ago, but they left behind their star gates, which have allowed humanity to spread across the galaxy--and bring warfare to the stars. As Broken Angels opens, Takeshi Kovacs is a lieutenant in humankind's most feared mercenary company, but rumors of an astonishing archaelogical discovery inspire his desertion. Humans have never found a Martian starship until, perhaps, now. If the rumors are true, and the ruthless Kovacs can take possession of the unprecedented relic, he will make his fortune. But if he fails in his quest, he may find himself imprisoned in high-tech hell for eternity. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly
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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
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. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A great followup to Morgan's Altered Carbon debut!
I was eager to get around to reading Broken Angels immediately after finishing Altered Carbon. While it's hard to top an original, Broken Angels comes very close to successfully doing that.

Our anti-hero Takeshi Kovacs is back once again. This time resleeved as a warrior for hire on Sanction IV to help their government in putting down one of the bloodier revolutions in planet history. However, this doesn't mean that Kovacs can't still be bought for the right price as indicated in Altered Carbon with Bancroft and again in Broken Angels.

In Broken Angels, Kovacs joins a mercenary platoon known as Carrera's Wedge in the fight against the rebellion vs the Sanction IV government. After a particularly disastorous campaign against the rebels (led by Commander Kemp), a newly resleeved Kovacs is approached by a rogue Kempist pilot (Schneider) and a corporate fat cat (Matthias Hand) about possibly going on a treasure hunt for one of the biggest finds in humanity's history. A find that could turn the tide of the war itself in a Martian spaceship. All Kovacs needs now is a team to help him get through a interplanetary gate.

In typical noir fashion, Kovacs goes with Schneider and Hand to a "soul graveyard" where you can literally buy handfuls of cortical stacks fresh after being harvested from dead flesh. Armed with a handful of cortical stacks, Kovacs interrogates and questions then in a virtual reality before determining which are worthy to be resleeved as part of his treasure hunting team.

If only it were as easy as going straight to the treasure and recovering it. Alas that is not the case as Kovacs is in a race against time to find the gate which is located in a newly nuked city. The odds are stacked against Kovacs and his team as they begin a race against radiation poisoning, rival companies with nanotechnology robots located at the gate site, and whatever surprises the Martian race has left on their inactive warship.

Another enjoyable read from Morgan. I can only hope Woken Furies is as good as the first two books!

-Travis

Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan: A Review
I can still remember the first time I saw Blade Runner. At the time, I didn't have a single clue that the movie derived from a novel. I'll admit I was a novice with Philip Dick's work, and it was only after I'd read the credits at the beginning of my seventh time seeing Blade Runner did I realize my error.

As it was, because I hadn't read the book first, I took Blade Runner at face value. Watching Harrison Ford fall for an android and witnessing the one thing he was sent to slay, save him, and thus redeeming and arguing (at least to me), the desire to be allowed to "exist."

So, when I came across Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan, I felt those same shivers of joy and a strong wave of nostalgia crash into me. For those not familiar with Altered Carbon, let me just say that this novel sank in its hook and hung me out to dry. Left dangling and unable to free myself from its clutches, I read Altered Carbon in a matter of hours--not days, hours.

Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs was a man I wanted to give my entire being, but for only one night. I couldn't quite trust him, and that made me want to watch everything he did...

Which kept me reading. It was Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex, Morgan style. Cyberpunk with a mystery twist--as a lover of both genres, this was heaven on earth.

The story was fast paced and action packed. This cyberpunk/mystery hybrid fed all of my favorite genres' mouths with one thick serving of superb writing, sharp dialogue (eat your heart out Robert B. Parker) and a mystery with so many freakin' turns, my neck hurt from the whiplash.

And it was with a happiness and glee that I purchased, Broken Angels, the second Takeshi Kovacs title. This time, Morgan had transplanted Kovacs to a war in another part of the solar system. Kovacs is in a different sleeve (body) and is still up to his usual ways.

Sort of.

Like its predecessor, Broken Angels contains sharp dialogue, action sequences to die for and a charismatic lead character with sex appeal to subtle and potent it's a weapon in and of itself. Kovacs remains a man to watch--closely. He's untrustworthy and switches sides as he seems fit and it solely looking out for number one (in most cases). He's got his own moral code to which he follows rigidly. The fact that he has a code at all endures him to this reader.

I love a good mystery, and Morgan sets up a very good one in Broken Angels. I kept reading, and hoping with devoted longings the story would make good on the superb Martian artifact and Kovac's wiliness.

Unfortunately, without the on-going mystery noir element of Altered Carbon, Broken Angels falls a bit flat.Though the very mention of Kovacs was hook enough for me, the complete shift from Kovacs the hired private investigator to Kovacs the hired soldier shouldn't have been too difficult a transition, Morgan somehow loses the thread of the tale right around the middle of the book.

Alas, when the novel finally arrives at its climax, I'm a bit let down. The story transitions from its cyberpunk roots to a true/blue alien science fiction story, one straight out of Star Trek.

Don't get me wrong. I love Star Trek and consider myself a Trekkie at heart.

However, I wasn't reading Broken Angels for this reason, but for the cyberpunk/mystery twist. As I mentioned earlier, the mystery is there, but not the private investigator angle.

The ending probably should've ended about 25 pages before it actually did, but the ending was strong. Morgan could've cut those 25 pages and retained the ending.

Despite these misgivings, I enjoyed the novel. I recommend it as a solid read. The strength of Kovac's character and the detailed futuristic vision of sleeving and the well crafted worlds are Morgan's strengths.

Those strengths are more than enough to overcome the weakness of the storyline.

In fact, I've already purchased the next Kovacs' novel.

Reminiscent of Gibson's sprawl series.
Gideon's Fall: When You Dont Have a Prayer, Only a Miracle Will Do The second book in the Kovacs saga it is my favorite and arguably the best. The sleeve concept is explored to the fullest as well as the military bio tech. The story is lean and fast moving with tight dialogue and crisp story lines. Where Altered carbon left me wanting more and Woken furies tied up loose ends. Broken Angels seemed during the reading, limitless..... think of that