Altered Carbon: Resleeved
dir. Jō Nakajima (Netflix, 2020)
This anime film has obvious potential to explore the Japanese side of Takeshi Kovacs’ heritage, but instead ignores every subtlety of both his characterisation and the Altered Carbon universe, preferring a chunky, gore-laced computer-game playthrough, fed beak-to-beak to John Wick–starved hatchlings.
Altered Carbon, Season 2
(Netflix, 2020)
Season 2 offers a stronger story, better integrated within an already well-realised cyberpunk dystopia. Beneath the action and intrigue, runs a thematic core whereby disparate characters parse love and existence in the context of eternity. Quality performances, with Chris Conner a standout.
Altered Carbon, Season 1
(Netflix, 2018)
The television series succeeds in capturing the slick, dystopian setting and jaded noir cyberpunk vibes of Richard Morgan’s novel. Beneath the SF layers, however, the plot is then twisted out of shape with the introduction of Kovacs’ sister as a major player.
Broken Angels
by Richard Morgan (Victor Gollancz, 2003); audiobook read by Todd McLaren (Tantor, 2015)
Reprising antihero Takeshi Kovacs, Morgan expands upon his racially diverse though otherwise cynical SF future beyond cyberpunk. More world-building than story, Broken Angels suffers from awkwardly explicit sex scenes and—in audiobook form—from jarring mispronunciations and McLaren’s faux-jaded characterisation of Kovacs.
Altered Carbon
by Richard Morgan (Gollancz, 2002)
Beyond the action/intrigue of its no-holds-barred cyberpunk murder mystery, Richard Morgan’s debut novel packs a hefty SF punch by immersing the reader in a cynical, comprehensively envisaged future of haves and have-nots; of memory storage, body downloads and associated abuses and liberties.