Woken Furies

By: Richard K. Morgan

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Richard K. Morgan has received widespread praise for his astounding 25th-century novels featuring Takeshi Kovacs, and has established a growing legion of fans. Mixing classic noir sensibilities with a searing futuristic vision of an age when death is nearly meaningless, Morgan returns to his saga of betrayal, mystery, and revenge, as Takeshi Kovacs, in one fatal moment, joins forces with a mysterious woman who may have the power to shatter Harlan's World forever.

Once a gang member, then a marine, then a galaxy-hopping Envoy trained to wreak slaughter and suppression across the stars, a bleeding, wounded Kovacs was chilling out in a New Hokkaido bar when some so-called holy men descended on a slim beauty with tangled, hyperwired hair. An act of quixotic chivalry later and Kovacs was in deep: mixed up with a woman with two names, many powers, and one explosive history.

In a world where the real and virtual are one and the same and the dead can come back to life, the damsel in distress may be none other than the infamous Quellcrist Falconer, the vaporized symbol of a freedom now gone from Harlan's World. Kovacs can deal with the madness of AI. He can do his part in a battle against biomachines gone wild, search for a three-centuries-old missing weapons system, and live with a blood feud with the yakuza, and even with the betrayal of people he once trusted. But when his relationship with "the" Falconer brings him an enemy specially designed to destroy him, he knows it's time to be afraid.

After all, the guy sent to kill him is himself: but younger, stronger, and straight out of hell.

Wild, provocative, and riveting, Woken Furies is a full-bore science fiction spectacular of the highest order from one of the most original and spellbinding storytellers at work today.

Woken Furies is the third Takeshi Kovacs novel, following Altered Carbon and Broken Angels.

©2005 Richard K. Morgan (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The author's eye for detail and feel for the atmosphere and nuances of SF noir result in a story packed with action and angst that will also appeal to general suspense readers." (Library Journal)
"Morgan's anxiously awaited third Takeshi Kovacs novel makes a terrific addition to an award-winning series....Highly recommended for followers of the series, cyberpunk devotees, and hard-boiled detective fans not averse to a little genre-bending." (Booklist)

a real slog

the way the narrator does flashbacks is really weird and somewhat unpleasant to listen to. the story was tepid and felt like it reached it's peak, quality wise, at the 8 hour mark the last 14 hours were a real slog. in hindsight, I would have enjoyed reading a wikipedia summary more. this trilogy ended with a whimper.

Builds to great finish

First a Con- the recording does begin with an echo effect that makes it very hard to understand what is going on. The echo is put to better use later on. The Pros- I listened to Broken Angels and enjoyed that greatly, but Woken Furies built on that. The narrator took a while to get used to but somewhere in the first few hours something clicked and from then on it was a great ride. Great book- overall great narration. This is a recording that will stay with me for a while.

2nd best in the series

This is the third in the Takeshi Kovacs series. It's almost as good as the first, Altered Carbon, and far, far better than the 2nd, Broken Angels. Some reviewers have complained that the story is hard to follow--and it certainly will be if you haven't read Altered Carbon. As an audiobook alone it might be daunting--there are sudden shifts of time and perspective, plus a lot of futuristic technology that is used casually but rarely explained. I leapfrogged between the audiobook and a hard copy.

But it's a great combination of philosophical musing and a bloody space opera. Highly recommended if you like dark Sci-Fi (but read Altered Carbon first.)

Recording not as bad as the reviews

I got this book even though the reviews said the recording was horrible. Its true that the epilogue and flashbacks have a terrible echoey sound, but the rest of the book is fine. The narriator does sound like Kurt Russell ala Snake Pliskin for much of the book though. I also found myself fast forwarding through a couple of the sex scenes, but I remember doing this with the previous books also. I'm still only giving this 3 stars because I thought the story was lacking. Definitely not his best.

Good story

The story was good, but the change in narrator from the first 2 book hurt.

Well written but disjointed

I really enjoy this series but as I finished this book I’m not sure what happened. Character development wasn’t up to par on this one either. But overall I’ll keep reading this series/author Just for his vision and style.

Worst voice acting

William Dufris is a total dick. But the story is phenomenal. I hope more books in the same world are written.

Not as good as book 1

narrator was not familiar with the series. mis- pronounces the main character's name throughout the entire book. He also used some reverb/echo hall effect for sequences that were not first person that made it hard to hear while driving. I had to rewind and turn up the volume several times which was annoying. story was better than second book, but not as good as first book.

Not the best in the series.

Maybe I'm just particular about the types of narration I enjoy, but this was not really one of them. The reason I listen to audio books is purely about time. The use of different voices by a narrator is useful to dicern between characters, however the addition of effects like reverb of static to simulate an environment is really unnecessary, and detracts from the experience. I read and listen to books to allow my own imagination to paint my interpretation of the authors story. if I want it painted for me I'll watch TV or go to the movies.

Fairly enjoyable Sci Fi

Was a pretty good book to listen to. I found it weird when the more "intimate" parts of the book were read as a women in a man's voice though. Something a bit off putting by that. If you loved the other 2 books that were written previously in this series you should definitely give this one a listen.