Broken Angels

By: Richard K. Morgan

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

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.

Broken Angels is the second Takeshi Kovacs novel. Don't miss the first, Altered Carbon, or the third, Woken Furies.©2003 Richard K. Morgan (P)2005 Tantor Media, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A superior, satisfying cyberpunk noir adventure." (Publishers Weekly)
"A lively follow-up to an energetic debut, with a still refreshingly cynical hero." (Booklist)

Gritty, hard-boiled space action

The first in this series, Altered Carbon, was all the rage a few years back. It was a gritty, hard-boiled detective story set in the 25th century, complete with pithy first person narration by sardonic tough guy male protagonist. The universe is a little reminiscent of the one in the movie Blade Runner, with powerful corporations that run everything and crime syndicates and rebel groups in the shadows. The most notable technological feature of this reality is the ability to back human consciousness up on a "cortical stack" implant, allowing people to "resleeve" in a new body if the old one gets excessively damaged. The implications of this made for some interesting twists, both in terms of plot and human themes.

In this novel, a loose sequel to Altered Carbon, Takeshi Kovacs has put aside the detective work and is back to his former trade of soldiering. He's serving as a mercenary on behalf of a corporate power battling rebel fanatics on a planet whose civilian populace is receiving the brunt of the misery and suffering. He's feeling about ready to jump ship on his contract when a pilot points Kovacs to a xenoarchaeologist in a prison camp, who knows something about a gateway leading to an ancient, derelict alien starship -- the find of the century. Can he put together a team to stake legal claim?

As with many sequels to hot first novels, the dazzle factor of the author’s style and universe has worn off a little, and this reader notices the formula a little more. For those who liked the grit, hard-boiled cynicism, manga-like universe, over-the-top sex scenes, and action movie machismo of Altered Carbon, Broken Angels brings more of that, but the characters and plot are more familiar and forgettable. While the part surrounding the entering of the long-dead ghost ship, the high point of the book, has a cool eeriness similar to the opening of the movie Alien and its own horror to deliver about the fate of a superior civilization, the story leading up this point isn’t hugely riveting. Yes, the sequences about locating a corporate backer (without being screwed over by the same), recruiting a squad of soldiers from the colorful personalities found in a pile of discarded cortical stacks, battling nanobots, and discovering what became of a previous expedition to the alien ship, were a pleasant audio distraction while I was doing yard work, a lot of other science fiction novels could have done as much. The war going on in the background had potential to be interesting, but wasn’t fleshed out much -- I suspect it will come more into play in the next book.

All in all, this is a recommendation for those who loved Altered Carbon and want to go further into the Takeshi Kovacs universe, but other readers could probably take it or leave it. Audiobook reader Todd McLaren has a square-jawed voice that suits the hard-boiled nature of Morgan's prose well and keeps it from coming across as too self-serious, but his sultry-voiced women can be a little irritating. Particularly the "sassy black girl" voice.

Enjoyed this second one in the series alot, too!

Not quite as good as Altered Carbon but almost so. The element of surprise at the world Morgan created was missing, but I was happy with how it felt comfortable and familiar to return to Kovacs world. Cyber noir or cyber punk--whichever it is, I certainly had a fun listen here and wouldn't hesitate to get the third book in the series, "Woken Furies".

Broken angels

Not as good as the first book. The story is weaker but the narration is still solid.

AMAZEBALLS!!!

I dont write long reviews mainly bciz I dont like to read long reviews. I will just say that I've seen a lot of reviews on this book complaining that it is not like the first book and is just some military/war story. Not the case. True it is not the noir detective style that Altered Carbon hints to be, but it is certainly a "sci-fi intrigue tale" with as much character depth and poetic sort of writing. Basically, if you loved Alrered Carbon like I did you will be missing out terribly if you don't get this one! Takashi is his same deep introspective self and there's plenty of the same mythology and more in Broken Angels. So don't let anyone steer you away from this one thinking it won't be as good, in some ways it's even better if that's possible. I am dreading the next book however because I love this story line so much and I'm afraid that the rediculously poor audio and new narrator that doesnt even know enough about the trilogy to properly pronounce Takashi Kovacs and uses an echo effect on his voice for some unkown reason so I hope I can sit though it because after listening to Broken Angels I'm sure I love this story and it's excellent author. GET THIS BOOK!!! IT'S AMAZEBALLS!!!

SCI FI LOVE CONTINUED!

Great reading, story kinda losing steam, but still very worth it.

1st one was better.

I liked this book, although not as much as the first one. I guess I felt like so much more could have been done with the story.

Awesome Sci-Fi

Really enjoyed the second entry in the Takeshita Kovacs! I loved how it wasn’t just a rehash if book one but instead a completely different adventure in a sudden sub-genre.

Richard K Morgan is full of awesome ideas. Also really like how well he describes his world and how well the action scenes are conveyed.

However the sex is far to descriptive. I don’t need a hear all that. Especially in Todd McLaren’s low gruff voice.

Not quite the match of Altered Carbon

Overall decent, but not as strong a showing as with the prior book in the series. The tech introduced in this book is a bit on the fluffy end of the sci-fi spectrum, looking a bit too much like the techno-babble-driven future soldier action novels than the more thoughtful exploration of consequences in the first book. Entertaining enough, but a less impressive product.

falls short of the first.

I bought the second book in the series because the first book was excellent, but there is a dramatic drop off in the story quality in this one. The narration is excellent. They do an excellent job, but they're working with what they're given.

So much better than the show

Listening to this book is a reminder on how much material is always available for the TV shows. They could have gone in so many directions from the source material and now I am so ready to listen to the third book

- Sean D James