Altered Carbon

    I watched both seasons of Altered Carbon on Netflix a while back. As in, season one was one of the first shows I watched after we subscribed, and I watched season two shortly after it was released. Just recently, I found out that it was based on a book by the same name- Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. This is the first of a trilogy, but so far I've only read it. 

    First impression? It is different. The two works rhyme, they hit the same beats, yet the show is like a jazz version, adding riffing on the music written for the book. And that's a good thing since they correct most of the biggest issues in the novel. The author was a tad bit overenthusiastic when it comes to breasts. And broken noses don't sound like celery... I think...

    I'm having trouble wording this in a manner that doesn't sound disparaging. Altered Carbon has an amazing story. It manages to weave science fiction, intrigue, and action into a single compelling narrative. Characters have depth to them. Motivations are entirely human. The whole world feels inherently lived in. More over, it is the original work, so Richard Morgan is the one who created the story. 

    But the show's writers managed to take all of this and just turn it up that extra bit. They added the eighth note to every quarter beat, building a greater harmony with even more depth to it. What was a rich story became downright unnervingly complete. And to top it off, the actors and crew did a fantastic job of bringing it to life.

    After all of this raving, I feel obligated to at least explain what it's about. Altered Carbon lies at the intersection of a whodunit murder mystery and dystopian warning to mankind about the way humanity's darkness merges with technology. Takeshi Kovacs, whose name is an incredible blend of Japanese and Eastern European (with a canonical reason!), was a super soldier. And a criminal. And had skills that the rich desired - namely special training when it comes to observation. So when a suicide may be murder, he's recruited to track down the clues and be a hero.