Broken Angels by Richard Morgan

[Anthony G Williams]

Richard Morgan is one of a current wave of British hard SF authors ("hard" in this sense meaning set in distant space-travelling futures with lots of advanced technology), some others being Alastair Reynolds, John Meaney, Neal Asher and (although a lot quirkier) Iain M Banks. Having said that, Morgan has more recently branched out into fantasy. Until now, the only book I had read by Morgan was his first, Altered Carbon, which won the 2003 Philip K. Dick Award for Best Novel. The sequel, Broken Angels, was published a year later.

I read Altered Carbon when it first emerged and was sufficiently impressed to keep it for another read sometime. I have yet to get around to that, but fortunately Broken Angels is set thirty years afterwards and, although it features the same principal character, Takeshi Kovacs, the plot is not related so they do not have to be read in order.

The time is the 26th century when humanity has spread to many star systems, thanks in part to the discovery of the remains of an ancient galactic civilisation, known as the Martians since their remains were first found there. Physical travel between the stars is limited to sublight speed, but communications are much faster through subspace. A person's consciousness can be digitally stored and sent via subspace to be implanted in another body grown for the purpose, known as a "sleeve". Consciousness can also be stored in small data nodes called "stacks" implanted in a body, which can be used to "resleeve" people who have died.

This civilisation is loosely monitored by a United Nations Protectorate which enforces its will be means of "Envoys", highly trained operatives. Kovacs is an ex-Envoy who, at the start of Broken Angels, is working for a feared mercenary organisation called the Wedge. Rumours of a dramatic discovery, in the form of a complete Martian starship, cause him to join a race to find and secure this enormous prize, in which all of his Envoy skills are needed just to secure his survival.

This is a complex novel, told by Kovacs in the first person. It portrays a brutal and cynical world of corporate power overriding any humanitarian concerns. It involves frequently shifting relationships, betrayal, explicit sex and a lot of violence, so those of a sensitive disposition had better avoid it. I found it took me a while to get into it, but I read the second half of this long book in one late-night sitting. A memorable tale, but not for the faint-hearted.

(An extract from my SFF blog)

[Connavar]

This is a good book but it would have been better if it wasnt Takeshi Kovacs series and was stand alone. It has nothing to with the other two books that deal with same issues,ideas and story. Felt like a so so military SF merc story and not the hardcore cyberpunk like thriller of the other two books. Altered Carbon was too good to read this novel just after it.

I wonder if RM fantasy has as vivid,awesome action scenes. Kovacs action scenes are more exciting than big budget Hollywood.

[Vertigo]

I really liked Morgan's Kovacs books, Conn, including this one, though I would agree it had a very different tone to the other two.

I've only read The Steal Remains from his fantasy work (actually I only read half of it). It certainly has great action scenes but it also has a gay warrior as the hero. Now I have no particular problem with gay characters in the books I read but Morgan drums on and on about his gay, status making it a major issue which I was uncomfortable with and I realy really didn't like his very explicit gay sex scenes. In the end that put me off the book and I stopped reading.

[Gramm838]

Originally Posted by Vertigo

I really liked Morgan's Kovacs books, Conn, including this one, though I would agree it had a very different tone to the other two.

I've only read The Steal Remains from his fantasy work (actually I only read half of it). It certainly has great action scenes but it also has a gay warrior as the hero. Now I have no particular problem with gay characters in the books I read but Morgan drums on and on about his gay, status making it a major issue which I was uncomfortable with and I realy really didn't like his very explicit gay sex scenes. In the end that put me off the book and I stopped reading.

I completely agree about RM's 'The Steel Remains' - although I did read it to the end, his emphasis on the gayness of the lead character, and the explicit gay sex scenes, has put me off reading the follow-up books.

However - I thought Altered Carbon was one of the most exciting and impressive debut novels I had ever read, and I went on to devour the rest of the Kovacs' books with a great deal of enjoyment.

I don't know how many people have read 'Market Forces' but while it is filled with the RM-style violence, it just seemed to me to be a diatribe against capitalism in general - maybe some of his shares had bombed or something so he decided to unleash in print! It's interesting that he's not written anything similar since then.

[Ursa major]

I'm not sure, but I think Market Forces is less a diatribe against capitalism in general and more a vision of a dystopian future where amoral companies play a big rôle in maintaining that way of life.

Oddly enough, I was thinking about this topic just a few minutes ago, prompted by someone's comment that they wanted Apple's influence to decline and that this might happen now that Steve Jobs is no longer with us. I don't think that is necessarily true.

This prompted a memory of a panel at Eastercon 2012, Our new alien masters: The markets, where Charles Stross mentioned something that I found intriguing: that a company was a form of artificial intelligence; not because it was computerised, but because it had a legal existence and a purpose which were both implemented by its employees (including its board of directors).

When I do something, it can be for a variety of reasons, some personal, some because of my friends or neighbours, some because of the part (if any) I play in wider society. Not being a sociopath, my behaviour is not solely driven by my own needs, and I don't see it as my purpose in life to dominate others and disregard any and all of their feelings.

A public company, on the other hand, exists (we are told) to maximise shareholder value. Setting aside the thought that some companies become the plaything of their CEOs (who destroy shareholder value in order to preen their own egos), this makes the company a rather powerful sociopath. Yes, it's meant to obey the (letter of the) law, but still, its raison d'etre is self-centred and so could be considered sociopathic.

It may be this and associated aspects of capitalism that Morgan is attacking. I can't be more precise, because I read Market Forces as far back as April 2010 and the details of the plot are now a little hazy.



(Just to put your mind at rest, I'm not a dangerous Marxist, and I own shares in publicly quoted countries with a relatively clear conscience.)

[Werthead]

Originally Posted by Gramm838

I completely agree about RM's 'The Steel Remains' - although I did read it to the end, his emphasis on the gayness of the lead character, and the explicit gay sex scenes, has put me off reading the follow-up books.

The Cold Commands does not really feature any gay sex scenes (though there are certainly heterosexual ones, and one brief lesbian one). It's also comprehensively a superior novel to The Steel Remains.

Also, Morgan's 'fantasy' trilogy is very much a work of far-future, ultra-high-tech SF. It's even set in the same universe as the Kovacs books, just thousands of years further down the line.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by Werthead

The Cold Commands does not really feature any gay sex scenes (though there are certainly heterosexual ones, and one brief lesbian one). It's also comprehensively a superior novel to The Steel Remains.

Also, Morgan's 'fantasy' trilogy is very much a work of far-future, ultra-high-tech SF. It's even set in the same universe as the Kovacs books, just thousands of years further down the line.

Are you kidding? How in the world is a fantasy setting in the far future of Kovacs universe? Is the stories set in virtual fantasy world. I thought Steel Remains was set in medieval fantasy world like many others.

[Werthead]

Spoiler-protected:

There's been a massive cataclysm at some point between the time of Kovacs and the time of the 'fantasy' books. Kovacs himself and several other 'sleeved' characters have somehow ascended into post-human superbeings, and the non-human races of the setting are actually aliens. The planet in the fantasy books is probably Earth but might also be Harlan's World. If it's Earth, then the Moon has been destroyed and now forms a ring around the planet.

[Gramm838]

Originally Posted by Werthead

The Cold Commands does not really feature any gay sex scenes (though there are certainly heterosexual ones, and one brief lesbian one). It's also comprehensively a superior novel to The Steel Remains.

Also, Morgan's 'fantasy' trilogy is very much a work of far-future, ultra-high-tech SF. It's even set in the same universe as the Kovacs books, just thousands of years further down the line.

Eh? What? Where did you get that conclusion from? Even the theory shown in the post above (spoiler protected) makes a few very large assumptions to come to the conclusion.

I feel a post on RM's blog asking for a least some clarification, is due!

I know it make a fantasy novel somewhat different to have any form of sex scene in it, but I'm not sure they actually add anything to a fantasy story...or maybe that's just me!

[Werthead]

Where did you get that conclusion from?

It's very low-key in The Steel Remains. It's much, much more overt in The Cold Commands:

Ringil has a conversation with Kovacs (now going by the name Takavach) at one point, and Kovacs talks about needlecasting between worlds and some of his Envoy colleagues, some of whom also seem to still be around as disembodied entities.

[zaltys13]

Although I wouldn't go as far as Werthead, I dont believe it has anything to do with the Takeshi Kovac's universe, it is quite obviously a far, far future novel set on planet earth. The Steel Remains hints at this, The Cold Commands makes it very explicit. A close reading reveals this , and I think the auther has admitted as much himself.

Black Man (or 13, in the USA) can be read as a prequel to Altered Carbon if you so wish and the auther has said this as well.

As (an admitedly poor) comparison, the same is true of Terry Brook's Sword of Shannara.

[Werthead]

I dont believe it has anything to do with the Takeshi Kovac's universe

Belief doesn't really have anything to do with it. This isn't some fan theory, it's a pretty blatant - and, certainly after The Cold Commands, irrefutable - part of the setting:

Ringil has a conversation was Takeshi Kovacs - or at least some posthuman entity with access to Kovacs's memories - in The Cold Commands, in which Kovacs references obliquely some of the events in the three Kovacs novels. That's a pretty big clue they're set in the same universe.

[zaltys13]

Originally Posted by Werthead

Belief doesn't really have anything to do with it. This isn't some fan theory, it's a pretty blatant - and, certainly after The Cold Commands, irrefutable - part of the setting:

Ringil has a conversation was Takeshi Kovacs - or at least some posthuman entity with access to Kovacs's memories - in The Cold Commands, in which Kovacs references obliquely some of the events in the three Kovacs novels. That's a pretty big clue they're set in the same universe.

Run the evidence past me again please...

[Werthead]

Fans discuss it here. Comments #9 and #41 particularly nail it. But basically:

The Sky Dweller Takavach - Takeshi Kovacs
He used to be a member of a group called the 'En Foi' (Envoys). He 'commanded angels in battle' (Broken Angels), and 'crossed the void as a song' (needlecasting) to bring down the old order.

Elsewhere there are references to what appears to be angelfire, Quell and the other Envoys as well.

[Gramm838]

Well, I've just started to re-read The Steel remains so lets see if I pick this issues this time, because I certainly didn't first time!