Your take on Altered Carbon is a lot like mine. The best parts about that novel are the fascinating little ideas it tosses at you casually and then does nothing with. But the parts it wants to focus on, like the heist/revenge plot and the sex ("love"?) interest just do nothing for me. And are cyberpunk protagonists unlikable on purpose? Is that a feature?
I think a lot of it has to do with the noir/hardboiled roots of the genre and most people don't even bother trying to move past that. Which is too bad because, in theory, it's the coolest genre!
But I guess that's what leaves the door wide open for people like me to do something new.
I really enjoyed Altered Carbon. Struggled with the second in the series. Third much better, but not as good as the first. My takes.
Your take on Altered Carbon is a lot like mine. The best parts about that novel are the fascinating little ideas it tosses at you casually and then does nothing with. But the parts it wants to focus on, like the heist/revenge plot and the sex ("love"?) interest just do nothing for me. And are cyberpunk protagonists unlikable on purpose? Is that a feature?
I think a lot of it has to do with the noir/hardboiled roots of the genre and most people don't even bother trying to move past that. Which is too bad because, in theory, it's the coolest genre!
But I guess that's what leaves the door wide open for people like me to do something new.