Rating: 
Summary: The best new SF writer in ages....
Review: I have now read Broken Angels and Morgan's first book Altered Carbon, and although most other reviewers seem to like AC better, I think the 2nd book is actually better. Altered Carbon was a brilliant book, but many of its concepts have already been done. It was the setting and character of Takeshi Kovacs that made it so outstanding. You should however go right out and read it if you have not yet done so.
With Broken Angels Morgan is moving into a different territory. There is still the "great mystery" that is the subject of just about any book of this type, but Morgan does a better job with the characters and plot. The one thing that I actually like that seems to upset other reviewers is that he does not always explain the 'cultural artifacts' that he inserts. I like how he references some idea, only to move on, leaving it for future exploration or your own imagination of how it ties into his world. In particular, I love the Quellist quotes that lay throughout both books. I'd love to see him write a "biography" of Quellcrist Falconer and hope its already planned. Given the big revelation at the end of the book, he certainly intends to continue with the Quellist involvement in the books.
Just as a possibility, by looking at the acknowlegements section of this book, it should be clear that he leans towards a feminist/evil government/evil corporation world view and it impinges upon his writing. I think in many ways he is trying to do for these subjects what Andrew Vachss has done for child abuse with his books, but he's not quite as good an author as Vachss.
Anyway, please go out and read both of these books. They deserve to be read as some of the better sci-fi with cyberpunk overtones that have been published in a while. I'd have to rate them as my most favorite books since Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmm ... Disappointing
Review: I read Altered Carbon, and found Morgan's style impressive. When I bought this book, I was hoping for more of the same. But I was disappointed in the end.
The only thing that is the same is the level of graphic violence - VERY high. This is not a story for the faint of heart.
I was simply not happy with this novel. Some of the suspenseful areas seemed overly contrived. There was a little excitement in the story, but nowhere near enough to keep me interested.
The biggest problem is that it seemed to be severely lacking in logic. I kept telling myself "you've GOT to be kidding - this is ridiculous - they can't keep doing this!"
Rating: 
Summary: A very good read.
Review: I was quite happy with Broken Angels when I read it (July 2003).. I've recommended Altered Carbon and Broken Angels to just about everyone I know and I've had wonderful feedback an thankyous for recommending Morgan.I'd urge anyone who likes really good rollercoaster ride SciFi to pickup both of Morgans books.
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Summary: A terrific futuristic outer space tale
Review: In the twenty-fifth century, three decades have passed since Laurens Bancroft hired Takeshi Kovacs to investigate the murder of Bancroft (see ALTERED CARBON). Now Takeshi has returned to his main profession, soldering. The Protectorate of Sanction IV hired a mercenary unit that Takeshi joined to destroy an inane uprising. Wounded in action, Takeshi recovers in an orbital hospital-while his consciousness is loaded into another bodily sleeve. He meets pilot Jan Schneider who informs Takeshi that the war interrupted her transporting of archaeologists on a Martian artifacts dig. She also says that she found a hyper gateway that is a shortcut to a distant outer space vector where she observed the find of the millennium, a Martian spaceship. Jan wants Takeshi to free the head archaeologist from the military prison so that when they find corporate backing, they can complete the mission and become wealthy without risking their lives. Jan's description is not quite as simple to execute so Takeshi does what he does best, killing others on the dangerous mission. Though the antihero protagonist spews too much galaxy weary angst about being a killing machine, BROKEN ANGELS is a terrific futuristic outer space tale because Richard Morgan widens the look at the disorganized mess of a small galaxy sector. The author cleverly adds depth to his universe via the war, the hyperspace discovery, and the finding of ancient artifacts throughout the galaxy from a race that no one knows anything about, but experts ponder away with claims of knowledge. Takeshi is a superb lead protagonist as he takes the audience on an action-packed ride accompanied by double crossing allies who will sell him out without blinking. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: It's not Altered Carbon, but it's still fantastic
Review: Last year I read Richard K. Morgan's first novel, Altered Carbon, and was blown away. Such smart, edge-of-your seat darkness is hard to come by. But it also meant that Morgan set a very high standard for himself in his debut. Broken Angels is a wonderful book and I recommend it. It's a page-turner, but I have to say it isn't as hard-hitting as Altered Carbon. Still, to say that it is not as good would be unfair because the two books can't be compared. Where Morgan's antihero, Takeshi Kovacs, was ex-special-ops-turned-private-eye-by-circumstance in the first book, this time he returns to his military roots as a mercenary fighting a planetary rebellion. The mystery novel is a genre that lends itself to the twist and turns that makes Altered Carbon great. Morgan (perhaps smartly) avoids comparison by choosing a much more subdued wartime setting for this adventure. One thing that remains constant is the darkness; you can't get more noir than this. While Morgan's consciousness-digitizing technology was cool and mind-bending in the first book, here it is dehumanizing and bleak. In one scene, Kovacs goes to a "souls market" where piles and piles of "stacks" (digitized personalities of real people) could be bought. Death is no longer the worst punishment possible; centuries of torture can be inflicted on your digital self. War and the attendant death have lost meaning. All this and the zero-sum power games played by governments, corporations, and guilds seem to contribute to Kovac's increasingly nihilist worldview. Another difference that I wasn't so thrilled about is that while Kovacs was cast as a beat-down mercenary and half-hearted criminal just trying to "get to the next screen" in the first book, here he ultimately finds himself in the middle of one of the most important events in human history. I was expecting more of the anonymous and reluctant protagonist, so I guess I was a little thrown off. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic book, and Richard K. Morgan is a great writer who I'm sure I'll pick up again. If you like Altered Carbon, you should definitely give this a shot. And is you haven't read Altered Carbon, what are you waiting for?
Rating:
Summary: Best new sf author in a decade . . .
Review: Morgan came out of nowhere in 2002 with _Altered Carbon_, the first novel about Takeshi Kovacs, overstressed, dangerously empathic diplomat/soldier trying to stay alive (more or less) four centuries into a future in which the mind lives in a bit of metal housed at the top of the spine and can be re-installed in any convenient "sleeve." This time out, a disgusted Kovacs is recruited by a deserter from the other side to set up an expedition to check out a major find left by the long-disappeared Martians -- who are the only reason humans are out in space to begin with. It's a quest tale, and a very good one, but the real pleasure, for me, is in the author's masterful portrayal and development of the characters. You don't necessarily have to like Kovacs, and you certainly wouldn't feel comfortable around him, but after two excellent novels, you would probably begin to understand him. There's some great quotable passages here, too, about the nature of war, and government, and loyalty, and the human situation in the universe. If _Broken Angels_ doesn't win the Hugo or the Nebula, or both, there is no justice. But, then, Kovacs knows that already.
Rating: 
Summary: Re-heated Gibson.
Review: Morgan is billed as a next-generation Gibson, but, to me, he came off more like a sci-fi Tom Clancy. The story is basically a video game plot with lots of unimaginative 'war porn' set on a colonial world as a group of mercenaries try to figure out abandoned Martain technology. The characterizations are also video game like; the main protagonist is especially strange, as he's a genetically-modified warrior who is apparently a sociopathic killer, but he spends the entire novel having existential and emotional crises.
If you like reading cliched descriptions of interstellar war, you'll like this, but you are probably better served playing Halo or Doom 3.
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Summary: I would say this book is as much space opera as hi-tech
Review: My love for sci-fi and space opera began during high school with the masters of that time and has grown over the years to include not only their works but the works of other excellent authors of this genre, such as Richard K. Morgan with this book and with "Altered Carbon", another great work. His books belong with:
"Stranger in a Strange Land", "Puppet Masters", "Foundation", "2001", "2010", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Ringworld", all the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" books, as well as books as new to the genre as "Advent of the Corps" and others.
Rating:
Summary: A strong new voice
Review: Some background: I have been reading SF (or whatever it's called these days) since the mid 1960s. I was an early fan of Phillip K. Dick (before Hollywood discovered him) and am also a fan of Neil Stephenson and others who explore future utopias/dystopias from a human perspective. Yes, these books are usually written from a relatively young male perspective, but let's face it, the women in this field that could create believable characters are mostly writing about faeries, vampires, dragons and Gaea. I've just spent a disappointing couple of hours with Laurell Hamilton, and wish I could wash my mind out with detergent. Feel free to cite the one or two exceptions when you flame me. They're mostly out of print right now. I stumbled upon Morgan's first book and have read both of them (Altered Carbon and Broken Angels) within the last week. They're really good on the things that count: First, the characterization is generally very good, although not excellent -- call it 2.75 dimensional. To those complaining about the inclusion of love interests and episodes, well, get over it. Most post pubescent humans have some kind of sexuality as part of their every day life and those that don't or don't have any interest in the subject are an unusual and small minority. Second, the plot line is multithreaded and well paced. Writing is generally skilful (although sometimes the descriptions of some events or things could use some more clarity). Third, the philosophical content and sketching out of future reality generally passes the laugh test (i.e. the society in which the books are set is not an improbable, absurd or ideological rendering of reality) and is interesting and thought provoking. Conclusion: Well worth buying, reading and re-reading. If this guy really is a new writer (and not writing under a pseudonym), I expect very good things from him in future novels.
Rating:
Summary: A very worthy second book
Review: The digitized world of Takeshi Kovacs continues in this very good second novel. Following Altered Carbon is not an easy task, but the author comes through nicely. Envoy trained and from a world surrounded by Martian death machines, Takeshi Kovacs is thrown into a search for a priceless Martian relic. Looking for mercenaries in a "stack" market where shovelfuls of minds are sold by the pail, and the grim business of nuking a city to cover a salvage job really push the boundaries of the Kovacs universe outward. I found a "darwinist" feel to the novel as multiple agencies fight for dominance during a bloody civil war. As a successor to Altered Carbon, Broken Angels twists how I feel about Takeshi, he is not simply a hard-boiled "detective" but a real product of his Quellist upbringing and Envoy military training. I greatly enjoyed the character development of this novel, especially the secondary characters that drive the plot. I can't wait for the next novel from this writer.
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