Imagine, for yourself, if death wasn't the end. If losing consciousness for that final time was not the end of your life.
That's what this book asks you to buy into for its narrative and I must say it's quite an enjoyable ride, for the most part, though some parts will be not for those of a sensitive nature...
The Nature of Consciousness
The protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs, is asked to undertake an investigate into a man who apparently committed suicide didn't in actual fact do it. It asks a whole manner of questions on the nature of existence and poses a future where death is only a sleeve away and crimes are punished by a range of "storage" penalties whereby the person goes "offline" and comes back after time served in a different sleeve. Of course there are those who can pay and have nearly any body or "sleeve" they want.
As usual, though, some people have used this to their advantage and, as a result, are into their third century of living and this is where the nature of consciousness comes into play. One can read this as a story and nothing more, but under the surface there are some very interesting questions raised on what is morally right when it comes to wearing another person's skin.
Some of the usual tropes exist here, in the form of people you think are good, turn out to be nasty and, unfortunately, the observant reader should be able to figure out who turns and who reveals early on enough so that when the plot unveils their true intent, it comes as no surprise.
Don't let that fool you into thinking I'm railing on it because it is certainly a good book or else I wouldn't have finished reading it this morning, as this review goes live. I have read worse, much worse than this.
Final Verdict
4 out of 5
To rate this any lower would be to cast an unfair glaze upon a well written and suitably placed plot and I can see why Netflix have produced two seasons of a TV show based on this novel. It is almost made to be consumed as a boxset this particular narrative so fans of alternate futures set in a dystopian, almost steampunk style universe would do well to invest in this.
It's available to buy now at Amazon and from all good book retailers!
===TLP===
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