Cyberpunk discussion

I'm not a big fan of Altered Carbon but I understand its appeal. What do you think about the upcoming Netflix series?

https://www.netflix.com/title/80097140

I can’t wait for the series. I think it looks really good and has the potential to every bit as good as the book.

I think it's a good sign for the genre that they invested so much money in this series. There's a lot of interest in both the aesthetic and the concern with where all the new technology is going.

I agree. I love both the aesthetic and the prospect of the advanced technology. I find myself thinking I was born in the wrong century! Lol!

It's getting a hell of a lot of coverage and reviews are generally very favourable. So after the setbacks from GitS and the box office problems of Blade Runner 2049, it will hopefully renew interest in Cyberpunk.
I'm really looking forward to the series though. Kinnaman looks a bit too clean cut to play the Kovacs I have in my head, and I haven't seen him smoke in the trailer, but I'm still excited.

Re crai... The interesting thing about kovacs...is he is not supposed to look like who he is. After all, the character is of asian decent in a “Sleeve”
I get it that he’s a gritty merc vibe, not typical clean cut good guy tendencies...but I think one of the points, the author makes about being in a sleeve, is how unlike himself it feel when looking in mirror. So even Kovacs doesn’t picture himself to look that way. Which dives into some heavier cultural suggestions by the author.
So maybe the clean cut/ not matching up is something they wanted.
Hopefully the actor can relay the feel of the character, even though he’s in a clean cut sleeve.
Also curious, to see how they pull it off the general vibe of the book...because a lot of his vibe is conveyed in self reflection. To incorporate that “look” of going over bad memories in your head, how it makes you feel into live action. Where a book may take a few paragraphs to set up and describe the characters mood or thoughts...could be a 5 second close up on the actors expression.
Enough rambling...i hope it translates, because i liked the book.

I’m wildly excited! In fact, isn’t already on Netflix? Dates aren’t something I keep track of! I have high hopes because of the trailers but, as mentioned by John above, so much of these books appeal was the interior world of Kovacs. The gradual unfolding of his whole life throughout the course of all three books was an unexpectedly big part of why I loved them so much. And it made re-reading all three that much more satisfying. Has anyone read “Thirteen” by Morgan? That was also an incredible book!

I wonder how close to the book will the series be. I just started reading it, and am trying to figure out if I should watch the show or read the book first. If the show's by the book, maybe I will watch it now and then read the book so I can get the details.

Ok I binged watched the whole thing yesterday. I don’t want to give any spoilers if people don’t want them so I’m not real sure how to comment my thoughts on it. I will say I dig the show and will probably watch it again and again only because there isn’t much else like it out there...

Dave wrote: "Ok I binged watched the whole thing yesterday. I don’t want to give any spoilers if people don’t want them so I’m not real sure how to comment my thoughts on it. I will say I dig the show and will ..."

If you want, you could start a new topic in this folder called Altered Carbon - Netflix SPOILERS or something similar. Just put SPOILERS in the title somewhere so people will know.

I'm keeping all the media in one folder for now, if we get enough posts to separate out the books, movies, and TV, I'll do that later.

Tom wrote: "Dave wrote: "Ok I binged watched the whole thing yesterday. I don’t want to give any spoilers if people don’t want them so I’m not real sure how to comment my thoughts on it. I will say I dig the s..."

Great idea! I did just that and hope it sparks a real discussion... I need feedback :)

Dave wrote: "Great idea! I did just that and hope it sparks a real discussion... I need feedback :)"

I'm giving the book another try, in large part because I'm interested in the adaptation and how they compare. So it will be a while before I can give any feedback!

Just finished first episode!! I’m thrilled out of my mind! It’s following the book exactly!!! What a visual feast! I’m a bit taken aback, but it’s actually more lush and extravagant than my own quite fertile mental movie of the book!

The first episode was decent. I tried reading the first book and had a tough time. Some of the thematic ideas are good, but the plot and writing are so bad. It won’t be hard for the show to do better. As long as there are nice techno-futuristic cityscape views I’ll be happy lol.

Finished reading the book on second try. I guess I was just in a better frame of mind for it this time, so it was fun enough. There are a lot of very imaginative concepts being thrown at the page, that's for sure. The writer thought through many layers about this plot, maybe too many. But I appreciate the effort. Even secondary characters were used to explore the different possibilities presented by the central technology - sleeving. At times that made it harder to keep up with what is going on, but I still appreciate the effort.