Takeshi Kovacs

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Takeshi Kovacs (pronounced "Ko-vach," Hungarian for "Smith", the same in Slovak though written as Kováč, which transliterates into Kovacs) is the prime character of the books Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, and Woken Furies by Richard Morgan, which take place several centuries in the future.

One of the primary plot devices for the series is the use of cortical stacks ("stacks") which record a person's memories and personality into a device implanted the spinal vertebrae. At death this device can be copied to a storage system, to a virtual reality environment, or implanted into a new body or "sleeve". Interstellar travel is most often accomplished by digitized human freight ("DHF") over needlecast transmission. There is a vast business of building and supplying custom, genetically engineered sleeves for the open market. These include models specifically designed for combat, sports, specialized work environments, or just general use. Synthetic sleeves based on non-carbon chemistry are also available. The bodies of criminals are frequently used to house new personalities of paroled or released prisoners, often with drug habits or physical problems. Humans equipped with cortical stacks can be infected by special computer viruses.

As a result of dhf and re-sleeving technology, death has effectively been abolished. However, after a death an individual must be able to afford a new "sleeve" or end up taking what is available, or waiting an extended period of time for a replacement. Consequently, people have stopped saving for retirement as they instead save for a designer replacement body and for insurance policies that pay for a new sleeve in case of accidental death.

Certain religious organizations do not allow their members to be "re-sleeved" upon death (Catholics, the New Revelation sect). At the other end of the spectrum, members of so-called "renouncer" cults live entirely within virtual reality environments, having renounced physical bodies altogether.

Laws exist to prevent people from making illicit copies of stacks or inhabiting more than one sleeve at a time. The very rich and governments frequently ignore these laws when it suits them, though they generally keep it secret when they do so.

A number of planets have been colonized by humans, but the United Nations has established a Protectorate to ensure, by force if necessary, that the colonies remain dependent on Earth's authority.^[1]

Takeshi, or "Tak" as he is typically called, is an "Envoy" - a type of futuristic super-commando, trained to adapt quickly to new bodies and new environments. Envoys are used by the governing Protectorate as shock troops in planetary unrest situations. Envoy training is actually a form of conditioning that operates at subconscious levels. Envoys possess total recall and are able to discern subtle patterns within seemingly unrelated events. They are able to control their physiological and psychological responses at will.

Raised on the planet Harlan's World, Tak is a half Japanese/half Eastern European individual who was a teenage gang member before enlisting in the military. After leaving the Envoy Corp, Tak returned to the criminal life and became a mercenary, and was eventually imprisoned, his "stack" stored without a body for decades at a time as punishment before being paroled or hired out to work high-risk situations.

The primary aliens that exist in this universe are the "Martians", an extinct race of winged aliens that left spaceships, technology, and mummified remains on Mars and other planets (for example Sanction IV). They are called Martians because humans first found the remains of their civilization on Mars, but there is no indication that they originated on Mars (this is a politically charged subject for humans).^[2] All human colonies outside Earth's solar system were established by blindly sending colonization ships to planets that appeared on navigation charts found on Mars. The Martians were apparently at war with another alien race in the distant past. It is believed that all Martians died about half a million years ago, although some of their machines are still operational.

Harlan's World is run by the Harlan family and has a powerful crime syndicate (Yakuza) and underground revolutionary culture (Quellists). A Quellist uprising a few centuries ago led to a civil war referred to as the Unsettlement; parts of the planet are still uninhabitable as a result. Harlan's World is largely water covered and has a large number of Martian weapons platforms in orbit that fire on any flying object that is too massive or gains too much altitude. Thus sea-going ships and hovercraft are used abundantly on Harlan's World.^[3]

Weaponry used includes a large variety of bio-technology, plasma guns, lasers, projectile weapons and knives/swords. Virtual reality environments allow for some novel forms of physical and psychological torture.

[edit] References

1. ^ Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon, 2003, ISBN 978-0345457684
2. ^ Richard K. Morgan, Broken Angels, 2004, ISBN 978-0345457714
3. ^ Richard K. Morgan, Woken Furies, 2005, ISBN 978-0345479716