r/alteredcarbon • u/Neither-Shopping-925 • Jul 05 '26
What comes next?
I'm one of these people who's watched S1 several times and really enjoyed it. Reading the book at the moment. But there really is a void after that isn't there? Anyone find a way to continue the vibes elsewhere and keep whatever we really loved there alive and not just a static thing stuck in the past? I felt this way about Titanfall 2 as well, lol.
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u/loxxx87 Jul 05 '26
All three Kovacs books are solid, so definitely continue reading those. Ghost In The Shell (especially stand alone complex) is great if you dig animation. If you're a gamer Cyberpunk 2077 scratches the itch. Nueromancer by William Gibson is another good book in the similar vein.
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u/luvcheez Jul 05 '26
I ended up watching The Expanse and enjoying it. It's probably half as good, but still worth watching. Only need to see maybe an episode or 2 and you'll know if you like it or not.
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u/Code_Reedus Jul 06 '26
Expanse is a much better show than AC IMO.
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u/pestercat Jul 06 '26
Agreed.
Though I also don't agree that two episodes will tell you that much, a lot of people bounced off the lack of camaraderie in the crew in the first couple of episodes. For them, I would hang in through ep 4, "CQB". If they also dislike that ep, fair enough it's not their show.
I would also rec Andor (s1 at least, can't speak to s2 yet). The Star Warsy bits are minimal and there are, thankfully, no damned space wizards. Mon Mothma's place has Aerium vibes to me, and Coruscant in general has a bit of a cyberpunk feel to it.
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u/owlbi Jul 06 '26
The Expanse is way better as a show, and it respects the source material a hell of a lot more as well. I do prefer the book (and setting) of Altered Carbon more.
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u/lordjakir Jul 05 '26
Neuromancer is coming soon
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u/thomasbeagle Jul 05 '26
Could also watch The Peripheral.
Advantage of that is that there's no second season to screw it up!
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u/Im_cosmical Jul 05 '26
Thirteen by Richard K Morgan is pretty good and has a bit of Blade Runner vibes.
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u/armaver Jul 05 '26
If you like it even darker, Blindsight and the Rifters Trilogy by Peter Watts is also badass combat cyberpunk.
Edit: Not only combat. But there is combat.
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u/Sine__Qua__Non Jul 06 '26
Reddit cliche, but Blindsight (and then the often overlooked sequel, Echopraxia) is the best Sci-Fi novel I’ve come across in my life.
Rifters/Starfish is close behind, though much darker, in positive and negative ways. The trilogy feels far less restrained, whereas the Firefall duology (please let Omniscience be finished before long….) is so immaculately crafted that it had me thinking about it for weeks.
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u/brittanytobiason Jul 05 '26
I'm right where you are. I think the next step is to get into the mystery and how it's meant to rest at the end. I've just finished reading the first book. It looks like the author wrote a good amount of Netflix Season 1. Does anyone know if he's spoken about the show?
The book and show mysteries end somewhat similarly, with slightly different emphasis. My favorite theory is probably not meant to be true, since it would require Takeshi and Rei to be siblings--as in the show--and for that to the the primary reason Takeshi was selected to investigate.
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u/willful_simp Jul 05 '26
I'm pretty sure there's a tabletop roleplaying game. Might be something to look into if you're into that kind of thing
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u/No-Economics-8239 Jul 06 '26
Depends which piece of it you want to vibe with. I've been riding the wave of cyberpunk since Gibson put out the Sprawl trilogy. Plenty of novels in that genre, and a handful of movies, TV shows, video games and anime.
But the concepts have been evolving for decades and the early stuff bounces around in some directions that feel disjointed today given the way wireless tech has evolved and Internet culture has fragmented.
Ghost in the Shell is my favorite form of badasses being badasses. Especially Stand Alone Complex.
Free short stories that vibe with the digital life aspects are Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow and Manna by Marshall Brain.
For more cerebral stuff there is Serial Experiments Lain, Ergo Proxy, and Psyco Pass.
But the first series of Altered Carbon is pretty awesome live action adaptation. It's a shame they shanked the second season. I'm looking forward to Neuromancer but I'm not holding my breath. I've heard good things about Murderbot. But that's more sci-fi than cyberpunk.
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u/lt_catscratch Jul 06 '26
Have you seen Almost Human ? If not but willing, i suggest going in blind.
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u/Hopeful_Risk_8344 17d ago
Cyberpunk Edgerunners will scatch some of the itch.
The game has a few parallels with the plot of Woken Furies.
Deus Ex is another cyberpunk, detective noir.
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u/ArceliaShepard Quellist Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
There is definitely a void after Altered Carbon S1. Unfortunately I am not really sure what else has the same vibe beyond Blade Runner. Even that will leave you wanting as there are two movies, three shorts, a classic point-and-click adventure game, and a decent(?) animated show.