Started watching this on Netflix, done the first episode so far.

Very good so far - I really like the style, Blade Runnerish with lots of violence and sex

I read a very lengthy and detailed review of the entire first season a couple days ago and the author essentially said that the show is very good but not great. Established fans of the cyberpunk genre will love it but it will have limited mainstream appeal. That might not matter to hardcore scifi fans like most of us here but the author went on to mention that Netflix is wanting "Altered Carbon" to be their huge flagship show like GOT is for HBO. In that aspect it will fail according to the author.

I prefer making up my own mind, personally.

That some idiot review has doubts about it I don't care about - last time I read a review was 30 years ago when the signs of a great action movie was when all the national papers gave it a score of 1-2 out of 6

Loving it so far.. (only first episode in)


Hoping a certain AI is going to be around a while...

Oh, as do I. I still read reviews sometimes just to see what perspective they might bring that I may have missed.

Watched the first two and loved it! So much is just like I imagined when I read it. It’s been several years though, I don’t remember the cop so much. IIRC it was from Takeshi’s perspective and narrative only. I could be wrong, this was pre-kindle it was so long ago. LOL In fact, I think the 3rd book was my first kindle read.

As far as that review PM mentioned, I think I see what he could mean. This is a pretty deep story with a very different world to pick up on. Similar to today but amplified to where some just won’t bother to try to follow it. If many find Blade Runner hard to follow, they’ll have a much harder time with this. Even though this is better. Who knows, GoT is even harder to follow, but has certainly done well.
I hope it does succeed, I’d like to see the other two books done. They each have very different stories, more adventure oriented. Mystery but less less “Private I” feel.

The bad thing about full season releases:

I can't really discuss my theories of the show after seeing an episode with others as they might have watch all of it and know the truth

Yeah, makes it difficult. I like that it’s been long enough since I read it that it isn’t fresh in my memory and I’m remembering the smaller bits as I see them.
If only the US had gotten Star Trek Discovery too, Netflix would clearly be THE top source for scifi.

I've seen 4 episodes now and I'm loving the show.

The style, the tech, the story, the violence. Just one awesome mix of happiness.

It's on my list and yesterday Netflix emailed to say the full season was available

Whoever wrote that review mentioned above is an idiot. This is one of the best series I have seen in a long while. It's like the original blade runner meets ghost in the shell. I HOPE this goes for a while and when it ends they start another series in the same universe. I want to know so much more about EVERYTHING!

Half way through the 4th episode and my heavens really well really ... shudder

I have not read Altered Carbon but I have read a few different SF stories on the same vein

Kind of like Burce Willis' Surrogates but MORE SO, a lot more so!

The author of the review I read said that he likes the show quite a lot. His main argument is that this show will NOT be the huge breakout hit that Netflix is expecting it to be. It will mostly appeal to already established cyberpunk/scifi fans.

Netflix is wanting a huge mainstream hit like Game of Thrones and the author is just arguing that it won't happen with "Altered Carbon".

No, I don't think it will happen with Altered Carbon, it is a good show but it does not have that essential spark that GOT has.

oh and M-m-m-ma-ma-max Headroom

Altered Carbon is Altered Carbon. Screw GoT.

Just tell Netflix that.

Shows don't have to have GoT popularity to be successful. It's not like Netflix has to compete for a timeslot.

You are exactly right but that is exactly what Netflix is trying to do with this show. It really was the main thing that the reviewer was addressing.

This is the review I read:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/io9.gi...punk-but-its-not-netflixs-1822552638/amp

That’s dated before it even came out. LOL
Even if he had advance access to watch it, which apparently he did, it’s way too early to make a call like that.
You could’ve said GoT is HBO’s less successful LOTR attempt early on too. From what I know, it didn’t really pick up as generally popular until a couple of seasons were out, other than with fans of the book and genre.
Regardless, I don’t care, I just want more of it.

He mentions the differences in performances between Will Yun Lee and Joel Kinnaman. The book doesn’t go into much but flashbacks to Envoy training IIRC. I think Kinnaman does just fine. They play the same character but at very different points in his life. It isn’t about a biracial man in a white man’s body. His original body is long gone in the book. He’s travelled so much as an Envoy he’s been in dozens or more bodies by now and travelled far away from it. It doesn’t bother him. His training bordered on brainwashing. Kinnaman nails it. That’s why when he woke up he adapted instantly. If there’s a fault, it’s in the rewrite of his backstory, abbreviating it. I don’t know though, I’m just 5 eps in so far.

Game of Thrones opened to 2,2 million viewers, and quickly picked up traction. By the season 7 finale they had 12 million viewers in the US.