I’m talking Altered Carbon. A show that has hurtled like a fist into the face of sci-fi conformity. Bruised and bloodied you sit through this non-stop thrillfest as you get killed repeatedly in a torture construct feeling every death like its your own. This is high concept sci-fi at its best. You might compare it to the wonder that is Blade Runner but this being a television series makes it just so much more detailed than a movie can ever be. And what a world that has been created. Written by Richard K Morgan (as the sci-fi snob that I am I should just mention that I read the books a few years back so when I heard this was coming was pretty damn excited), Altered Carbon is set in a cyberpunk world 300 years in the future. Society has been transformed by new technology, leading to human bodies being interchangeable like ‘skins’ and death no longer being permanent. This leads to the super-rich being God-like beings living in the clouds high above the impoverished populace below. The main character is Takeshi Kovacs, a supersoldier with special training. His mind was imprisoned for centuries until a wealthy businessman offers him the chance to live again by solving the businessman’s own murder. It’s pretty amazing stuff. The city feels gritty and dangerous and there’s just so much to get your head around that at times it feels like exploding. The good thing about the show is that it was released on Netflix with every episode having a seemingly endless budget. Just recently Netflix has been really going for it with superlative shows like Godless and Ozark on its 2017 roster showing that it is willing to take some real risks when it comes to adult storytelling. And Altered Carbon is definitely a show that takes some risks and is definitely not for the faint-hearted whether its gore or nudity. I completely binged season one and will definitely be taking another look before it goes to a second season. This is only the first book (and there are three in total) so there’s going to be at least another two seasons. Thank the stars.