Richard K. Morgan Books in Order (Takeshi Kovacs, A Land Fit For Heroes)
British writer Richard Kingsley Morgan is known for his work in the science fiction (the Takeshi Kovacs series) and fantasy (A Land Fit For Heroes series) genres. He is the author of books, short stories, but also Marvel graphic novels. Morgan is a winner of the Philip K. Dick Award for his 2003 book Altered Carbon, which is now a Netflix TV series. He also won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for his novel Black Man (now titled Thirteen).
How to read Richard K. Morgan’s Books in Order?
Altered Carbon/Takeshi Kovacs Books in Order
Combining elements of “cyberpunk” and hardboiled detective fiction, The Takeshi Kovacs series takes us to the twenty-fifth century. Humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N.
While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or “sleeve”) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.
- Altered Carbon (2002) – Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City, Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats “existence” as something that can be bought and sold.
- Broken Angels (2003) – Cynical, quick-on-the-trigger Takeshi Kovacs, the ex-U.N. envoy turned private eye, has changed careers, and bodies, once more . . . trading sleuthing for soldiering as a warrior-for-hire, and helping a far-flung planet’s government put down a bloody revolution. But when it comes to taking sides, the only one Kovacs is ever really on is his own. So when a rogue pilot and a sleazy corporate fat cat offer him a lucrative role in a treacherous treasure hunt, he’s only too happy to go AWOL with a band of resurrected soldiers of fortune.
- Woken Furies (2005) – Once a gang member, then a marine, then a galaxy-hopping Envoy trained to wreak slaughter and suppression across the stars, a bleeding, wounded Kovacs was chilling out in a New Hokkaido bar when some so-called holy men descended on a slim beauty with tangled, hyperwired hair. An act of quixotic chivalry later and Kovacs was in deep: mixed up with a woman with two names, many powers, and one explosive history.
Altered Carbon Graphic Novels
- Altered Carbon: Download Blues (2019) – Takeshi Kovacs was once a member of the Envoy Corps, stormtroopers for the Interstellar Earth Protectorate, ultra-lethal adepts in switching bodies across the stars. While he served, he was known by a variety of names–Mamba Lev, One Hand Rending, the Icepick–all testament to his capacity for rapid response and extreme violence in whatever flesh he wore. Now he’s out of the service and trying to live a different life. But the Protectorate hasn’t changed its spots, no matter what world Kovacs drifts to, and with that old combat rage still burning deep inside him, will he ever really be able to walk away?
- Altered Carbon: One Life, One Death (2021) – Takeshi Kovacs finds himself imprisoned . . . both in a jail and in an extremely weak body. When he learns that Envoys he served with in a battle he somehow can’t remember have been stolen and sold to one of the richest people in the universe, Kovacs vows to rescue them and get revenge. Leaving behind a staggering body count as he blazes across the galaxy, he wonders why he has a hole in his memory . . . and what secrets that gap holds for understanding his future and himself.
A Land Fit For Heroes Books in Order
A fantasy trilogy with a gay protagonist, A Land Fit For Heroes is about Ringil Eskiath-Gil, for short-, a reluctant hero viewed as a corrupt degenerate by the very people who demand his help, who use his sword to survive in this mix of quest fantasy, political thriller and science fiction.
- The Steel Remains (2008) – A dark lord will rise. Such is the prophecy that dogs Ringil Eskiath-Gil, for short-a washed-up mercenary and onetime war hero whose cynicism is surpassed only by the speed of his sword. Gil is estranged from his aristocratic family, but when his mother enlists his help in freeing a cousin sold into slavery, Gil sets out to track her down. But it soon becomes apparent that more is at stake than the fate of one young woman.
- The Cold Commands (2011) – The otherworldly Kiriath once used their advanced technology to save the world from the dark magic of the Aldrain, only to depart as mysteriously as they arrived. Now one of the Kiriath’s uncanny machines has fallen from orbit, with a message that humanity once more faces a grave danger: the Ilwrack Changeling, a boy raised to manhood in the ghostly realm of the Gray Places. Wrapped in sorcerous slumber on an island that drifts between this world and the Gray Places, the Ilwrack Changeling is stirring. When he wakes, the Aldrain will rally to him and return in force. But with the Kiriath long gone, humankind’s fate now depends on warrior Ringil Eskiath and his few, trusted allies.
- The Dark Defiles (2014) – Ringil Eskiath has traveled far in search of the Illwrack Changeling, a deathless human sorcerer-warrior raised by the bloodthirsty Aldrain, former rulers of the world. Separated from his companions, Ringil risks his soul to master a deadly magic that alone can challenge the might of the Changeling. While Archeth and the Dragonbane embark on a trail of blood and tears that ends up exposing long-buried secrets, Ringil finds himself tested as never before, with his life and all existence hanging in the balance.
Black Man Books in Order
A dystopian cyberpunk military science fiction series about Marsalis who is one of a new breed. Genetically engineered by the U.S. government to embody the naked aggression and primal survival skills that centuries of civilization have erased from humankind, Thirteens were intended to be the ultimate military fighting force.
The project was scuttled, however, when a fearful public branded the supersoldiers dangerous mutants, dooming the Thirteens to forced exile on Earth’s distant, desolate Mars colony. But Marsalis found a way to slip back–and into a lucrative living as a bounty hunter and hitman before a police sting landed him in prison–a fate worse than Mars, and much more dangerous.
- Thirteen (2007) also known as Black Man – A new chance at freedom beckons, courtesy of the government. All Marsalis has to do is use his superior skills to bring in another fugitive. But this one is no common criminal. He’s another Thirteen–one who’s already shanghaied a space shuttle, butchered its crew, and left a trail of bodies in his wake on a bloody cross-country spree. And like his pursuer, he was bred to fight to the death. Still, there’s no question Marsalis will take the job. Though it will draw him deep into violence, treachery, corruption, and painful confrontation with himself, anything is better than remaining a prisoner. The real question is: can he remain sane–and alive–long enough to succeed?
- Thin Air (2018) – (set over a century after Thirteen) Hakan Veil is an ex-corporate enforcer equipped with military-grade body tech that’s made him a human killing machine. His former employers have abandoned him on a turbulent Mars where Earth-based overlords battle for profits and power amid a homegrown independence movement. But he’s had enough of the red planet, and all he wants is a ticket back home-which is just what he’s offered by the Earth Oversight organization, in exchange for being the bodyguard for an EO investigator. It’s a beyond-easy gig for a heavy hitter like Veil . . . until it isn’t.
Other novels
- Market Forces (2004) – Chris Faulkner has just landed the job of his dreams. But Shorn Associates are market leaders in Conflict Investment. They expect results; they expect the best. Chris has one very high-profile kill to his name already, but he will have to drive hard and go for kill after kill if he’s to keep his bosses happy. All he has to do in the meantime is stay alive….
Other Graphic novels
- Black Widow: Homecoming (2005) – Collects Black Widow (2004) #1-6. The deadliest agent in the Marvel Universe has finally gotten out of the spy game, and she’s not asking for much, just a life of her own. When a sudden assassination attempt provides a harsh reality check, the former Soviet agent tracks a string of international killings that will lead her back to a Russia she can barely recognize.
- Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (2006) – Collects Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her #1-6. Natasha Romanova, the original Black Widow. Some say she’s a traitor, some say she’s a murderer…and what most say about her isn’t even printable. But nobody denies that the former Cold War spy is a force to be reckoned with. The last man foolish enough to send killers after her paid the highest price, but his friends on Capitol Hill will ensure that Natasha doesn’t get off easy…and not even Col. Nick Fury can protect her this time. Meanwhile, the survivors of Natasha’s last tirade start coming back to haunt her…and they’re beginning to join forces.
If you like the Richard K. Morgan reading order, you may also want to see our guide to the Neal Asher’s Polity series. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.
