# Altered Carbon (Netflix series)

23 Hacker News commenters recommended Altered Carbon (Netflix series) and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Fans praise the first season and its cyberpunk world, but critics found later seasons weaker and the show was cancelled.

## Why people recommend it

- Strong first season (5 comments): "altered carbon season 1 is amazing. IMHO commit to watching it 3x to get everything going on" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46569299)) "Reminds me of Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48421515)) "The first season of Altered Carbon was great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46161689))
- Thought-provoking futuristic ideas (4 comments): "An example of what kind of crowd density and aesthetic I think is necessary for big populated cities can be seen in Altered Carbon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49175667)) "focuses (partially) on this topic: if we get rid of death, then the worst of the aristocracy never dies." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46566278)) "For a cool fictional portrayal of AI businesses, Altered Carbon touched upon it somewhat." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49468270))
- Fans of the source novel (3 comments): "An interesting fictional book that has this idea as part of the story" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47889728)) "Reminds me of Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48421515)) "they mangled the plot and motivations of every character nearly beyond recognition" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46164746))
- Good show even without books (3 comments): "The tv show is actually really good from someone who did not read the books." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47889772)) "I recommend the TV serie Altered Carbon." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48461712)) "My goodness, what a show that was." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50064976))

## What people warn about

- Disappointing overall (3 comments): "Altered Carbon was such a huge disappointment that I'm going to skip this one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48841467)) "Altered Carbon was such a huge disappointment" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48841166)) "I was, to put it mildly, disappointed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46400220))
- Plot and characters mangled (2 comments): "after the slaughterhouse they've made with 3 Body Problem, Foundation, Altered Carbon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47184413)) "they mangled the plot and motivations of every character nearly beyond recognition" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46164746))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Star Trek: The Next Generation](https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-the-next-generation.md): 88 recommend
- [Star Trek: Deep Space Nine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-deep-space-nine.md): 59 recommend
- [The Expanse](https://hackerapproved.com/p/expanse.md): 51 recommend
- [Silo by Apple TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/silo.md): 27 recommend
- [Scavengers Reign](https://hackerapproved.com/p/scavengers-reign.md): 18 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Altered Carbon (Netflix series)", https://hackerapproved.com/p/altered-carbon/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).