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    The Steel Remains
    The Steel Remains
    The Steel Remains
    Audiobook15 hours

    The Steel Remains

    Written by Richard K. Morgan

    Narrated by Simon Vance

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Ringil, the hero of the bloody slaughter at Gallows Gap, is a legend to all who don't know him and a twisted degenerate to those that do. A veteren of the wars against the lizards, he makes a living from telling credulous travelers of his exploits. Until one day he is pulled away from his life and into the depths of the Empire's slave trade, where he will discover a secret infinitely more frightening than the trade in lives.

    Archeth-pragmatist, cynic, engineer, and the last of her race-is called from her work at the whim of the most powerful man in the Empire and sent to its farthest reaches to investigate a demonic incursion against the Empire's borders.

    Egar Dragonbane, steppe-nomad and one-time fighter for the Empire, finds himself entangled in a small-town battle between common sense and religious fervor. But out in the wider world there is something on the move far more alien than any of his tribe's petty gods.

    Anti-social, anti-heroic, and decidedly irritated, all three of them are about to be sent unwillingly forth into a vicious, vigorous, and thoroughly unsuspecting fantasy world-called upon by an Empire that owes them everything and gave them nothing.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateFeb 3, 2009
    ISBN9781400179633
    The Steel Remains

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    Reviews for The Steel Remains

    4/5

    72 ratings47 reviews

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    • 2/5
      The Steel Remains tries hard to create a new niche in the high fantasy genre. Morgan's heroes are three disparate characters, each carrying their own baggage from previous (unwritten) campaigns. The separate strands run parallel until the final fifth, creating three stories with little interconnection and even their meeting seems almost random. Unfortunately two of the three plots are unrewarding, with characters that offer no wit or reason to enjoy their arc. The one redeeming storyline, the most prominent in the novel, follows the path of anti-hero Ringil and although even his tale is somewhat padded, there are some decent scenes which are a treat to read. Ringil's story is peppered with scenes of a strong sexual nature and frequent profanity, which actually distance the reader from the character, rather than create a vibrant and adult scenario, assuming that was Morgan's intention. There's a worthy plot buried in there, however it's not entirely worth the digging required.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Washed-up war vetern and former hero Ringil is living in moderate comfort in a small town at the end of the world, making his way by dicing, performing small protection jobs, and telling stories of his great victories in the war. He is dragged unwillingly back into the great cities when his mother enlists his aid in rescuing a cousin who has been sold into slavery to pay her husband’s debts. Ringil, a foul-mouthed, jaded warrior, has long been at odds with his aristrocratic father—not least because Ringil is homosexual and his father rather violently disapproves, as do the priests and most of the rest of society. But Ringil’s mother is implacable, and Ringil finds himself drawn back into the dark underbelly of the city in which he was raised. There are rumors that a dwenda—a member of a nigh-mythical race of magical beings—is living in the heart of the most dangerous of the city’s neighborhoods and that he is behind the kidnapping and enslavement of young women meeting a certain description, for purposes unknown. With the help of two other embittered veterans, Ringil must reluctantly play the hero once again, attempting to beat back an invasion by forces far beyond anything the three can imagine.Violent, dark, and explicit, “The Steel Remains” is fantasy for fans sick of nimble elves and looking for hard-hitting action and a sharp edge.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Usually I'm a big fan of anything Richard K. Morgan writes. He's truly the current king of Hard-boiled detective style books right now. It has worked very well for him in his own creative scifi setting; however, in the fantasy genre it falters. The pacing is so slow it gets tedious and his raw dialogue and fighting scenes are not even half as good as other fantasy writers. To be honest, it seems out of place, like watching Michael Phelps in a track event. The only good for the series so far is his character development, which is marvelous! Ringil plays the gay Conan/Sherlock to a tea!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is the most unusual Fantasy I’ve read in years, perhaps ever. Not only does it have two gay main characters, there is also a high (but realistic) degree of swearing, both of which are normally conspicuous by their absence in the worlds of the Fantasy novel.Ringil, a hero of the finally triumphant war against the lizard folk, grown tired of the political and social disappointments that peace time has brought, now lives quietly in a rural backwater, apart from dealing with the occasional corpsemites which inhabit and animate dead bodies in the local graveyard. A master swordsman, he dispatches the corpsemites with little difficulty. He is drawn back to the capital city when his mother asks for his help in rescuing a female cousin who has been sold into slavery as a result of the debts incurred by her deceased husband. Ringil does not suffer fools gladly and before embarking on his search manages to upset more than a few of the city’s bigwigs. He is also warned that a semi-mythical species known as dwenda may be behind the strange occurrences in the region where she has been taken.Two of Ringil’s former wartime comrades, Egar, a plains-dwelling nomad chief, and Archeth, last of the Kiriath, are also given narrative strands. All three are fully rounded, Ringil and Archeth in particular seeming like real people with all their flaws.If I have criticisms then they are that the dwenda, when they appear, despite their ability to flit in and out of the grey spaces, seem to be too like humans - indeed it might be possible to read The Steel Remains as Science Fiction rather than Fantasy - too many of the asides outstayed their welcome, it is a pity there is still a default mediaevality to the setting and the resolution is much as you might expect from a standard fantasy. But it’s all good rollicking stuff.Morgan deserves huge credit for taking on the Fantasy genre and thoroughly shaking it up. If all Fantasy were like this I might read more of it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      The story wasn’t that great, but the writing & narration was excellent.
    • 4/5
      Richard Morgan is one of the SF authors who has established himself as a 'must-read' author for me. This is his first foray into fantasy, one that seems to have divided reviewers. Some have hailed it as a work that turns the genre's conventions on its head and bringing a gritty, dark sensibility that has heretofore been missing from the genre. Others have felt that it had an underwhelming plot and that it was not as revolutionary a work as it claimed to be, while still others have been put off by sex and foul language.Overall I lean closer to the first position than the second, though not without caveats. The plot, when all is said and done, is not particularly exceptional (though it should be said that this is the first book of the series, so it may be more about introducing the world and the characters than a whole plot). Having said that, I believe the world-building is excellent and certainly sets some of the usual tropes of fantasy world-building spinning. The story is set in a fantasy land several years *after* a dark horde of lizardmen have been defeated. The world was saved. But what has happened to the world after the battle is won and the heroes hang up their swords? The Empire used the threat of invasion to conquer and consolidate its control over the continent, also incidentally making political concessions to the Church which opened its coffers to the Emperor to outfit his armies in return for extending its power into the secular domain. The League cities that fell under Empire control have once again legalized slavery to help pay off its debts (a move called 'trade liberalization'!) The Kiriath (the world's dwarves) left the world after helping the Empire fight off the lizardmen, disgusted with the uses their technology was being put to. And the heroes who helped win the war are falling back into obscurity in their own respective ways, when various events start to draw them together again.The story takes a while to get going, and particularly in the first 100 pages or so, when the story really hasn't coalesced, I wasn't terribly impressed, particularly since one of the main characters is pretty unlike-able. But as the book progressed it starts picking up steam, and the last 100 pages or so are a real rush (also improved upon by the reader's growing comprehension of what is going on). Overall its a worthy book and I'm looking forward to the next in the series. The ending is actually very well done and really does whet the appetite for more.Finally a note on the sex and the swearing. If you've read any Morgan, you know there's a fairly large number of sex scenes in his books - in fact [The Steel Remains] has less than most of the Takeshi Kovacs novels. I think one reason some people are particularly offended is because one of the characters is gay. So if you mind this sort of thing, and can't just skip a few paragraphs without it troubling you, go read something else. Secondly, there is the language. I do feel the swearing seems a bit distracting at times. I suppose the occasions usually call for it, but it seemed very modern in usage and would sometimes pull me out of the scene. At other times it seemed to blend in just fine.
    • 1/5
      I like to read Fantasy books when I am in the mood for light reading. The book failed to hook my interest in the first thirty or forty pages. I therefore abandoned the book as a waste of my time. I usually don't add to LibraryThing books that I have "abandoned" reading, but I wanted to avoid acquiring accidentally this book again.
    • 5/5
      Brutal and great fun.
    • 5/5
      I have read and loved Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs SF series, so I was very excited to read his first fantasy book. It was very good. In style and scope it reminded me of R.Scott Baker's Prince of Nothing series with the inclusion of politics, religion, culture and war. It was much better written than The Darkness that Comes Before though. The writing is crisp and smooth. The characters are interesting, and developed, though they develop more over the course of the book. The settings are pretty good, though some places are hard to visualize. The 'enemy' is a bit nebulous for a good part of the book, because Morgan is trying to keep the mystery going. The book ends up being a dark fantasy with SF (aliens from other dimensions) and horror (zombies and ghouls) trappings.It is very violent, and there is a lot of cussing. There is cynicism and black humor.There is sex, some forced, some straight, some gay, and the intimation of bestiality and necrophilia. Very gritty, Dark Fantasy. Think of a gay Kovacs in a low tech setting with a sword :)The book has 3 threads and follows 3 characters, who were all in the last big war together. They are having a difficult time with the peace. They were used and discarded, and the evils they fought and won against have been adopted by their own side. They have gone their separate ways to try to make lives for themselves. The story in the book is of events that bring them back together.The main POV is Ringil, who is a war hero who has not only been discarded by his country, but who would be executed if he weren't part of a powerful, noble family. Ringil is gay and the religion and state are one, and they consider homosexuality an abomination and kill any they find or even suspect. The next POV character is Archeth, a black, lesbian, alien woman. She is the last of the magical Kiriath. They left the planet but did not take her because she is also half-human. She is an advisor to the Emperor of Yhelteth, trying to stay alive in his court with the factions and his mercurial moods. They too have religion that has political power and is against Arceth because she is not human, a lesbian, and a drug user.The last POV character is Egar. He is a steppe nomad, a horse riding barbarian and he has returned to the Steppes and his people, but he is no longer a simple nomad. He brings strange ideas and odd behavior to the closed society. He heads his family, but they do not respect him.Ringil is a big fish in a small pond, in a tiny town in the wilderness, living off his war stories. His mother finds him and recruits him to come home to look for a cousin who has fallen on hard times. He husband has lost all their money, taken out loans he can't pay, and then killed himself. The cousin, his widow has been sold into slavery to repay the debt. Gil's mother wants her back and wants him to find and free her. He has to go home to his old home town to do it. He has issues with his father and the power in the town, though he has contacts with those in the underbelly.Archeth is being sent with a force of troops to a coastal town that has been ravaged by a mysterious force. Someone or something came ashore, past the magical metal Kiriath defenses and melted and burned almost all the people and the buildings. The Emperor wants to know what happened and who is behind it.Egar is not traditional enough for the old timers, and too tame for the young who have no experience of war, only legends to excite them. He is more interested in whoring with young teen girls than settling and having a family. He also runs afoul of the local Shaman when his experience of the world makes him ignore the Shaman and his warnings. The Shaman incites his brothers to kill him.Eventually they all come together to track the beings who came ashore.I like all the characters, but I thought that Egar seemed the weakest in terms of the a reason and place in the story. This is the first book of the Land Fit for Heroes series, so perhaps he has a bigger role in the other books.I enjoyed it but will say its not for those who are easily offended or are uncomfortable with gay characters.I can't wait for the next book.
    • 4/5
      I don't read much fantasy, science fiction or mysteries are more my style of light reading, but Richard K. Morgan's novels have all impressed me. His first fantasy novel is a noir take on a standard fantasy plot, with some interesting additions, like a gay protagonist, a lesbian protagonist and some doubt about whether magic is simply technology so advanced that it might as well be magic. I'm looking forward to the next book in the projected trilogy.
    • 5/5
      Mar13:Characters: Loved them all basically. Bad guys weren't even that bad.Plot: Very very solid. Loved the partially uncovered back story.Style: Right with my tastes. Smart, gritty action.
    • 4/5
      Richard K. Morgan is one of my favorite authors. I love his style of writing. Fantasy is and always has been my favorite genre. When I heard Mr. Morgan was writing a fantasy novel I got REALLY excited. It was going to be like peanut butter and chocolate or Simon and Garfunkel or busty wenches and low-cut dresses... um... well you know what I mean. How could this combination be anything but stellar?Unfortunately it didn't turn out that way. It wasn't as bad as Garfunkel in a low-cut dress or Simon slathered in peanut butter but it wasn't as good as a chocolate-covered busty wench either... Sorry got kinda carried away with the imagery there. The world was cool. The characters were cool. The plot was boring. The writing was awesome. The fact that the main character was an ass-kicking gay guy was awesome. The EXTREMELY graphic gay sex made me a little uncomfortable. I didn't feel like he was trying to ram his gay agenda down my throat or anything because all Morgan's books have EXTREMELY graphic sex scenes, but it got me thinking that I would be just fine leaving all the sex scenes out (straight or gay). Toward the end I started to think the book was going to be what I like to call "a fellowship book". This is where an author spends an entire novel assembling "the fellowship" of characters so that they can begin "the adventure". The best example of this I can think of outside of LotRs is [book:Pawn of Prophecy|2548569]. I say I started to think this but then after Morgan used up just about all of his "wow isn't it really amazing that we all just happened to bump into each other" points. The book is over and they go their separate ways. I don't get. One more thing. I don't usually like to mix my fantasy with sci-fi and this book does that quite a bit, it's slightly jarring and I didn't like it in this book either. After all this I will still definitely be reading the 2nd book but I have to say that I was pretty disappointed that this book didn't completely blow my mind.
    • 2/5
      This book seems to have been mostly written for its shock value. There's not a lot new here, the author himself acknowledges the similarity to Moorcocks' works. The characters and fight scenes are right out of Gemmell's works. The bad guys may as well all be Melniboneans, except with fancy armor that seems be totally useless against heroes. The world isn't fresh, original, or interesting. Morgan seems to be going along with the recent trend of more graphic sex in mainstream fantasy novels, which does not interest me at all. Otherwise, the book is fairly ordinary. The sex is both hetero and homosexual, and at times the situations are fairly ridiculous. I doubt I'll bother with the next one.
    • 3/5
      Lackluster first novel in a new genre for a seasoned Scifi author. I thought the general fantasy setting was interesting and unique, and that the fighting was exciting - the brutality in these scenes reminded me a lot of Joe Abercrombie, which is fitting since he contributed a cover quote for the book - but the author went overboard with all the sex. These scenes are certainly signatures of Morgan as an author, but it doesn't feel like any of his previous books spent quite so much time on the erotic fiction part of the story. This practically read as an Anne Rampling novel.Some words do need to be said briefly about his protagonist. I like how he went against the grain of traditional fantasy by having a gay protagonist in a very religiously repressed society at the forefront of the story. I suppose there's also some moral point to be made about the hypocrisy of our society by the sheer amount of homosexuality in the book, although I can't be bothered to figure out what it is exactly.Reading on his blog it looks like there's a sort of follow-up to The Steel Remains due in mid-2010 titled The Dark Commands. I'm pretty attached to Morgan as an author, so I'll certainly read this and hope he improves the pacing of the story.
    • 3/5
      World is full of prudes, apparently... Yes, the main characters have sex... but it is not detailed or graphic or pornographic. Actually, it's not even as graphic as some of Morgan's other works, and defo not as sexually graphic as Abercrombie's dark fantasies. Is it for kids? No, kids shouldn't be reading Morgan. But... just because it's gay sex doesn't make it pornographic. If it was a man and woman having at it, most people wouldn't have said a word about the sex scenes - eliminate homophobia and, at worst, it's a mid-range graphic sexual content. JR Ward's Black Dagger books are way more detailed and they're only considered girl-porn.Okay, on to the story... no... I didn't like it much. Morgan was trying too hard to shock us all with the "romantic" component and not hard enough to shock us with the plot. I guess it worked, in the shock department... just not in the right way.
    • 4/5
      I'm not exactly sure what I've read has registered yet but I'm quite sure I loved it. Before sexy things even happened, I was like, "Damn. This book is sexy." I dunno but he made blood and guts and sex gritty yet, at the same time, elegant.

      I'll have to read The Cold Commands to see if he keeps it up but this was a pretty good book. It took a few chapters for it to really get going for me so that I was invested in all the characters. I was actually surprised I could stand Ringil. In another book, I'm pretty sure I would have begged to see him gutted but he worked here. I dunno. All of it just worked. I mean, I've read a lot of books with weak ending lately and this was not one of them. I'm just really happy I read it.
    • 5/5
      I love this book, but I understand those who aren't as enamoured of it as I am. It takes a while to get into, and the plot is slow and convoluted and sometimes confusing. The world-building is spare, but what is presented is fascinating, and a nice change from other fantasy novels where every tiny detail of the scenery is explained. It took me a while to become emotionally invested in the characters, but once I did, I was hooked. However, if you can't like the characters, particularly Ringil and Archeth, you probably won't like this book. There are lots of intriguing little details (and I wanted to find out more about the sci-fi-tech elements of the landscape) but the book's strength comes from its characters and their choices. I love strung-out, brilliant Archeth, and the completely messed up Ringil. The characters are definitely the products of their environments, and come off as completely human (even when they aren't). They make terrible decisions sometimes, but at least they are doing something. The world they exist in is bleak and tyrannical, and while the characters are heroes, they aren't exactly good. It's grimdark fantasy, and definitely has some disturbing scenes, but it's very much a worthwhile read.
    • 3/5
      An interesting read if you enjoy having every fantasy novel you've ever read getting hit over the head with the sharp edge of a broadsword. A sharp, gritty reality of a dark world. Characters seem a little reminiscent of Macbeth - you migth like them but there's a little matter of the fact they've been not-coping for how many years? It leans a little too heavily on the sex and drugs (what? no rock and roll?) but is otherwise an good read.
    • 5/5
      I am not sure where to start about this book. The story synopsis sounded interesting, which lead me to start reading this one. At the time, I did not know there was a second book, though this is a good stand-alone novel.

      The writing style Morgan uses was very interesting for me to read. I found the descriptive battles a bit energizing to me as the reader. The characters introduced had depth, though the secondaries were not as intense as the main. Some of the content Morgan used was a bit offensive to me, but was definitely required to understand the portrayal he wished to show. Morgan's writing style is descriptive though dark and gritty, with a 'no-holds-barred' approach.

      This story was definitely not what I thought I was getting, as it had so much more to offer. I have definitely become a fan of this author, and look forward to not only the next novel based on this main character, but his other works as well. His fantasy story-telling skills are superb!
    • 3/5
      I will say that this was a brutal book. (not to read) Just the story in general. I don't feel that books should not be read by a particular age group, BUT, this is not David Eddings type fantasy. Its not even George Martin fantasy, It stands on its own, and the parent in me finds the explicit sexual encounters not appropriate for the under 18 crowd. (I hate myself for saying that) I did enjoy the story and like how certain themes from our times have been incorporated into it. I enjoyed the medieval theme pared with perhaps some....alien encounters. And despite my being uncomfortable with aspects of the book, I can work past it and see the greater story and am looking forward to the next books in the series. And a side note here, I would love a prequel!!
    • 2/5
      Plot: The pacing is very slow in the first half and the story doesn't seem to go anywhere. At the same time, there are four almost independent plotlines going on, and they have practically no intersection. For a long time, this makes you feel like you're reading four books at once that have little to do with each other. Characters: Do any of these characteres actually have goals and motivations? If yes, they're doing a good job hiding them. The depth is lacking underneath all the posturing and the sex. And having far too many similar character names does not help in making anyone memorable.Style: Morgan, friend of run-on sentences. And of plot progress and characterisation via sex. Which falls flat in nine cases out of ten. Mechanical, angry sex does not help with keeping up your reader's interest. By the way, yes, I get that homosexuality is a social taboo. Really, I get it. No need to point it out on every. Single. Page. Do some more worldbuilding instead, that was more than confusing.Plus: It's not quite so bad that you need to leave it unfinished.Minus: Lack of plot, lack of characterisation, lack of worldbuilding. The attempt to distract from said lack by including lots and lots of sex, thoughts of sex, and rape where regular sex isn't applicable.Summary: Hardcore readers only.
    • 3/5
      A bit clunky, a bit slow to start, and the three main characters were literally magicked together to fight the big battle at the end, which was a little disappointing, because there is something really fun and exciting when 3 disparate plotlines can meet up gracefully. It almost felt like the writer couldn't quite figure out how to get all of the characters together, so he created a mysterious character to make it happen. Which begs the question, if this character is so powerful, and has magical abilities that can transport people around this world, why doesn't he fight this battle? Perhaps an intriguing answer can be found in the next book. Overall, this grimdark adventure almost didn't come together for me. I realized partway through that I didn't like the main character. His shitty attitude came across as less clever, and more asshole. But I guess that was the point, because this wasn't necessarily a setup for a hero, but for a villain. But future volumes will perhaps clarify that character development as well.
    • 4/5
      The Steel Remains is a blend of Fantasy and Sci Fi. It is hard and gritty; where heroes were made fighting dragon like creatures that emerged from the oceans. The peace after that sits uneasily with our heroes. Whether resting quietly in a backwater village or restlessly trying to be a clan leader out in the steppes, you know things aren’t going to stay that way for long.

      Family obligations and expectations both have our heroes battling a weird amalgam of gods and aliens. The local population is still mired in swords and sorcery at the same time as they try to assimilate living with humanoid creatures who have finally left after 4,000 years. Leaving with almost all their superior technology.

      When an ancient legend starts to come to life the supposedly simple task of tracking down a distant relative sold into slavery as a debt price become somewhat complicated.

      Politics, superstition, prejudice and the battle between church and state, all get a run in this fast paced adventure.

    • 5/5
      The reviews printed on the back and inside this book suggest this is a ground-breaking, almost revolutionary concept. I have to say that this is misleading.What you do have, however, is a good, solid piece of fantasy writing with interesting races and cultures, interesting characters and an interesting plot.It follows a group of former heroes, from a war a decade or so ago. One is the emperor's advisor, one a drunk living in the edge of the empire and one a clan-master of his barbarian clan who is in political trouble with the clan's shaman. Their stories duck and weave and eventually come to a rather satisfying conclusion.If you're a homophobe you probably want to avoid this book - the character we follow most often is gay, flouting the religious law of his country, and whilst it's far from explicit, there's quite a bit of gay sex in here. Perhaps that's what's meant to be revolutionary?
    • 4/5
      There were a lot of great fantasy elements here that I loved. I enjoyed the concept of three once heroes, many years after their heroics. It's an interesting approach that I can't really think of ever having read really. Morgan had some great character development, and the three main protagonists seemed fully realized and written well, which is always a plus for me. While I didn't really love any of them, I thought they were fleshed out well, and each unique in their ways. I was invested at least. Morgan has a talent for action scenes as well, that really helped elevate the book. He wrote great battles that really allowed me to feel edge of my seat during them. Where I struggled was the over use of common day slang and curse words. I find that in fantasy novels, these words bring me out of the element, and distract me from the story, not allowing myself to fully immerse myself in the fantasy world the author is trying to build. In Steel Remains, not only does the author use curse words and slang like faggot, he uses them a lot! There were sentences spewed from characters with the word fuck every other word. It was a bit absurd and just felt really forced and distracting. To me, it brought down the writing a lot, and didn't allow me to really love the book.I did however, think the story was in depth enough and intriguing enough to keep me invested in reading it, and made me want to continue on with the series. I think this was a solid start to a good series, and I'm excited to see it through.
    • 4/5
      An interesting fantasy read, a lot of fun and some enjoyable spins on the classic tropes. I will say, however, that there is a hint of the Science Fiction Morgan is so well known for in this, but not enough to deter even the most stalwart of Sci-Fi haters.

      Word of warning, however: there is a LOT of graphic sex in the novel. I'm fine with it, and as unusual as it sounds it added a lot of character development. But there is a lot.

      This novel also felt like the first in a series; and I do not mean just the way that it ended. By the time everything starts to really come together the novel is 90% of the way through. There is a nice culmination, but it really serves just to whet the appetite. I look forward to the next two!
    • 4/5
      Richard K. Morgan has made a career of taking the familar elements of science-fiction, breaking them down and building them into something that respects its past but it willing to challenge readers by trying something new. After a successful and award-winning run in sci-fi, Morgan is now turning to the world of fantasy to take the familar and make it new and fresh again.“The Steel Remains” is the first of a new trilogy by Morgan. The story has the usual fantasy tropes on display–a hero with a glorious past, fuedal power plays, a new power from outside the kingdom that is slowly becoming a threat. But Morgan is able to take each of these and stamp his own signature on them, which is part of what makes “Remains” such a refreshing entry in the fantasy genre. Morgan pays homage to the roots of the genre, but doesn’t let them show when he colors them a different way.One of the most interesting is how Morgan creates his charcters. Just as he does in “Altered Carbon,” his protagonists aren’t exactly the most loveable of people. Morgan’s strength is drawing characters who are shades of gray and having readers root for those people because they’re actually fully, fleshed out and realized characters and not your typical genre archetypes. On the surface, one character, Ringil, sounds like a typical fantasy hero. He’s had his past glories, he’s estranged from his family but he’s willing to do the right thing when push comes to shove. Morgan is able to subvert the usual expectations of the classic sword-wielding fantasy hero with the backstory of Ringil, including why he’s estranged from his powerful family and doesn’t get along with his father. I won’t tell you what that is here–Morgan tells you quickly within the first few chapters. But watching the flashbacks of the events will be far more entertaining and interesting for readers to discover for themselves.Ringil is called upon by his mother to look into the disappearance of a cousin. The cousin was sold into marriage to pay a debt, but Mom thinks something more is going on. Ringil reluctantly takes the assignment and soon finds the world is changing and there’s some kind of threat from outside the realm that is slowly creeping into things. Ringil is joined by friends to look into this and Morgan slowly gives readers all the pieces of the puzzle. Satisfyingly enough, this novel can stand on its own with most of the central conflict wrapped up before you turn the last page. But Morgan is shrewd enough to offer hints of things to come that could be picked up in future volumes. It seems that just as he did with the “Altered Carbon” novels, he’s working on a continuing series that isn’t so interconnected that readers can’t drop in the middle and not feel hopelessly lost. You may miss some of the character development or some nuances, but overall you’re going to be able to enjoy the story a single novel is telling on its own merits.It’s something I wish a lot of other genre publishers would realize fans want these days.This is a mature novel–it deals with a lot of mature themes and it does contain Morgan’s signature coarse language. If you can’t wrap your head around fantasy characters prodigiously using the f-bomb, this may not be your cup of tea. But if you want something new, different and yet very much in the fantasy tradition of the greats of the genre, then “The Steel Remains” is definitely a must read
    • 3/5
      This is the first Richard Morgan book I have read after being advised to give it a go. It had been highly recommended to me, building my expectations, and I was really looking forward to reading it, however, ended up having mixed feelings if I'm being honest. I loved the structure, the style of writing and the language used, however, I felt the tempo needed increasing as I found parts a bit slow. The story itself I also found quite limited, finding often my favourite parts were the back story and the history behind each character and the world he had created rather than the ongoing one that formed the crux of the book. I recognise that it is the first in a trilogy, and the story will (hopefully) develop at a faster pace and I did really enjoy the part of the prophecy about a dark lord rising, which had definitely hooked me into going on to the read the second one in the trilogy soon.I loved the breaking of conventions, making the lead character a bad-ass brutal sword slinging gay guy that likes to play by his own rules. The fact that this "hero" is then derided by the people and the world he helped save instead of being revered by all. Often just simply labelled as a "faggot" and people forgetting the skill, strength and danger he truly represents. I loved the gritty, raw and edgy style that was delivered, with the graphic scenes adding to the story which seems to becoming more common in the fantasy genre recently, however, not it is not quite on the same level as the Blade Itself and the series by Joe Abercrombie which stands out in these terms for me. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and would recommend the read. For a debut novel in the fanatasy genre it was a solid effort, but I am hoping the second in the trilogy will be an improvement. The foundation has been laid, and I'm hoping the story pushes on, picks up the tempo, and leads to an exciting climax that will want to make me go straight onto the final book in the trilogy !We shall see if it does or not...........
    • 3/5
      In his first fantasy book, Morgan delivers his usual: smart, dark humor; truly sexy graphic sex; an un-romanticized portrayal of the damage done by physical and sexual violence; a willingness to plumb the depths of social issues; and a sympathetic cast of jaded characters with genuine reasons for their feelings of alienation. In these aspects, The Steel Remains was just as good as Market Forces or his Takeshi Kovacs books.

      In some other aspects, this book was lacking. Morgan is clearly reinventing the traditional heroic fantasy. However, this book, while dark, still felt too formulaic. My suspicion is that the reader is being set up for a twist later on in the series, but for now I have a lingering sense of disappointment because I was expecting some greater divergences from the genre.

      This was still a compelling read (I basically ate the thing over a six hour read) and I look forward to the next book.
    • 4/5
      The Steel Remains is Richard Morgan’s latest novel.It purports to be his take on high or epic fantasy (or EFP or whatever, call it what you will). Yeah I can see that. It has all the classic tropes – a feudal society, a decaying empire, medieval military technology, gods as on-stage actors in the story, a quest of sorts, various monsters, and all of the other usual sword and sorcery type accoutrements.The major viewpoint characters seem to fit some of the usual stereotypes too: Ringil Angeleyes is the master swordsman / lone wolf character: an acknowledged hero with a named eldritch broadsword on his back; the scion of a noble family. Egar Dragonbane is another well-known war hero, clanmaster of a nomadic herding clan on the open plains between the two major political entities. Archeth is the long-lived halfbreed daughter of humans and the now vanished race known as Kirianth, the Black Ones, serving as scientific advisor to the young emperor of the Throne Eternal. All three are veterans of a war that united humanity and the remaining Kirianth for long enough to fight and defeat an invasion from the sea by the Scaled Folk, a war that gave them their subsequent fame and/or notoriety. As the book progresses, these three ex-comrades in arms are brought together again to face a new and deadly threat to humanity.So, you think you’ve got the big picture here, right? It’s just standard big fantasy fare – a motley collection of heroes and heroines coming together in a quest to save the world as we know it, maybe with Morgan’s trademark violence and bad language from his previous works added in?You’d be wrong.It does have those story elements, but in my opinion, Morgan has set things up like this so he can then completely deconstruct the fantasy sub-genre, which he proceeds to do with gleeful abandon. To say how would require major spoilers.Is the book readable? Absolutely – I found it an absolute page-turner.Does it have the graphic sex and violence and language we know from his earlier work? Yes it does, so if you are easily offended by such things be careful. But none of the sex is non-consensual, and it is relevant to the characterisation of his protagonists.On that point, are the viewpoint characters believable and sympathetic? I believe they are – they certainly hooked me in.Do I recommend it as a good read? Yes I do –it’s a well-paced cracker of a story that also makes you think, not least about the nature of heroism.So it does have something serious to say also? Absolutely – about what makes a hero and the ephemeral nature of heroism; about religious intolerance and dogmatism; about forced relocations of displaced ethnic populations; about the interaction of church and state; about politics and corruption; about the darkness and bleakness in human nature; and about the consequences of individual choices we make in our lives.If you liked Morgan's earlier work, I suggest you give it a try.