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The Cold Commands
The Cold Commands
The Cold Commands
Audiobook16 hours

The Cold Commands

Written by Richard K. Morgan

Narrated by Simon Vance

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

()

About this audiobook

With The Steel Remains, award-winning science fiction writer Richard K. Morgan turned his talents to sword and sorcery. The result: a genre-busting masterwork hailed as a milestone in contemporary epic fantasy. Now Morgan continues the riveting saga of Ringil Eskiath-Gil, for short-a peerless warrior whose love for other men has made him an outcast and pariah.

Only a select few have earned the right to call Gil friend. One is Egar, the Dragonbane, a fierce Majak fighter who comes to respect a heart as savage and loyal as his own. Another is Archeth, the last remaining daughter of an otherworldly race called the Kiriath, who once used their advanced technology to save the world from the dark magic of the Aldrain-only to depart for reasons as mysterious as their arrival. Yet even Egar and Archeth have learned to fear the doom that clings to their friend like a grim shadow...or the curse of a bitter god.

Now one of the Kiriath's uncanny machine intelligences has fallen from orbit-with a message that humanity faces a grave new danger (or, rather, an ancient one): a creature called the Illwrack Changeling, a boy raised to manhood in the ghostly between-world realm of the Grey Places, home to the Aldrain. A human raised as one of them-and, some say, the lover of one of their greatest warriors-until, in a time lost to legend, he was vanquished. Wrapped in sorcerous slumber, hidden away on an island that drifts between...
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 17, 2011
ISBN9781400188444
The Cold Commands

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Reviews for The Cold Commands

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

32 ratings15 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the second book in the A Land Fit For Heroes saga, following the first book, THE STEEL REMAINS, and continues the story of three main characters: Ringil, Egar the Dragonbane, and Archeth.

    In short, this second book kept me up at night, and sent me napping on the weekend. There was just enough action to keep my attention piqued, but seemed to drag at places, though I know the information had to be presented. Having jumped into the third book, THE DARK DEFILES, I can say that much of the slow parts are much needed. Morgan does an awesome job bringing together a medieval land, toss in some magical beings, mythological-type gods, and some semi-post-apocalyptic world settings/knowledge, and you have one hell of a put-together tale.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Because I was rereading it, I noticed more how many times I thought I remembered maybe that X would happen, only to realize that actually I just expected that to happen because it *always* happens in these sorts of books. Except then it didn't, often to go the completely opposite way, because that's kind of the point. I mean, the characters themselves frequently explicitly mock normal heroic fantasy plots. Are we following a kind of Villain's Journey here? I'm still not sure.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I think, as with many middle books in a trilogy, that this will make more sense when the end arrives... There was a lot to like in the book, the characters growing & changing, and lots of little action pieces, but I couldn't see the plot advancing too much, particularly in my understanding of the other races... here's looking forward to the final installment
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The sequel to Morgan’s gay barbarian swordsman book The Steel Remains, this one is at least as grimdark—there are notable amounts of rape and other atrocities, many instigated by the main characters/closest thing the book has to heroes. Morgan combines sf (apparently high-tech machines with agendas of their own) with fantasy (elvish/fairy types who were kicked out of the human realms and aren’t too thrilled with that situation, along with dragon invasions and other sundry magic), and in this book he adds in a riff on the Arthur myth that works because of its brazenness. If you like GRRM, this might appeal (and is a lot shorter), but heed the warnings.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Dark Things are coming and as Archeth follows another cryptic pronouncement from the Helmsman, Ringil and Egar are seperated by cicumstances and so the adventures begin. The three are rarely together in The Cold Commands. Their stories do overlap but each has different paths to take. In Cold Commands Morgan fleshes out more of the back story of the characters and the why and wherefores of the various warring parties. His descriptions of the skirmishes and fights are again detailed and gory without wallowing in bloodshed for it's own sake. They are almost like dance moves using very sharp objects. While there is considerable violence Morgan paces it so well that there is a rise and fall of tension as each situation is resolved. A continuous blood fest would soon pall and there is more to this story than that. The dialogue is realistic for its milieu and there are no forced speech patterns just to show a characters status.You can tell who is speaking without the tiresome " and Ringil said that..." to indicate the speaker. There is humour and sadness, light and shade in the interactions.Looking forward to book three 'The Dark Defiles' to see how it all pans out.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this book, but it didn't blow me away. One aspect of this series that I've enjoyed is the ambition that Morgan brings to the worldbuilding here. We don't just have fantasy elements, but we also have science fiction elements, which make this an intriguing world. But what is kind of a bummer in this very unique world is that I don't want to exist in it because almost every character is an asshole and happy moments are few and far between. But that's what I get for reading a grimdark book I guess. Overall, I'm enjoying the progression of Ringil's character to dark overlord, now that I know what to expect. I wish Archeth had slightly more to do. I find her backstory the most compelling and I want to read some books about her people and history
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really liked The Steel Remains but I'm IN LOVE with The Cold Commands. I have a bit of trouble reading these books in that it usually takes me days, but that doesn't mean they're not absolutely wonderful. The characters are so wonderfully created. Heroes with regrets and really horrid past actions.

    I love that we have two queer characters and a basically black (quite literally) character. I mean, there's Egar, who's a kind of homophobic piece of shit, but who kinda has been developing and legit cares for Archeth and Ringil. The book moves a little slow, but you can see where it's going so you don't really have a problem going along with it.

    I can see some people having problems with the book because the societies are basically all sexist and homophobic and pretty gross, but I feel like Gil and Archidi more than make up for it. They both obviously have their problems, but I feel like them going through the world is worth reading this book.

    I'm incredibly excited about The Dark Defiles.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A good read, the same modern, gritty, brutal fantasy that was The Steel Remains. The ending was a bit contrived to my linking and rushed too, with a major storyline abandoned mid-way -- but then, that's somewhat typical for Morgan.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My reaction to this book was almost exactly the same as it was to the first book. I LOVE the writing style, there are some very cool visuals and ideas, the world feels real but the plot seems a little scattered. It's maybe a little to much like real-life, the hero starts to kind of have a purpose, then almost dies, there's a bunch of surreal kind of wandering, forget about that - change course, then there's something going on on an island, then forget about that he kind of dies, and then kinda saves the world (or at least the city). Not sure what to make of some of it. Just seemed kind of disjointed.Seriously though, if I could pick a style of writing to emulate it would be this. His words flow when they're supposed to flow and cut when they're supposed to cut. It's tight, gritty writing and the narrator fits perfectly.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There are no untortured characters in Morgan's world, but I'm ok with that. This and the preceding novel, The Steel Remains, are well-paced and engaging. They exist in an interesting space on the edges of the conventions of high fantasy. Swords, yes. Magic-y bits, yes. But they read more like thrillers than knights and wizards doorstops.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As Ringil Eskiath continues to develop I struggled to stay with the character, will still finish the trilogy though as it is eminently readable fantasy.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So long since the last one that I couldn't remember what was what, but as always the second half of the story was worth the confusion of the first half.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not too bad. Took a while to get going and was really good at the end. Could have been 100 pages shorter if the writing was tighter and better edited.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As good as The Steel Remains?

    No, not quite, but pretty good. The book starts off slowly, with the characters spread out over the world. But the pace gets faster, the writing tighter, and the plot lines intersect as the book progresses.

    The big problem is that it finally hits its stride and comes close to perfection in the last 50 pages or so, leaving you praying for the as-yet-unannounced (but highly desired) sequel. Hopefully the wait will be less than 4 years this time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Liked this quite a bit. More than the first, I think. It is clearly set up for the next one. I can't wait.