Quite different from other books he has written. ( )

It is not fucking unpleasant to read a fucking fantasy book with fucking grit, fucking character development and a fucking world that does not feel like it has already been fucking used by a fucking thousand other fucking writers, but the fucking author's fucking use of fucking profanities, although I do not fucking condemn it on fucking principle, after a fucking while start to become fucking tiresome and, to be fucking honest, a fucking little ridiculous. ( )

*** Not my favorite Morgan book - I like the Kovacs series better - but this'n's good - sword and sorcery with a strong dollop of homo sex - the main character is a gay super sword swinger... It looks like a series is in mind (join the herd, eh?) ( )

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? ( )

Extremely well written and compelling, but definitely not for the weak of heart (or stomach).

I was willing to wade through the very graphically depicted fight scenes, torture scenes and sex scenes because I was very invested in the characters, the world and the story (there was one exception - the longest sex scene seemed pretty gratuitous and unnecessary).

The world-building was well done, reminding me of Erikson's Malazan - especially the gods and elder races. Characterization was adequate (with the exception of Ringil, where it was very well done). This could have been helped somewhat if the profanity (which I'm not offended by) hadn't been used by nearly every character, in nearly every situation, regardless of social status and position. The plot and writing style were compelling enough that I didn't want to put the book down.

For fans of Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch and Matthew Woodring Stover's Caine novels. ( )

Breakin it down
story 8/10
characters 10/10
addictiveness 8/10
readability 7/10
Big total
8 outta 10 ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

Amazing. High fantasy with passion, grit and unflinching violence. I loved the characters and read the last 100 pages in a breathless rush. I can't wait for the sequel. ( )

I have read a large number of reviews that indicate Richard Morgan is doing something fresh and new with this, his first book in a fantasy trilogy. However, I would respectfully disagree. I could see elements of David Gemmell and Michael Moorcock in the writing. Before his untimely death, Gemmell handled the creating of characters that are drawn from shades of grey - anti-heros and fighters held up to be heros but have the morals of the worst kind of human beings. Ringil, Archeth and Egar are characters from this same mould - ambigious motives and less than black and white characteristics.

The way in which Morgan differs from Gemmell is in both the well-publicised swearing and the homosexuality of Ringil. I was disappointed in the way that Morgan handled the latter, to be honest. I don't mind the homosexual sex scenes, and I don't mind the idea that Ringil is considered to be a degenerate, but I do mind the constant references to it. It was almost as though Morgan worried that if he didn't drum it home every few chapters, then the reader might forget this element of Ringil's character.

The start of the story was extremely slow. For such a slight fantasy novel (a mere 350 pages or so, in the edition I read) it took me well over a week to get through. I attribute this to the fact that the three main characters were completely separate and following different storylines up to about the last five chapters. I am familiar with cliffhanger chapter endings and multiple story viewpoints from many other fantasy books, but usually you are given a period of time with the group of characters together before they proceed on their separate storylines - this allows you time in which to bond with the characters so that when they do go their separate ways, you have an investment in the people and the trials and tribulations they face. With this book, Morgan plunged straight into multiple viewpoints and, just as one character got halfway interesting, we were shifted to the start of a new character's story and had to spend time getting to know this character.

With those negatives aside, this was a thumping good read - Ringil was never less than entertaining, and we are given a large number of hints into his background and into events from his past that give reasons for his world-weary take on life. The Dwenda are fabulous as enemies - I feel Morgan draws heavily on fey mythology (and I had echoes of the elves in Lords and Ladies while I read about the dwenda).

Eventually you completely invest in the characters and are cheering them on in the breathless climax, where Morgan demonstrates that his writing of fight scenes is second to none.

An impressive fantasy novel. ( )

A grand adventure and Ringil's now one of my favourite fantasy characters. The only reason I haven't given this book 5 stars is that I can barely recall the names of the other 2 central characters, which is a slight problem!

I like gore and excessive swearing and characters that really aren't that nice so this book hit the spot for me. Anxious for the next part. ( )

http://raindogthoughts.wordpress.com/... ( )

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 ( )

http://rivkat.livejournal.com/215859.... ( )

Three against Melnibone?

Ok, maybe not quite. In fact, this novel is perhaps a little slow for Richard Morgan, only firing up in a full on last stand against the otherworldly invaders right at the end. However, at 300 odd pages it is nowhere near as ponderous as the usual epic fantasy tome. This novel is not one of those, considerably more to the low fantasy end of the scale. Sword and Sorcery? Maybe. Certainly if you like Sword and Sorcery this book may well appeal. These invaders being the ones to reminder you of blokes that Elric might have inflicted Stormbringer upon in his early days.

Morgan does note some authors at the end, Wagner, Moorcock, Anderson, etc. You could say that the Steel Remains is perhaps Wagner via Moorcock with a touch of Gemmell.

There are three main characters, Ringil, a rich kid that became a general and is living the simple life with enough booze to get by thanks to his alien technology sword, Egar, your Steppes Horde barbarian, similarly taking it easy, and Archeth, one of the last of an alien race left around the place, an advisor to the Emperor. The paths of these three drunken and drug addled but exceedingly dangerous warriors will intersect - and presumably quite a bit more in the books to come, having been dragged or driven out of their lives thanks in part to the machinations of a couple of godlings.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/10... ( )

http://zehavit-lamasu.livejournal.com... ( )

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. ( )

Best known for his Sci-fi Noir novels starring Takeshi Kovacs (Altered Carbon etc) this is Richard Morgans first foray into the fantasy field in what is intended to be a trilogy.

It is a very easy read and Morgan's style keeps the book flowing. What at first appears to be a normal fantasy tale about old hero set in a grim fantasy world turns out to be more of a character piece about 3 ex-heros who are otherwise outcasts/despised by the majority. Morgan seems intent on tackling predjudice in his recent books. Last year he published the sci-fi novel Black Man (Thirteen in the USA) which tackled racism and in this book he tackles sexuality.

At least 2 of the main characters in the novel are Gay, Ringel is openly homosexual and this is drummed in fairly regularly from the way the other people treat him or from the graphic sex scenes. The other character is more reserved in that it is implied that she is a lesbian, but doen't flaunt it and there are no lesbian sex scenes in this book (maybe book 2 :D ).

Overall it sets up what could be a decent trilogy with fast paced action, some great dialogue (peppered with lots and lots of swearing) and a decent enemy in the Dwenda. The only thing that could put people off is the rather over the top explicit violence, graphic sex scenes (both gay and straight) and language which at times felt a bit much and gratuitous for the plot. ( )

http://antiterra.de/2008/09/01/richar... ( )

“They fall down just like men! Stand with me! STAND!” – Ringil Eskiath “The Steel Remains”

In Richard K. Morgan’s new fantasy novel “The Steel Remains”, Ringil Eskiath, the legendary hero of Gallows Gap, often has trouble getting others to stand with him. You see Ringil is homosexual, a fact that Morgan rather graphically publicizes from the first page of the novel. For this reason alone, people despise Ringil, viewing him as a disgusting degenerate whose entire existence is a blasphemy against all that is holy. In their eyes, Ringil should immediately be put to death. Only the high standing of his father and his heroic past deeds, which include nothing less than saving humanity from the Scaled Folk, allow Ringil to evade a death sentence (the Trelayne government tortures and kills homosexuals in the book). He feels betrayed by an ungrateful dystopian society, having mistakenly fought thinking he could make the world better, only to see things get much worse. This is a world where poverty abounds and slavery has recently become legal after previously operating in the shadows. It is where husbands must sell wives into bondage to get out of debt and criminals make up the wealthy upper class.

Morgan creates a world in “The Steel Remains” that is brutal, ugly, dirty and mean, and ultimately real. This is the society you’d expect when your populace is uneducated, ignorant, prejudiced and only understands settling scores with steel. Morgan has created an entirely new type of fantasy in “The Steel Remains”. Forget “dark fantasy”, this is “nihilistic fantasy”, a confrontational antithesis to “epic fantasy”, a deconstruction of the world and the self. There is no hope here at the end of the day, no sign of progress, only individuals struggling to scrape out a nasty existence. This explains why the novel is essentially character-driven. The drama and tension arises not from a struggle between good and evil, but from the battle between men and their surroundings. The question is: what does it mean to be a hero in a world like this? Or is the whole concept of hero meaningless in this context, since that would imply one could make the world better. What happens when you can’t make the world better?

The story begins with Ringil living in the small backwater town of Gallows Water, earning his room and board at the inn by regaling the inn’s guests with stories of his heroic deeds. For the most part, he lives a dull, quiet existence, occasionally playing exterminator with his legendary Kiriath sword to the town’s corpse mite population. Then one morning, his mother Ishil shows up at the inn, and enlists a reluctant Ringil to search for his cousin, Sherin. It seems that Sherin had recently been sold into slavery by her husband Bilgrest in order to lessen his debt. Ringil accompanies his mother back to his hometown of Trelayne where he immediately sets about searching for his cousin, unmindful of the dangerous toes he is stepping on.

Egar the Dragonbane, a steppe nomad and slayer of dragons, is the clanmaster of the Skaranak tribe. His disrespectful attitude toward the tribe’s old traditions is perceived by Poltar, the tribe’s shaman, as blasphemy and certainly to invite divine punishment on the Skaranak by the Sky Dwellers. Poltar believes the tribe is better off without Egar as its clanmaster. After having lived in Yhelteth, a monument of civilization in comparison to the steppe, Egar feels constrained by the Skaranak’s simple way of life, rebelling against it, while yearning for something more. Soon Poltar gains assistance from an unlikely source in his quest to rid the Skaranak of Egar.

Archeth Indamaninarmal is the last remaining Kiriath, left behind in Yhelteth when the rest of the Kiriath race abandoned the world. Her understanding of Kiriath technology and ways makes her an indispensable advisor to the Emperor Jhiral Khimran II. Soon the Emperor sends Archeth to investigate the mysterious attack on the garrisoned port of Khangset. When Archeth arrives at Khangset, she discovers that the Kiriath fortified defenses of the port have been obliterated and the townsfolk slaughtered. She can’t even imagine what kind of force could be capable of such destruction. Her only clues to the identity of the mysterious assailants are an odd statue and a survivor named Elith.

Soon Archeth, Ringil and Egar find themselves reunited in the backwater marsh town of Ennishmin, long years having passed since they’d fought together in the war against the Scaled Folk. Here the trio confronts a menace unlike anything they’ve ever seen before, a magical race called the dwenda who are not bound by the normal rules of time. Can Ringil and company save the world once again from this frightening new menace?

“The Steel Remains” is gritty, hard-edged and brutally bloody. The battle sequences are absolutely fantastic. The last fifty pages features a stunning final battle that alone makes the novel worth the read. These are the high-octane and adrenaline pumping scenes we expect from Morgan, though “The Steel Remains” contains a somewhat sparser amount of action than Morgan’s previous novels. Foremost, Morgan concerns himself with character development here. And it is quite successful as Ringil, Archeth and Egar are some of the most complex and detailed characters you will see in fantasy. Not since R. Scott Bakker’s “Prince of Nothing” trilogy have I encountered fantasy characters this fully realized. The downside for some readers may be that the emphasis on character development slows down the pacing of the story. This is, however, a necessary trade-off when you get worldbuilding this good. What readers will undoubtedly take from “The Steel Remains” is the setting and characters, rather than the plot. Pure and simple, this is a setup novel, an introduction to Ringil and his companions and the screwed-up world they live in. I expect Morgan’s early emphasis on character and worldbuilding will likely pay handsome dividends in the remaining novels in the series.

The language is brutally honest and profane (another Morgan staple) as well as being more current and anachronistic than some readers may like. In many ways, “The Steel Remains” is attacking fantasy clichés. The aspect most likely to seem genre-breaking will be the aggressiveness in which Morgan presents Ringil’s homosexuality. It’s in-your-face and deliberately confrontational (because that is how Ringil is), but at times I thought it was overreaching and unnecessarily theatrical. In view of the genre, Morgan knows Ringil’s sexuality will be shocking, so it seems almost juvenile the way he keeps belaboring it. Ringil needs to be more than just his sexuality, and a more subtle approach by Morgan may have helped achieve a more even-handed presentation. In comparison, Archeth is also gay, but the portrayal of her sexuality is much more restrained. (While Archeth is gay, her character is not attacked in the story with the same venom that Ringil’s character is. Sure Ringil is more outspoken about his sexuality than Archeth is, but the discrepancy is noticeable. By portraying male homosexuality as the pinnacle of degeneracy in the novel while at the same time showing more tolerance for Archeth’s lesbianism, Morgan is in danger here of falling into a male perspectivalism. In other words, some men are likely to make a harsher value judgment against male homosexuality as opposed to female homosexuality since they find lesbianism arousing. Inevitably this suggests that one is less offensive than the other, and this is the root of prejudice.)

Last Word:
Featuring a dystopian world that is hard, confrontational and ugly, “The Steel Remains” is a unique and true genre-bending novel, in essence establishing its own new genre: the bleak and destructive “nihilistic fantasy”. Morgan imagines a full and complex world and fills it with richly imagined and emotionally profound characters. The action sequences are brutal, bloody and fantastic, though the novel suffers a bit from not having more of them. But “The Steel Remains” is ultimately a character-driven affair, an introspective art house film rather than the action-packed summer blockbuster. It deserves being distinguished as fantasy literature with “literature” being the operative word. ( )