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. ( )