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The most helpful favourable review
The most helpful critical review
27 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
Dark, brooding and powerful.
Richard Morgan erupted onto the SF scene six years ago with his blistering debut novel Altered Carbon, a hard-edged thriller set in the 26th Century. Morgan has made his name with intelligent, intriguing ideas about science, technology and sociology, based around unflinchingly violent protagonists and often withering analyses of the human condition. The Steel Remains is...
Published 15 months ago by A. Whitehead
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
A good start!
A surprisingly enjoyable book. I've never read anything by Morgan before as I don't do Sci-Fi, I'd heard that he had pretty visceral style of prose and producing very gory and sex filled stories.
I would say that this was quite an accurate description. A number of reviews of the book, not just here on Amazon, but in general, have commented on the number of...
Published 15 months ago by Reformed Geek
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
A good start!, 26 Aug 2008
A surprisingly enjoyable book. I've never read anything by Morgan before as I don't do Sci-Fi, I'd heard that he had pretty visceral style of prose and producing very gory and sex filled stories.
I would say that this was quite an accurate description. A number of reviews of the book, not just here on Amazon, but in general, have commented on the number of sex scenes. The majority of these sex scenes are homosexual in nature and whilst the first few are quite graphic in there description, the later ones tend to swiftly passed over. I didn't really have a massive problem with the number of sex scenes or the nature of them, yes they may not have been 100% necessary, but I didn't find they interfered with the pacing of the story. The same can't be said for the violence, which is pretty graphically described at very possible occasion. That said, the fight scenes are well written and give a good blow by blow account of some impressive sword play. There is also a great deal of swearing within the book, which is becoming pretty standard in modern fantasy. At first this stuck out, but once you start reading the book it becomes invisible.
The story is a little traditional I suppose, but I don't see that as a bad thing. It is a traditional story, but dirtied and mixed up enough for it not to be clichéd. It is the first time in one of these "gritty, dark, modern fantasy" books that I've really cared about the characters. I've read GRRM, Abercrombie, Lynch, Erikson and Bakker and enjoyed them, well bar the last two authors anyway, but just not really been that bothered about the characters.
Morgan quotes Michael Moorcock as being an influence on this writing of this novel and I can see why. I'm not that well read in regards to Moorcock, but I've read enough to see how it has helped shape both the writing style and the world building.
One major fault with this book isn't the authors fault, but in my version (hardback) there are lots of errors - missing or incorrect letters and punctuation.
I'll be looking forward to the next novel in the series.
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27 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
Dark, brooding and powerful., 17 Aug 2008
Richard Morgan erupted onto the SF scene six years ago with his blistering debut novel Altered Carbon, a hard-edged thriller set in the 26th Century. Morgan has made his name with intelligent, intriguing ideas about science, technology and sociology, based around unflinchingly violent protagonists and often withering analyses of the human condition. The Steel Remains is his first foray into fantasy, the first book of a trilogy with the unofficial name A Land Fit For Heroes (which I assume is ironic, because this land is very definitely not fit for heroes, although it desperately needs them).
This world is a harsh, dirty and grim place. Some years ago a race of sentient lizards - the Scaled Folk - crossed the western ocean from a dying homeland and attempted to conquer the lands of humanity. The forces of humanity - somewhat reluctantly - banded together under the leadership of the Yhelteth Empire and their Kiriath allies and destroyed the invasion at great cost. After four thousand years amongst humanity, the Kiriath finally abandoned this world, fleeing in their vast fireships back through the subterrenean portals leading to other worlds. Humanity has been left to lick its wounds and rebuild.
Ringil Eskiath is the famed hero of Gallows Gap, who led the heroic defence that finally broke the back of the Scaled Folk's invasion. However, his temper and his sexuality have led to him being outcast from his homeland and he now makes his living as a glorified tourist attraction, showing gawping spectators around the legendary battlefield. However, when his cousin is sold into slavery, he is called home by his mother and asked to rescue her. Ringil's journey leads him back into the shadow of his old life and to the realisation of a devastating new threat that is arising now the one thing it feared, the Kiriath, is gone.
Archeth is a Kiriath half-breed, left behind when her people left. Now she serves the Emperor as his advisor on Kiriath technology, but her presence is anathema to the increasingly fanatical religious leaders and she survives on the Emperor's sufference. The devastation of a coastal town leads Archeth's research to the horrific conclusion that an ancient force, powerful beyond measure, may be poised to return to this world.
Out on the windswept steppes, the barbarian warrior Egar finds life back among the clans unbelievably dull after he fought for the Empire as a mercenary, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ringil at Gallows Gap, where Egar earned the name Dragonbane. When Egar's position in the clan comes under threat, he is rescued by a most unlikely patron and whisked into a battle he barely comprehends, alongside some old allies...
The Steel Remains is a pretty dark, full-on and - to use a cliche, gritty. Those easily offended best stay away, especially if you found GRRM too explicit for your tastes as Morgan goes way, way past anything that GRRM has ever done in a book. The violence is visceral, bloody and painstakingly described. The sex is full-on and explicit. To be honest, the levels of sex and violence are somewhat higher than the plot demands. Whilst Black Man was similarly explicit, at least there it could be said that it was only done when necessary for the plot. The Steel Remains is, at heart, a gratuitous story which I suspect a lot of people will be put-off by.
Those who can stomach those elements will find all of those things that have made Morgan one of the most striking authors of his generation: deft characterisation, increasingly accomplished worldbuilding and a fiendish plot which seems to dance out of reach just as you think you've got a handle on it, replaced by something even more cunning than you previously thought possible. Here Morgan takes on of the biggest cliches in fantasy history and turns it on its head in a manner which is probably not quite as original as he thinks (unless he's read Scott Bakker recently) but nevertheless is deftly executed, leading to a powerful final scene that leaves the reader demanding more.
The Steel Remains (****) is dark, brooding, bloody, visceral and absolutely takes no prisoners. But the story it is telling is compelling, the characters are well-defined and the world throws up some refreshingly new ideas and concepts (some heavily influenced by Morgan's SF background). Some may find it all a bit too much, some may find this world too full of pain and darkness to actually be worth saving, but amidst the gloom Morgan carefully plants a few seeds of hope and optimism which the reader can cling to. The second book, with the working title The Cold Commands, will follow in late 2009.
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10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Superb , 4 Aug 2008
Well where do we start. It's Richard Morgan and it's fantasy. Hmmm not really a helpful description. More accurately, it's Dave Robichaux with swords. We have a cast of jaded heroes who flaws are so openly explored that we expect to hate them but somehow it helps us bond closer to them. The world mythos does have echoes of Michael Moorcocks finest novels but hey call me old fashioned but that is no bad thing. Personally I loved this book, it's about time someone gave fantasy back it's edge. It's dark, nasty and rocks along at a fair old pace. Ideal for mature readers who can't face another young warrior/wizard/adventurer winning though against the odds fantasy novel.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Not the usual Morgan, 23 Nov 2008
This is a new direction for Richard Morgan, but he pulls it off well.
To be honest, it's a relief after the boredom and drudgery that was 'Black Man'. Some of the characters and subject matter were new to me in the fantasy type realm, and I think this may have put many people off.
If you're looking for something better thought out and more entertaining to read than your average LoTR derivative, this is certainly worth your while!
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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Science fantasy grows up at last, 2 Nov 2008
Complex well-drawn characters that have real conversations with each other, yeah they fight and have sex, in short they act like real people. The plot is well-timed and keeps you guessing. The story is so well written you won't be able to put it down yet like me you probably won't want to get to the end. I hope this is the first of many fantasy books from Richard Morgan and I would love to read more about these characters, the only downside of reading this book is whatever book you go onto next can only be second rate - nothing compares!
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12 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Acclaimed SF author, does Fantasy..., 3 Aug 2008
Arceth, a black kiriath/human half-breed, abandoned by her kind, left with a bunch of technology she doesn't understand, to advise a human emperor she doesn't trust. Egar the Barbarian, a nomad who misses the civilisation of the city, and the reputation he earned there. And Ringil Eskiath, son of an important family, hero of Gallows Gap, and a hated degenerate by most of the people he saved...
I hadn't expected the humour. And the humour is what makes this one for me. While I'm all for gritty takes on fantasy, a book as gritty as The Steel Remains wouldn't work without the dark, always slightly cynical, humour, and I laughed out loud more times in The Steel Remains than I have in a fantasy novel for a while. That said, sometimes I felt that certain scenes might have been a bit coarse -- which is fine, save that those scenes didn't really advance the story that much. Sex scenes are fine, and most are in this book, but do I really want to know precisely what Ringil can do with his glans?!
Morgan also plays with a lot of things that aren't really that common in fantasy -- the aftermath of a horrible war, rather than the glorious march towards one; ethnic cleansing, etc. While this can, undoubtedly, be taken as a political comment, I don't think it was overdone -- and when it was, the character would tell themselves to shut up and make a joke of it. The casting of some main characters - heroes of a sort -- as homosexual worked really well, and wasn't just a token effort.
There are definite science-fiction overtones, too, which is probably what you'd expect from a "Richard Morgan novel in a fantasy setting". The "magic" is often more of a technological type -- science and magic are seen as pretty much indistinguishable, save by the Kiriath. There is a distinction, though, with gods/demons walking the earth. One element I really enjoyed was learning more about the history of the battles between the dwenda and the kiriath, and that humanity is only the latest to people that world.
Something I liked about the language used in dialogue was it's modernness. While "thee"s and "thou"s have their place, a novel like this is more suited towards the "yeah"s and "okay"s that everyone uses, even "the 50s".
The characterisations were excellent -- often built up slowly, throughout the novel, through flashbacks or (humourous) introspection. The worldbuilding was also above par, with a very interesting history attached. I'm loathe to make comparisons to other authors, but a lot of people at the end of the review will probably be thinking "hmm, Joe Abercrombie" which is very true, except that, personally, I think this a stronger start to the trilogy than Joe's first (which I loved).
Morgan has come at the fantasy field with a brutality, unflinching discussion of tough topics, and a sheer energy that people have become accustomed to in his SF - is the fantasy market up to it, though? Hell, yeah!
This review first appeared at thebookswede.blogspot.com -- a science-fiction, fantasy and horror blog. Reviews, essays, free books and author interviews!
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
At last!, 28 Oct 2008
Though a major departure from his usual turf, this hugely enjoyable book provides at long last a well written kick up the back-side for the pompous and moribund sub-genre of 'Sword & Sorcery'. Thank you Mr Morgan, and can we have some more please!
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9 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Let's be honest..., 14 Sep 2008
Let's be honest, I might be considered a fan of Richard Morgan's oeuvre, or more specific his "Takeshi Kovacs" novels, which - IMHO - are supreme Sci-Fi, a volatile and energetic mix of anarchy, weird ideologies, cyber-punkish technology and deeply sarcastic humor. Yes, they are gory, explicit and overall pretty violent in attitude, but never gratuitiously so
But "The Steel Remains" misses the aimed for target though, as the author seems from the outset to be frantically determined to break as many "clichee" molds of fantasy literature, provocatively if possible as he can lay his hands on..... For one we have a homosexual protagonist, a half-breed black female lesbian sage and special agent and.... almost too conventional to believe, a steppe barbarian who actually likes and appreciates civilization and its comforts, which makes him an outcast of sorts among his people. All of this seems ....forced.... and actually and surprisingly has little discernible impact or effect on the story itself, besides taking up many of the (none too numerous ) pages with description and vague background. In consequence, one never really gets to sympathise with the protagonists (between who's points of view every chapter jumps without much of a recognisable connection or overall structure for much of the book, only finally uniting the plot strands, awkwardly so, in the closing sixty pages ), however much their backgrounds and alleged motivations are examined and contrasted with surrounding society.
One of the reasons for this is that Morgan abandons his proven (and effective ) style of a first-person narrator, who's emotions and memories are shared by the reader and who anchors the elaborate and interesting excursions into "the works of the world" far more effectively.
With the trio of Ringil, Acereth and Egan, the reader at times has problems simply remembering who's view of the world he just got explained. Or even what drives the character. Mostly they stay vague and scantily defined and the narrative stylebecomes just forced and clumsy, making the read tiring.
And while in previous books the sex was certainly as explicit if more conventional, it there always served a purpose, to explain the connections and intimacy between protagonists and lesser characters, clarifying loyalties and outright manipulation. Here, things seem overly forced, and certainly to the more sensitive readership, there are more details about homosexual intercourse than one actually might care for. In effect, though they may be provocative or disturbing (and at times degrading ), they actually serve little purpose and do not even add plausibility and over time become simply tedious. I found myself actually yearning for their finish from a certain point onwards to see how the plot would develop. Unfortunately they are more numerous than one would expect
And, for all the effort Morgan puts into his type-casting of the heroes, the remainder of the world remains very much clichée, at times far more so than in other more conventional works.... The corrupt empire, ruled by the degenerate heir of a mighty warlord, who cares more for court intrigue than for safekeeping his realm ? A league of free and money-grubbing merchant cities located in a river estuary, with rampant corruption and sharp social divides? Helpless women enslaved and traded to a terrible fate of abuse and sacrifice through a deeply unjust legal system semi-aware of their fate ? The corrupt and autocratic monotheist religion of the "Revelationist" with its conservative morals and a penchant for "torture to purify the soul" is hardly original either, sorry to say.... Oh, and elegant and mystically outsiders, masters of glamour, speed and elemental magic, nocturnal and immortal as the villains who attempt to re-enter the world and claim their kingdoms lost to encroaching humanity ( Noone actually says "Fey", but they might just as well, for honesty's sake )? Pleaaaaaaaaase !
Sorry, but wasn't there some vivid imagination left for anything original or perhaps artfully twisted and re-envisioned ? Or at least a more complex story and plot ?
Obviously the protagonists drink, copulate and imbibe in (mild) drugs uninhibitedly and more so than in Tolkien's works, so that has to count for something with regard to "original", right ? Except, of course, it is hardly original if one has read Moorcock, Howard, Leiber, Cook or other fantasy classics, or even contemporaries like Lynch, Abercrombie and Meville - the inspiration of some of who Morgan himself readily acknowledges - so hardly being innovative at all.
Even in the author's once-upon-a-time skilled hands, this mixture would have been hard-pressed to take wing and soar, and obviously Morgan is not at the top of his game at the moment(he wasn't back in "Black Man" either, but this is worse). And trying to imitate say..... Abercrombie's "Rogue Triology" or China Meville's weirdrer conoctions of unconventional, non-clichee and broken/faceted characters in a fantasy setting, spiced with weary sarcasm and dry observation is not a sure-fire recipe for a good book either....
And YES, there still are moments of brilliant dialogue and terse, gripping combat and imaginative scenes and concepts, but they are painfully few and far between - and make the rambling tedious parts even worse in contrast. Oh, and as for the raw energy and momentum Morgan's novels are usually known and appreciated for, THAT is entirely lacking.
With a few more months of editing and creative expansion this could have been much better, more enjoyable volume and perhaps even been up to the expectations raised by the author's previous works....
I'll still wait for the next installment, after all there is now much room for improvement
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Almost but..., 20 Sep 2009
I really do like Morgan....
But this one feels like he's trying too hard.
The sex is full on and explicit but... is it really needed?
The language used is adult to say the least but it becomes intrusive and doesn't feel natural or fluid
and part of any effective dialogue.
The whole fantasy genre has recived a major and much needed kick from the likes of Abercrombie and in general the
quality of writing has improved across the boared....to be frank I was sick to death of lazy piss poor writing
and 'Book 8 of 17 of the Legend of Sad Scribes makring time' type of books.
Morgan produced good challenging books in sci fi and produced a good three book series that built on and
developed upon each volume. But this book doesnt reach those heights, it doesn't add to or challenge the genre
in the same way.
It feels forced and the writing feels... strained....looking for 'effect' rather than telling a
good story. Feels like an author 'reaching' to confront a genre rather than develop it....
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
From SF to Sword & Sorcery, 24 Aug 2009
The Steel Remains is average Sword Fantasy, written with vigor, light humor but lacking the primal force of Moorcock, Leiber, and Robert E. Howard.
The American market will be surprised by gay sex in Sword & Sorcery. Its not something we expect to pop up in this genre.
I actually enjoyed Market Forces, and thought Black Man derivative and somewhat lost.
Richard K. Morgan's writing career begins like Mohamed Ali, but this is more like today's Mike Tyson.
Its easy to criticize, but we all hope Morgan gets in training again as he has great ability. Richard Morgan is a talented writer proven by his superb Altered Carbon trilogy. I hope he writes something to that level again.
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