The Steel Remains

By: Richard K. Morgan

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

In just a few short years, Richard K. Morgan has vaulted to the pinnacle of the science fiction world. Now he turns his iconoclastic talents to epic fantasy, crafting a darkly violent, tautly plotted adventure sure to thrill old fans and captivate new readers.

A dark lord will rise. Such is the prophecy that dogs the footsteps of Ringil Eskiath - Gil, for short - a washed-up mercenary and onetime war hero whose world-weary cynicism is surpassed only by the quickness of his temper and the speed of his sword. That sword, forged by a vanished eldritch race known as the Kiriath, has brought him unlooked-for notoriety, as has his habit of poking his nose where it doesn't belong.

Gil is estranged from his aristocratic family, but that doesn't stop his mother from enlisting his help in freeing a cousin sold into slavery. Grumbling all the way, Gil sets out to track her down. But it soon becomes apparent that more is at stake than the fate of one luckless young woman. Grim sorceries that have not been seen for centuries are awakening in the land. Some speak in whispers of the return of an all-but-legendary race known as the Aldrain, cruel yet beautiful demons feared even by the Kiriath.

Now Gil and two old comrades are all that stand in the way of a prophecy whose fulfillment will drown an entire world in blood. But with heroes like these, the cure is likely to be worse than the disease.

©2009 Richard K. Morgan (P)2009 Tantor

Gritty and good.

This is a gritty fantasy novel. I enjoyed it. It is a refreshing change to those heros running around with their halos. True there is gay sex...yawn. However the author has some truely horrible ideas - I keep thinking of those living heads with roots out of my mind - just add water and they reanimate.

On the down side the author's characters drop the f-bomb every time they want to add emphasis to their speach. He seems more talented than that.

Clear Your Schedule

Clear your schedule before you start this book. Give yourself plenty of time to listen, think, and then listen some more. When reading anything Morgan writes I always feel as if I'm dull-wittedly missing about half of the story, while the other half goes over my head high enough to give me nose-bleeds if I try to think at a height needed to reach it. There's always meaning within meaning, stories within stories, and morals to the stories beyond what you at-first come away with.

Having had the privilege of corresponding with Richard in depth a few years back, I can tell you that he doesn't need the usual "cheap writer's tricks" to make you feel out of your intellectual depth; he's simply a highly intelligent man, with a gift for conveying that intelligence.

As is always said, Morgan's books aren't for the kiddies.. Graphic Language and explicit sex that shatters whatever taboos you can imagine. Richard doesn't write in sex scenes to excite, he writes them in to get your mood where he wants it to be to enhance the emotion he wants you to feel as you read/listen onward... If that sort of thing bothers you, he's probably done what he set out to do. A couple of taps on the "15 second advance" Icon will get you past them without taking away from your understanding of the overall story-line.

Being a hardcore Sci-Fi enthusiast, I fell in love with Morgan's writing during "Altered Carbon", but I followed his books into the Fantasy Realm simply because "Morgan Wrote Them". I haven't been disappointed yet.

Love it. Just came from the Dark Tower and the First Law Trilogy and this is on par with them.

If you're looking for a dark gritty story with believable characters this is for you. It doesn't have the same sense of humor that The First Law or The Bastard Gentleman but it's got more grit.

What I Expected

Very well read. The narrator was skilled and easy to listen to. I enjoyed the author's knowledge of combat and how it came through in the writing. Sex scenes were clear and hot but not so detailed that they bogged you down. Could use a bit more world building, but this is the first in a series. Overall a very solid read with a few slow points.

must read

loved it. read through the series three times so far and learned more and loved more with each reading. a grimdark fantasy masterclass

Publisher's Summary fails to mention gay sex.

Seemed like it was placed for shock value. I was amazed at how many times the author was able to use the "f-word" as well. Must be some kind of Fantasy/Sci-Fi Record.

Are We Sure This is the Same Author?

This was the worst fiction book I have read in years. If you want detailed descriptions of gay sex to go with your rambling pointless and uninteresting story line this book is for you.

I'm asking for a refund.

I don't really know what happened; it was boring.

I have no idea what motivates these characters or why they do the things they do. I'm not ranting. Parts of it were funny. It's well-written, too. But I've no clue why there was a battle at the end or what happened during said battle. Who are all these mythic creatures vying for war and why do they lust for spilled blood? Why was Gil taken to the Gray Areas/Zones/Whatevers? The whole story seemed like a huge jumble of nonlinear info dumping interspersed with semi-relevant flashbacks. In the book's defense, I was listening to it while working. So my concentration was in and out. Ultimately, though, it just didn't tickle me the way good stories often do.

Man-on-man Action

While all of Morgan's books have explicit sexual scenes in them, this one has man-on-man action. I tried to listen to it but gave up after about an hour. If you like gay sci-fi/fantasy, this book is for you. From the very short piece I listened to that did not contain man-man love, there seemed to be a heavy Herbert influence.

deeply disappointed

Loved the main story concept- but the author wandered into the weeds with excessive detail that did not serve the story. At all. At first it was distracting. Then it was irritating. And finally it caused me to loose interest. I found myself literally rolling my eyes in hopes of getting back to the point. And when finally re-joining the plot wondering "what precisely was the point of that vignette? Why did I need to know that? Could that not have been sufficiently accomplished sans excessive detail that strangulates pacing?"

I LOVE that the hero is gay. I love Simon Vance. But I'm deeply disappointed that the message eclipsed the mission here. I wanted a lot more story.