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

Ignore The Negative Reviews If...

I was a bit nervous about beginning this series due to the negative reviews and somewhat low overall rating. Now that I've completed the entire series, I figured I should come back and offer my opinion for others who may also have reservations. In short, the series is fantastic. I've read the Altered Carbon series and really liked it, but actually like this series even more. If you're read Morgan before, then you generally know what to expect. This book and the entire series is well-written, intellectual, multi-layered, philosophical, and has great action. The characters are also extremely interesting, particularly the three main characters, who I continue to miss now that the series is over. Truly great stuff and I'm confused why some reviewers have been so critical of the story. It may be because of the foul language (which I loved, because it's always artfully and appropriately done) or the gay sex, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the story or characters. I'll admit that the gay sex did at times make me uncomfortable, but to the extent that's a problem, I figure the problem is with me. Good fantasy writing should make us think and push us to really consider why we feel the way we do, and I think this book served that function for me. If you like smart, gritty fantasy (e.g., Abercrombie, Stevenson, Bakker, etc.), there's simply no question you should check this out. Also, as for performance, Simon Vance knocks this series out of the park (as usual). That dude is seriously talented.

.....From the Ridiculous to the Sublime.....

Richard Morgan has a way with words and a great sense of pacing. His depiction of action sequences, especially hand-to-hand combat, is unsurpassed. His characters are well fleshed out; you will get to know them as the story unfolds—get to know them perhaps a little too intimately for your comfort level. You may cringe every time they have a scene, but they will not bore you.

As I alluded to above, this book fits nicely into the category of Modern Fantasy. Gone are the world-saving quests of Middle Earth. There is no Elven magic ™ here; no grand struggle between good and evil. What you will find here is a story set in an un-kinder un-gentler world; a world where the heroes are unlikely and oft times unlikable, but, for that reason, all the more believable. Richard Morgan has a real sense of the inherent depravity of man which he employs in character creation that makes everything he writes essential listening—this is proved by his mastery of first Science Fiction, in his earlier books, and now Fantasy.

And now for something completely different: a bit of awkward philosophical introspection. I first read this novel in print after reading the amazing Takeshi Kovacs series. Fantasy is not my usual thing but Morgan is so good that I thought it was necessary to read. On that first pass, I was revolted by the explicit depiction of the deviant sexuality of the main character, Ringil. I examined my outrage and discovered that it was founded on my sense of morality, a sense that should have elicited the same level of disgust when reading depictions of fornication and adultery, which is prominent in much modern fiction. Take for example two very popular fictional characters: Ian Fleming’s womanizing spy, James Bond or Donald Westlake’s murdering thief, Parker. If morality is the basis for outrage then these need to be considered offensive as well. So my self-righteous outrage was misplaced. It was based on my personal proclivities on such matters. Now that I have dabbled in other modern fantasy novels I find this level of sex to be a common feature in the genre. Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series comes to mind as another example. The thing is, these novels are not about sex, the author uses it as a device to provoke a gut response in the reader — once you realize that, you can see it for what it is and try to enjoy the story. Morgan has chosen to populate this book with characters that are rude and crude and worldly. If they did not engage in despicable acts they would lose their credibility as ruffians and blackguards. Without crossing the line of decorum let me try to give another observation. A tabulation of the hetero acts that are explicitly depicted in this novel will reveal only those “positions” that can be performed by homo practitioners as well. This indicates to me that Morgan is tweaking the audience. Yes he has an agenda of promoting tolerance based on his anti-Christian worldview. No it is not done gratuitously. Morgan is systematic in his agenda, deliberately forcing us to examine our own hypocrisy in having selective outrage. I am still not comfortable with the scenes in question, but my second pass through this novel has made me realize that they are effective in evoking an emotional response from the listener; no mean feat for a seemingly simple Sword and Sorcery tale. .

Simon Vance has the air of a proper English gentleman. His vocalizations help smooth out the rough patches and make them less irritating. When a particularly harrowing, or particularly explicit, scene is being read by Mr. Vance (or is it Sir Vance?) I cannot help but think of Monty Python who could make the ridiculous seem sublime.

refreshing new character

Richard Morgan has created a refreshing and delightful new character and introduced him in style to the fantasy word. I know very little about the author himself, just what the typical bio's have to tell, but he obviously writes from the gut and other parts of his anatomy, "chuckle", and very well done. I think this is a must for all of his fans though I believe the content is not for the timid, but I doubt that any Morgan fans are of such nature anyway. I recommend this book to one and all and hope the next one is as readable.

worth a re-read

I'm currently reading this book for the second time, and I'm even more impressed with it this time around than I was the first time. There's a lot going on in this book that most people don't seem to appreciate. Yes, there's a lot of violence. Yes, there's a lot of swearing. Yes, there's some graphic sex -- although not nearly as much as some folks might have you believe. BUT -- and this is a huge "but" -- this isn't just a bloody sexy action adventure. This book is ABOUT things -- it's about domination, subjugation, loss, frustration, futility. It's about a brutal world and brutal situations, and how characters cope or fail to cope with them. It's about "The Other", both within a society and outside it. It's about a lot more than body counts or sex acts.

If you read this book, don't get lost in the superficial. Look for the meaning behind the action. The Steel Remains deserves a lot of thoughtful reflection, not just the easy knee-jerk response that many seem to give it.

Oh, also -- I own this book in both audio and text formats. I love it either way, but I do enjoy the extra atmosphere brought to it by Simon Vance's excellent narration. Good job, Simon!(less)

Wow!

if you have an open mind and like grimdark then this is the book for you!

There are no other fantasy novels like this one.

Richard K Morgan is known more for his sci-fi but his fantasy novels are his best work in my opinion.
The narration is somewhat boilerplate but the material is dark, relatable, compelling and at times humorous but most of all its completely original.

great book, but reader made imperials...

Great book, brilliant writing, bold main character, one of my favorite fantasy novels of all time. Reader was great, but made all the Imperials sound like cartoon vampires. "I want to suck your blood...blah!". Kept popping me out of the story.

What's with all the hate?

When I heard that Richard K. Morgan wrote a fantasy novel I thought Wow. When I looked up the book here at Audible and saw that it was in audio I said this is great. But when I started reading the reviews that others have written I thought 'OMG are these people for real.' If you are a fan of RKM's books you know that he writes explicit sex scenes at times. Why is it a surprise? Oh wait, it's because the explicit scenes in this novel are gay in nature. All I can say is get over it. RKM is a great writer regardless of the main character's sexual orientation.

Dark.

What made the experience of listening to The Steel Remains the most enjoyable?

The story itself has an atmosphere of constant brooding tension and incipient horror.

What did you like best about this story?

The alien-ness and magical creepiness of the antagonists was a refreshing change from standard fantasy fare, and the protagonists - weary, drug-addicted 30-somethings - were fresh as well.

Did Simon Vance do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

He does great voices.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The part with the heads on the trees was incredibly creepy.

Any additional comments?

The problem most people will have with this book (and with Morgan's other books) is the frequency of explicit, extended sex scenes. In the audio version, it's difficult to skip these.

Did not expect graphic gay sex

Enjoy adult content in a good story but 3 min gay sex scenes were too much for me. Story was decent and performance was great.