The Steel Remains

De: Richard K. Morgan

Narrado por: Simon Vance

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

Excellent! A brilliant fusion of genres

Morgan is best known for cyberpunk, and here he brings the gritty, noir-ish "realism" of that style of writing to medieval fantasy. Set in a detailed fantasy world that plays with tropes as much as it embraces them, Morgan nevertheless peppers this world with the same characters from the seedy underbelly of life that add the distinct color and flavor to cyberpunk. Take away implants, give them spells and swords, and it's no different.

As an antihero/protagonist, Ringil works. He's just gruff enough not to be a sympathetic Noble Homo, but challenges the conventions of how people typically view homosexual men. Ringil is a man's man... and that's the way he likes it.

Morgan peppers his dialogue with profanity, but it never seems affected or out of place. The sex scenes aren't graphic; I think the reaction people will have to them is born out of the Other-ness of homosexual sex rather than any inherent graphic nature to Morgan's description. I didn't find them to be a detraction or a gimmick at all. They were a natural extension of Ringil's character and behavior, and making him a prude wouldn't have fit the story well.

Great book, same as Takeshi novels but fantasy

It's amazing to me that the people who like other works by Morgan don't like this one because of the sexual content. Most of his work has explicit sexual content! This just happens to be the first that portrays flesh touching flesh were both the subjects involved have the same plumbing, his other works are just as sexually explicit. It's also amazing to me that such intricate and complicated subject matter can be liked or disliked purely on the basis of what shape the sexual subjects body parts have. I wonder how readers would have felt if one of Morgan's virtual reality sex scenes from his Takeshi novels were done with two men entering the virtual reality construct but one of them taking on the aspect of a woman and having hetero style sex with the other man, would that still be gay sex? Would people still be offended? It's a shame such a great book, which "The Steel Remains" is, should be criticized with such nonsense. If you like Morgan's other books, almost all of which have some explicit sexual content, you will like this one too, unless of course you are bigoted towards homosexuals.

Best new fantasy since Erikson and Jordan

Best new fantasy series since Steven Erikson's "Tales of the Malazan Empire" and Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time". Original and great story line and awesome fighting scenes.

Amazing writing, story, and narration

Full of suspense, action, twists, battles, and a damn good story! I purchased book #2 immediately!

Vance nails it

Ringil's "we stop them here" rant is some of the best narration performance I've had the pleasure of hearing.

Not your everyday fantasy

Umm... so.. ok... it had gay sex. Not really my thing, but I don't gamble or whore either and lots of characters in other books do both. So, /shrug.
I think having the main character be gay is actually a benefit to the story however. It adds something to his personality and reactions. He has VERY good reasons for his attitudes and behavior. Morgan's idea for his characters were insightful. Risky, but I think it paid off in how this story is definitely NOT like anything else you've ever seen.
Unfortunately I think Morgan spent all his time creating incredible characters, great dialog, inventive plot, and not quite enough time on world building. In Altered Carbon, the world is futuristic earth. Its easy enough to imagine and he only had to describe the new tech and general living conditions and we got the idea. This is not set on earth, or at least not as we know it in any way. I found myself wishing for more world building descriptions.
Overall, this book warrants a little more than 4 stars, but not 5. Hopefully the next book in the series earns 5.

Voices violate the eighth amendment

What sin did Richard Morgan commit to warrant the count chocula and Mel Brooks voices used for the characters in his amazing book?

excellent

excellent. Morgan does not disappoint with his storytelling. I was enthralled from the very beginning.

This isn't your father's gay hero!

Richard K. Morgan (The new 'god' of Cyber Punk) jumps the genre to keep himself free from pigeonholes. All Mr. Morgan's books have had extreme feminist leanings and his comics where a feminist steroid of the next generation! This book does not disappoint on those fronts, but if you have issues with Male on Male homosexuality or any homosexuality for that matter than stop now.
Now that everyone with a pre-disposed dislike for a majority of the books interpersonal views has left, Mr. Morgan has written a good, strong book. This is not Cyber Punk, or anything remotely close to the corporate mechanisms of 'Market Forces' of the past. This is a book of swords, horses and wagons, and not in a War Hammer 40,000 version either. The book is well written, as can be expected of any Morgan book, and his character inter-play has lost none of its wit. Strong story, good characters and a lengthy listen. A good book that missed a five star for some over the top gay sexual verbiage that seemed to be there only to antagonize the intolerant and not to strengthen the story.
Even so this is not your average medieval dandy prancing the countryside. He is a strong male character who cleaves Demons, and annoying toadies. The character isn't a perfect specimen of human gayiety to spite the intolerant either. He is flawed, (as with EVERY RKM novel) with horrible family relations, misses what he sees as a simpler time who has been out of favor and action just long enough to not know the right people, who has the power, and seems to be complaining about a small widening of the midsection. Him and his sword still kick some butt. A well rounded book, and many thanks to Mr. Morgan for his hard work. The narrator's voice lends a gruff voice to polish off the strong male character Mr. Morgan has written.

From Cyberpunk to Phantasy good transition.

Like many the gay stuff put me off a little. But really the gay part is a very small part of a long and exciting book.

I've listened to all of Morgans CyberPunk books and he's made the switch to fantasy very well.

Lots of swashbuckling action and intriguing characters.

The hero has feet of clay which makes it even more interesting.

The narrator is British so I'd suggest that you listen to a excerpt first as his accent might annoy some.

He wasn't bad but I would have preferred the narrator from the previous Morgan books.

I still gave this a 5 star as I couldn't put this down.