Product Description

A dark lord will rise. Such is the prophecy that dogs Ringil Eskiath—Gil, for short—a washed-up mercenary and onetime war hero whose cynicism is surpassed only by the speed of his sword. Gil is estranged from his aristocratic family, but when his mother enlists his help in freeing a cousin sold into slavery, Gil sets out to track her down. But it soon becomes apparent that more is at stake than the fate of one young woman. Grim sorceries are awakening in the land. Some speak in whispers of the return of the Aldrain, a race of widely feared, cruel yet beautiful demons. 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.
 

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90748 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-20
• Released on: 2009-01-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780345493033
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Noir SF author Morgan (Thirteen) delivers a promising but obscenity-laden epic fantasy trilogy opener. As the Yhelteth Empire recovers from a devastating war, embittered veterans Archeth, Egar and Ringil embark on parallel but vastly different journeys. The emperor sends drug-abusing Archeth to gather details about a rumored invasion. Egar becomes a steppes clanmaster, but the other horsemen despise him for seducing teenagers rather than leading. Ringil attempts to locate and free a cousin sold into slavery. All three soon discover the dwenda, a race of magical beings thought long dead. Despite stereotypical plot elements, including a prophecy that states A dark lord will rise, the well-developed characters and realistic battle scenes ring true, as do some gruesomely explicit sex scenes. The intriguing conclusion to the dark, gritty tale will have readers hoping for a more plot-heavy and less visceral sequel. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
After reading his film noir take on the future in his science fiction novels, critics were eager to see how Richard Morgan would handle fantasy. In this respect, reviewers were pleased, noting how Morgan takes plot elements that are as old as those of Lord of the Rings or Conan the Barbarian and gives them a freshness by importing many of the themes that drove his sci-fi work. Several critics were a little disappointed by the pacing of the novel, though they seemed to find it more acceptable when they thought of the book as the first of a series. Every critic also warned readers that while they don't detract from the overall quality of the work, many scenes from The Steel Remains contain an awful lot of explicit sex, violence, and harsh language. Perhaps such scenes are right up your alley ...
Copyright 2008 Bookmarks Publishing LLC

Review
"An epic tale of gods and magic, betrayal and survival ... The Steel Remains will not disappoint. Morgan writes with an immediacy and frankness often hard to come by in fantasy, and his themes have great relevance to today's society. His portrayals of sex and violence are not for the squeamish reader, and his language is down-to-earth, but for those who prefer to have the sugar coating removed , THE STEEL REMAINS is a fantastic example of the modern fantasy genre." WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY "After five science-fiction novels that explored the seamier side of corporate machinations in grittily realised futures, Morgan turns his hand to classic fantasy. What remains constant is his flair for setting, complex political feuding, and strong characters forever on the outskirts of society. Ringil's character and his complex relations with those around him lift this novel far above the average." -- Eric Brown THE GUARDIAN "Morgan has taken traditional sword and sorcery tropes and given them a hard, contemporary kick. The antithesis of the cosy fairytale, this is one for big boys." -- Lisa Tuttle THE TIMES "It compels you to read on with its gritty, visceral writing and intelligent plot. It's tense and fascinatingly people and given that the follow ups will doubtless be tremendous, you're encouraged to jump on from the start. Just, ahem, steel yourself." -- Dave Bradley SFX "Richard Morgan's first foray into fantasy territory is, without a doubt, a grand success. Great characters in a great story are what drives all good books, and you get that here, with acres of bloody space for your imagination to gambol and play in. This is far, far better than any other fantasy you'll pick up this year." -- Guy Haley DEATHRAY "What raises the bar here from your run-of-the-mill fantastical hyper-narrative is the fact Morgan has written such a character-driven novel. All genres survive and thrive through reconfiguration and what Morgan has done with The Steel Remains is take a familiar template and rework it into something original, a novel that bends the traditional fantasy conventions to give a uniquely individual spin. Fast-paced and epically evocative." -- James Jones GAYDAR NATION "The Steel Remains is a dark, sometimes brutal tale that ably demonstrates why Morgan is one of the most adventurous fantasy writers around today." -- Wayne Clews ATTITUDE "The Steel Remains excels when Morgan steps back from the challenges to the reader, and the world-building, and really lets loose and has fun. Even at the bleakest moments in the book, the crisp, earthy dialogue between the characters never feels forced. Similarly, the action - sometimes quick and deadly, sometimes lavishly detailed - is always sleek, cinematic and brutal. Like rubber-necking at a collision of F1 cars." PORNOKITSCH "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" THE WERTZONE "Think 'The Dying Earth' with added barbarian badassery - this is some very superior genre-blending. Brutal fantasy fun." SANDSTORM REVIEWS "In a genre area currently filled with diamonds amongst the rough, it is one of the best books I've had the fortune to read this year. Those who know of Richard's SF, and like Fantasy, will be most impressed by The Steel Remains. There are going to be people who read this, not having read Richard's SF, who will be in for a shock. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. This was an eagerly awaited book which didn't let me down. Very highly recommended." SFFWORLD.COM "It's extremely good. Morgan is a gifted writer, and his gifts are lavishly on display here. The Steel Remains is a powerful turn-everything-up-to-eleven reading experience. It's the most impressive Fantasy novel I've read in a very long time: a big, brave, bollocks-out and often brilliant novel. It's not perfect, but it's a major novel for all that. I can't wait for vol 2." -- Author of "Swiftly" ADAM ROBERTS "TSR would make an excellent introduction to Morgan's strengths as a writer of adrenaline-tinged, throught-provoking, memorable speculative fiction. An enjoyable, engrossing read." -- Simon Petrie ANDROMEDA SPACEWAYS "A thoroughly entertaining read. If you're a fantasy fan (or fan of Richard Morgan's sci-fi work) then this is a book that you need to read this year. I'm already looking forward to the sequel!" GRAEME'S FANTASY BOOK REVIEW "Morgan has succeeded in keeping the scope and scale of the best in the genre, while making it more realistic through the introduction of more complex, fallible characters, with vices, doubts and fears (I wonder what Tolkein's Aragorn would make of Ringil). With his trademark hard-bitten, cynical characters, sex scenes that are more explicit than genre norms, and an effective, sparse writing style, Richard Morgan has really delivered the goods here." BOOKGEEKS.CO.UK "Since debut Altered Carbon, Richard Morgan has made a name for himself with taut science fiction thrillers; he now turns the same brutal energy to "fantasy noir". Our three protagonists are embittered, exiled, an embarrassment to the world they saved. They're dragged out of retirement to face a new threat, but the book's interest is as much in the psychology of these damaged, nostalgic veterans as in the gory action which ensues. Should appeal to both his fans and fantasy's." -- Alex Sarll PRESS ASSOCIATION "Bold, brutal, and making no compromises - Morgan doesn't so much twist the cliches of fantasy as take an axe to them. Then set them on fire." -- Author of "The Blade Itself" JOE ABERCROMBIE "A tautly-woven multi-layered fantasy tapestry with never-ending new discoveries and revelations, The Steel Remains kept me entranced and turning pages rapidly to learn the next new event or denouement. Author Richard Morgan truly delivers with this novel, which ought to appeal even to readers who don't usually pick up a story in the fantasy genre. I highly recommend this novel." RAINBOW READS "The characters are well drawn and detailed, and come complete with drug habits, taboo-breaking sex lives and shady pasts. It is a credit to Morgan that he makes such 'warts-and-all' characters with all their attendant flaws so engaging, and he has a real knack for crafting believable dialogue. Fans of character driven, low-fantasy rejoice. Richard Morgan takes to the genre easily and rewards his readers with blood, sweat, tears and black humour." -- Den Patrick DREAMWATCH TOTAL SCI-FI "British novelist Richard K. Morgan, best known for his hardboiled science fiction (Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, Woken Furies, etc.) dips his toe into the fantasy genre with his new book The Steel Remains. Okay, he doesn't so much dip his toe as wade in tooth and claw swinging a broadsword." SCIFI DIMENSIONS "If you thought that the only thing missing from Lord of the Rings was some hot Aragorn and Legolas action, then The Steel Remains may be the book for you. Slaying dragons, saving worlds and sucking cock are all in a day's work for hero Gil Eskiath in this gripping sci-fi fantasy. Richard Morgan's first foray into fantasy has produced a stark, dark, brutalist vision. The characters themselves display a startling realism and depth that moves beyond the realms of fantasy." THE PINK PAPER "An explicit, eagerly awaited fantasy story that's full of brutality and grit." MIDLANDS ZONE

Customer Reviews

Dark, dystopian, delivers
In the spirit of full disclosure, I should start off this review by admitting that:

A.) I'm a big fan of Richard K. Morgan's work. I devoured the Takeshi Kovacs books. I really enjoyed Market Forces. Hell, I even liked Thirteen. As a friend of mine says, Mr. Morgan should be: "chained to his desk and forced to write novels for me." A sentiment I wholly agree with.

Which leads me to my second admission...

B.) I was so excited for this book, Mr. Morgan's fabled, long rumored departure from sci-fi and his first foray into noir-ish fantasy, that I ordered the book from England. It doesn't come out here in America until January or something like that and quite frankly, that was too long for me. I couldn't wait. So, I actually ordered a fantasy book "special" from overseas...

So bare those things in mind as you read on...

In a nutshell, my review of The Steel Remains goes like this: Fantastic. Great. Very, very good. I really enjoyed it and I excitedly await the second... which I will probably order from England.

So it goes like this:

Ringil Angeleyes is a once storied Hero-of-Legend living off his reputation at the edge of the World. Egar Dragonbane once rode a Dragon down to its fiery death and now wallows in a life of boredom amongst his goat herding, steppe wandering, superstitious hick kin. Archeth Indamaninarmal is the last of her kind, a half breed left behind by her Father's people and now serving an Empire she no longer believes in and an Emperor barely worth his crown. These three former friends and companions, heroes and veterans of the war with the Scaled folk that nearly destroyed humanity, now find themselves on a path towards a new war, a war against a darker evil, a more powerful and more dangerous foe than the Lizards, and all with a World that none of them is even sure is worth saving anymore hanging in the balance.

So the main complaint I've seen, is the one from people who happily land with both feet on the "seen it before" rant, as if there is such a creature as a wholly original tale, ESPECIALLY where such a tired and played out genre as fantasy is concerned. First off, this book isn't a traditional fantasy story, so from the start, any comparisons are ridiculous. This is a far flung future world, a world so far ahead, that the moon is gone (having apparently been shattered at some point lost to history), technology and society has regressed (possibly due to the same cataclysm that befell the moon) and so much time has passed since that no one even remembers the world as it used to be. The setting alone precludes the inclusion of those tired and oh-so familiar fantasy tropes in the usual ways and their re-appliance in this new setting automatically makes them seem new again. Which is really the point, isn't it? To fall back on the old cliché: There's nothing new under the sun. The trick, then, becomes to redress the old as new.

And that's what Mr. Morgan does.

The classic fantasy bits here have been taken and twisted and painted with shadows. They are recognizable in order to allow the reader to slip into this new world somewhat easily and that very same familiarity makes the other odd occurrences, the incongruities included, seem to stand out and all the more strangely and noteworthy as a result.

So are there things you will recognize? Familiar Archetypes? Recognizable themes? Common twists and turns? Yes, at times. Guess what else? Morgan also uses gravity to keep his characters from flying off into space, someone call the literary police!

To be honest, part of this reaction is Morgan's fault. He has stated that it was his intention to do something new and different in the tired world of fantasy and to my mind, he has, but when you make that kind of statement, certain... people... quickly and firmly set their stance as biased and ready judge, carefully cataloging and comparing every nuance and bit against their pathetically encyclopedic knowledge of the poor limping parade of garbage that has come before just so they can rush out and highlight every last bit for the rest of us and then... I don't know, they get a badge or a plaque or something...

What you will find, should you buy this book (and you should) is a strange and dark and fantastic trip through a World that has just recently won their great climatic battle against a dangerous, otherworldly evil. They have saved their World. The War of their Age has been fought and won and Evil has been beaten and cast back into the seas from whence it came. Huzzah! ...And then everyone turned on each other. Alliances crumbled and petty squabbles over the lines on the maps soaked the ground with the blood of warriors who were, until just recently, friends and stalwart companions. It's a world were ignorance and religious driven hatred and paranoia rule the day and the moment where good stood together and the world could have almost been something great is now long gone. And no one knows this better than the War's heroes. They drink and wallow and wander and wonder if it was all worth it. Their golden moment of glory has given way to the long dark of smoky bars and regret tinged ghosts. But despite all this, our trio of heroes are just that, heroes and when the clarion call of trumpets sound them back to battle, they come, no matter how small and tinny those trumpets may be. In the end they stand together in the dark to fight the first skirmishes in a coming battle against an ancient evil newly awoken...

What more could you want then that?

The second complaint I've heard is over the "gayness" of two of the characters. Yawn. Whatever. Its there. So what? Morgan's books have always leaned graphically toward sex. If this puts you off, then know that this book is no different than the others.

The third complaint I've read is that "nothing happens". That's just... completely untrue, completely, but I can see where certain... people... might complain of that, being that they like things that `splode and only things that `splode, well, sorry, what can I tell? At times, in this book, Mr. Morgan does spend some time developing his characters, their situations and the world around them. There is some set up required. This is the first book in a trilogy and as any real fan familiar with sci-fi/fantasy will tell you, that means there's two more books coming and as such, one could expect that there is more story on the way and that perhaps... PERHAPS... Morgan is keeping the big, big battles for later... Maybe...

Anyway, to make a long story short. I loved this world and its melancholy gray characters moving through their shadowed landscape. I loved the "real" characters, the three dimensional characters and their normal speech patterns and thoughts thrown into the mix with the classic tropes and trappings of monsters and magics and myths. I loved the hints of mysterious and long forgotten high technology and the broken down remnants that remain. I loved the murk and the muck and the mud. I loved the hollowness of the Empire's rhetoric and the sadness and disappointment the heroes felt in its wake. And I loved them returning to battle again, because in the end, they can do no less.

My recommendation: Buy it.

Readers who are up for a challenge can be rewarded
Richard Morgan is an extraordinary writer whose prose flows off the page and wraps you up in the scenes. His prior science fiction works, as noted by others and my prior reviews, are classics. Steel Remains carries over his talent into the Chainmail and Broadswords category. The initial imagery and creatures are reminiscent of Michael Shea's work "acrawl with grotesqueries" but the characters are distinctly Morgan's own.

When Mr. Morgan stated that he wanted to do "something different" however, you need to understand that he is doing something truly different and challenging many preconceptions about the genre. Other reviewers have pointed out that two of the three main characters are openly and not-so-openly gay. All of the normal anti-gay sentiments are presented in many variations from the differing factions in the setting, but the reader needs to be prepared for lurid sex scenes of a homosexual nature. This is certainly different and will throw most casual readers of the genre for a loop. Most read the genre for he-man derring-do, not for male-on-male action. Mind you, there is a strong potential in later books, should there be any, for equally lurid female-on-female action, which might prove a balm for some aggrieved readers, and there is one character who carries on a frankly hetero relationship with a sixteen year old, but one absolutely must have an open mind to the author's intentions - to set certain conventions on their head, so to speak, and test the limits of his readers.

For those who can comprehend and deal with that challenge, there is a rich reward in terms of storyline and intrigue. This is a stronger work than Thirteen, more compact and faster paced. The action is almost nonstop and the scenes of combat and conflict are superb. Although I think it would have been fascinating to be a bug on the wall of the room in which Mr. Morgan discussed the problematic aspects of this work with his editors and publisher, the final result is eminently readable and an excellent sword-and-sorcery tale.

Gritty, dark and fantastic.
Like another reviewer, I wasn't gonna wait until this book made its debut in the U.S. I, too, ordered a copy from the U.K. Money well spent!
So, below is my original review.

Y'know I wasn't going to bother. But the only other review for this book (the paperback version, that is) seems to be unduly distressed about the homosexuality of one of the characters. That's sorta like watching "Titanic" and complaining about Leonardo DiCaprio's tuxedo -- you're missing the point.

The Steel Remains is a gut-wrenching look at an archetypical sword & sorcery novel. Swordfights? Yep. Sorcery? Yup. But it's not clean. It's not Disney. Richard Morgan shows us how horrible such a world would really be. His discriptions of violence are deeply disturbing; they unflinchingly portray what happens when a swordblade strikes a person. His "heroes" aren't heroes at all, they're simply survivors (who often survived because they were lethally competent killers). I find this oddly refreshing. So many other fantasy authors seem to forget how awful a world dominated by swordsmen would be. Particularly if you, yourself, were an unarmed shopkeeper, peasant, or slave. The Steel Remains is a Dragonlance novel for grown-ups.

Having said all that, I STRONGLY recommend this book. It's not for everyone, granted, but it's an excellent tale with plenty of action. And sex. And violence. It follows the tales of 3 former comrades who find themselves together again, fighting a semi-mystical enemy bent on invasion and conquest. Rather than give any of the plot away, I'll simply say, Richard Morgan has written another winner. I look forward to his next novel, in whatever genre.