By Nic Lindh on Thursday, April 15, 2010 in review , book · 2 min read
Review: The Steel Remains
After joining forces to fight a ruinous war to repel an invasion from a race of aliens, the kingdoms of humanity are back to squabbling amongst themselves while the hero of the war whiles his days away in a tiny hamlet, trading his reputation for drinks…
Richard K. Morgan is best known for his Takeshi Kovacs novels where he melded the grit of noir with science fiction. The Steel Remains is his interpretation of classic fantasy—most of the fantasy tropes are there, including a dark prophecy, warring kingdoms, and magic. Morgan overlays the classic elements with thick layers of ultra-violence, cynicism, profanity, and graphic sex. Including, it should be pointed out, graphic gay sex. Very gay, very graphic.
The result is stunning. The Steel Remains successfully brings the fantasy genre into more fully realized—and above all gritty—territory. The plot is turbo-charged, the characters walking the fine line of being interesting while vacillating between being cynics and completely amoral, and the world Morgan has created exhibits a lived-in vastness with lots of room to grow.
In a lot of ways, The Steel Remains reminds me of Joe Abercrombie’s fantastic First Law Trilogy—the same grit, harshness, noir sensibilities, violence and sex. Although Morgan does go one step further by bringing in the hot man-on-man action.
Best of all, The Steel Remains is the beginning of a trilogy, so there’s plenty more goodness to come.
If you’re ready for a fantasy novel that’s a kick in the nuts, The Steel Remains is where it’s at.
Highly recommended.
You have thoughts? Comments? Salutations? Send me an email!
Related reading you might enjoy
Book roundup, part 40
Includes American Gun, I Want to Burn This Place Down, Blood Royal, Scorpio and Corvus.
Book roundup, part 39
Includes Empire of AI, Crossroads of Ravens, The Tainted Cup, and A Drop of Corruption.
Book roundup, part 38
Includes Dark Wire, The Crusaders, Dominion, The Mercy of Gods, Livesuit, and Weaponized.
Book roundup, part 37
Includes Doppelgänger, Be Useful, Rose/House, System Collapse, and Empire of the Wolf.
Book roundup, part 36
Includes Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Extremely Online, Number Go Up, Mercury Rising, The End of the Myth, and The Big Break.
Book roundup, part 35
Includes Hello World, A Frozen Hell, Powers and Thrones, Dead Country, Blitz, The Hope that Kills, and Worth Killing For.
Book roundup, part 34
We pour one out for The Expanse and Sandman Slim, and we raise our glasses for a sequel to Malazan. Also, an extra-bleak Holocaust tour and a discussion of how cults control their members through language. Includes Cultish, Nein, Nein, Nein, Driven, Happy-go-Lucky, The Nineties, Fargo Rock City, The Scholast in the Low Water Kingdom, King Bullet, The God is Not Willing, and Leviathan Falls.
Book roundup, part 33
Why your body hurts, lots of politics, and some truly demented grimdark fantasy in this installment. Includes Reign of Terror, Evolution Gone Wrong, The Cruelty is the Point, How to be a Liberal, The Splendid and the Vile, Deep Work, A Desolation Called Peace, Black Stone Heart, and She Dreams in Blood.
Book roundup, part 32
Includes Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You), Pappyland, Backstory, and Medallion Status.
Book roundup, part 31
Some very good history, some very strange novels and some slick space opera. Includes Enemy of all Mankind, A Very Punchable Face, Confederates in the Attic, Ballistic Kiss, Harrow the Ninth, The Library at Mount Char, Children of Time, The Last Emperox, and Cage of Souls.