Customer Reviews
Science fantasy grows up at last - By: M. J. Odell, 02 Nov 2008 
Complex well-drawn characters that have real conversations with each other, yeah they fight & have sex,in short they act like real people. The plot is well-timed & keeps you guessing. The story is so well written you won't be able to put it down yet like me you probably won't want to get to the end. I hope this is the first of many fantasy books from Richard Morgan & I would love to read more about these characters, the only downside of reading this book is whatever book you go onto next can only be second rate - nothing compares!
At last! - By: Robert B. Birmingham, 28 Oct 2008 Though a major departure from his usual turf, this hugely enjoyable book provides at long last a well written kick up the back-side for the pompous & moribund sub-genre of 'Sword & Sorcery'. Thank you Mr Morgan, & can we have some more please!
Richard, go back to what you know. - By: James C. Kennedy, 03 Oct 2008 
I'm a big fan of Richard Morgan's work. He has put out tremendous stories -- this isn't one of them. Most of what he wrote appeared to be an attempt to break from the nomral fantasy genre & put some shock value. However, along the way, he missed the fact that you need a strong story & I never really cared for any of the main characters. If you haven't purchase this yet, you should consider it based on the strength of his past success -- you might like it, I didn't. I'll wait until he goes back to the SciFi.
Stick to space opera Mr M - By: The Electric Ghost, 02 Oct 2008 This over-hyped sword & scorcery "epic" is not the innovative & original saviour of the genre that you might have expected from the literary reviews. Three parallel storylines run alongside each other with little indication of the linkages between them. The characters are somewhat stereotyped with cod psychological explanations for their motivations & actions. Joe Abercrombie does it so much better - read The Blade Itself trilogy - or even Scott Lynch or Jennifer Fallon.
Good Effort - By: Mr. David J. Cowan, 21 Sep 2008 
Good effort by Morgan & well worth a read. Not quitein the same class as the Kovacs books or Black Man/Thirteen but i will still buy the next volume.
The only criticism I have of Morgan is that he seems to feel that a bookin incomplete without regular sex scenes. Authors tend to argue that 'sex is part of life' but so is going to the toilet & they rarely comment on this. Before saying this I must state that I amin no way homophobic however the nature of the sex scenesin The Steel Remains made me slightly uncomfortable, perhaps because they were unfamiliar & I could not relate to them, perhaps some gay people get this when reading books with straight sex scenes? I would have no problems with any kind of sex scene as long as it is thought provoking & well done, howeverin this book I didn't feel this was the case. I suspect that they have been added with the intention of being thought provoking, but coming from a generation that is generally well past discriminating on grounds of sex, sexuality etc if Morgan is trying to make a point then he is preaching to the converted.
In this book morgan continues & develops his ability to create believable & flawed personalities & a complex & unjust political system. There is an element to RIngil (one of the main characters) that is Kovacs with a sword but this doesn't soil the fun.
