‘The Steel Remains’ – Richard Morgan (Gollancz Books)

I’ve said before that, after an amazing start with ‘Altered Carbon’, I steadily went off Richard Morgan’s later books. Nothing wrong with them as such, I just felt that he set the bar so high with his debut that he was never going to reach it with the sequels. Then ‘Black Man’ was published last year and I was a fan again, the review is over Here if you fancy a look. It was just after I started on the blog that I heard Morgan’s next trilogy would be fantasy based and my interest was piqued immediately (although I was also hoping that it would be more ‘Altered Carbon’ in tone than ‘Market Forces’!). I received a review copy, a few days ago, along with a note from Simon Spanton saying that ‘this is set to cause some waves…’ He’s absolutely right as well. It may not be the tidal wave of a book by Abercrombie or Lynch (one that leaves everything changed in it’s wake) but ‘The Steel Remains’ is full of those nasty choppy little waves (with vicious undercurrents) that can really mess you up if you’re out for a nice swim…

‘When a man you know to be of sound mind tells you his recently deceased mother has just tried to climb in his bedroom window and eat him, you only have two basic options.’

This is how the story opens and pretty much sets the tone of what the reader will get for the rest of the book. ‘The Steel Remains’ is very much a character driven novel that’s somewhat sparse as far as the ‘what lies where’ elements of world building go, although there are chunks of history that give the reader some grounding as well as set the story up for future episodes. Humanity is recovering from a brutal war against the ‘Scaled Folk’ and the ramifications of policies put in place by the new power blocs (slavery and ethnic cleansing to name but two). Three war heroes must find their way in a new world that they helped create but no longer has a place for them. Things are set to change though…
While the underlying story isn’t startlingly original (world-weary heroes, the threat of a Dark Lord etc) it’s what Morgan does with it that makes it wholly his own and a book that a large chunk of fantasy fans will relish. It’s not just a fantasy book; it’s also a detective story, that takes delight in leading you up the wrong path and then surprising you with revelations you never saw coming, but it’s not just that either. It also has moments of comedy that highlight just how much of a role sheer chance can play in world shaping events. Where ‘The Steel Remains’ really excelled for me though was in it’s depiction of ‘post-war trauma’ in the men returning from battle and how they are treated by a populace that is already beginning to forget the contribution made. Whether you are a mighty lord or a lowly foot soldier the nightmares are the same and what really got me was Ringil’s anger at how he could go to war fighting for one thing and then return to find that he had also helped to uphold everything that he despised. It was also interesting to see Morgan explore the ‘civilising’ affects that warfare can have on people from different cultures; Egar (the warrior from the steps) returns to lead his tribe but cannot escape the feeling that his life was better in the city, something that will ultimately send his life in strange new directions.
I’ve already said that this isn’t just a fantasy novel; it has elements of science fiction that Morgan deftly weaves into the mix to give a refreshing take on old tropes. A Dark Lord (yet another one) may be on his way but this time it doesn’t make me want to yawn…
The story is exciting, and fast paced, but all isn’t perfect in ‘The Steel Remains’. I think that Morgan makes the jump, from sci-fi to fantasy, very well but every so often he seems to slip back into ‘sci-fi mode’ most noticeably in some of his character’s dialogue. This can be jarring on the eye and I guess it’s the price you can end up paying for injecting more realism than is necessary in a fantasy novel (although that must be a fine line to walk…) It also felt that there was a ‘political’ edge to the writing that, although needed, was overdone a bit. I know that slavery/ ethnic cleansing etc is wrong and don’t need to be told quite so many times! And then there’s the issue of the sex and violence that is prevalent in ‘The Steel Remains’…
Now the way I see it, one person’s “He did that with his…!?!?!” is another person’s “HeeHee, he said a naughty word…” It’s all relative and people will react in different ways to what they find in this book. I didn’t have much of a problem with it myself, I love the grittier side of fantasy and this is part and parcel of that. On occasion though, it did feel slightly overdone and I wonder if this kind of momentum can be realistically continued in the next instalment. It’s really fresh right now but where do you go from here? What I will also say is that if your favourite fantasy fiction doesn’t contain much (if any) sex, violence and bad language then be prepared for a lot of it in this book!
‘The Steel Remains’ isn’t a perfect book but there was more than enough here to provide me with a thoroughly entertaining read that really got me thinking about what was going on. 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!

Nine out of Ten