The Steel Remains
"Bold, brutal, and making no compromises – Morgan doesn't so much twist the clichés of fantasy as take an axe to them. Then set them on fire." – Joe Abercrombie
Ringil, hero to anyone who doesn't know him, and a corrupt degenerate to anyone who does, wielder of the kiriath blade Ravensfriend and scarred hero of Gallows Gap. With the war long over and with nothing left to fight for Ringil lives in exile nursing his rage. But now he has a final chance to crank himself back up to the same pitch of fury that sustained him like a drug all those years ago.
Archeth, abandoned kiriath half-breed, and last remaining advisor to the
Yhelteth Empire on the abandoned kiriath technology she only
half-way understands herself. She barely survived the war against the
Scaled Folk, she has no family, no friends and no faith in the useless son of the ruling dynasty. But now a terrifying and apparently sorcerous enemy is threatening the Empire's borders and Archeth is chosen to find out what is happening.
And then there's Egar. Egar the Barbarian – or
at least he would be, if he could just forget what it was like to fight for the reputedly decadent but really quite civilised
Yhelteth Empire, what it was like to bring down a dragon single-handed in the war against the Scaled Folk. Egar the Dragonbane came back home to his people in triumph. But out on the steppe, something very unpleasant is coming to call...
Richard Morgan
Richard Morgan (born 1965) is a British science fiction author.
Richard Morgan was, until his writing career took off, a tutor at Strathclyde University in the English Language Teaching division. He has travelled widely and lived in Spain and Istanbul. He is a fluent Spanish speaker.
In 2002 Morgan's first novel Altered Carbon was published, combining elements of cyberpunk and hardboiled detective fiction and featuring the anti-hero Takeshi Kovacs. The film rights for the book were sold, which enabled Morgan to become a full-time writer. In 2003 the U.S. edition received the Philip K. Dick Award.
A Land Fit for Heroes
A Land Fit for Heroes consists of three books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Book Reviews
Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains is an interesting and well written fantasy book, but in my opinion it isn't an exceptionally good book, because it doesn't bring anything new to the fantasy genre. Some people have said that this book contains lots of explicit sex and violence and that's why it's different from other fantasy books. This is true, but experienced fantasy readers have read about sex and violence before, so they're used to it. Readers who have read only basic epic fantasy may think this book is a bit shocking, but experienced readers will probably think it's just a normal modern fantasy book. The Steel Remains is an enjoyable and entertaining fantasy book for adults, but it isn't a perfect book. It's worth reading, because the story is good and the characters are interesting, but it could be a bit better.