Highly Recommended Reading - 'The Steel Remains' by Richard Morgan

Filed by: Darren Turpin on March 8, 2008 at 17:50
Filed under: Books

'The Steel Remains' by Richard Morgan - Click for ordering info from Amazon.co.ukSince the publication of his debut novel Altered Carbon in 2002, Richard Morgan has steadily been building a reputation for producing rather excellent, high-octane, action-fuelled sf-noir with a very hard edge and plenty of grit.

Yet for all the blood, guts and hi-tech über-violence, his books have always been driven by superb characterisation and a very eloquent writing style, two characteristics that have ensured his novels are held in the high regard - by both critics and fans alike - that they so richly deserve.

I for one have been a fan of Richard Morgan's work from day one and I most definitely sat up and paid attention when, back in September 2006, Morgan announced that he was planning a change of direction; that his next book wouldn't constitute hi-tech science fiction of any kind; that he was, in fact, going to write an epic fantasy novel (or three). Speaking as a lifelong reader of fantasy fiction and one with a distinct preference for the darker end of the epic / heroic / low-fantasy spectrum, this was a prospect that I found... tantalising, to say the least.

And so when Gollancz's Simon Spanton asked me, a couple of weeks ago, if I wanted to read a manuscript copy of Richard Morgan's first foray into the fantasy genre, I didn't so much bite his hand off as rip his arm away at the shoulder.*

I will confess that it was a slightly trepidatious prospect - seeing what sort of a fist one of my very favourite non-fantasy authors would make of one of my very favourite fantasy sub-genres - but I'm very glad to say that I really needn't have worried in the slighest: The Steel Remains is absolutely superb.

I won't go into too much plot or character detail here, because I'd hate to ruin that same sense of anticipation for anyone else by dropping spoilers, but for the sake of making this review a worthwhile exercise I will try to convey a sense of the over-arcing elements that made it so satisfying a read.

For a start, it's written with all the flair and aplomb that you'll find in any and all of Morgan's other novels; it has the same flowing, readable prose style, the same tightness of dialogue and succinctness of description. It's also possessed of an incredibly dark atmosphere - both in terms of its setting and its overall tone - and as you'd expect from Richard Morgan, the action sequences tend to be violent to the point of viciousness... brutality, even.

In fact, I'll pause there and attempt to coin the term 'brutalist fantasy' (not actually a Googlewhack, but thankfully not for the reasons you might suspect...) to describe the overall feel of of pain- and anger-drenched atmosphere that Morgan conjures up amidst the sucking swamps, stark wilderness badlands and slum-infested city-scapes of his world.

The setting for The Steel Remains is a post-war society and several of the main characters are veterans of that titanic struggle to save humanity from the invading hordes. As I mentioned in my recommended reading piece on Joe Abercrombie's Last Argument of Kings, this isn't something you get to see all that often; it's more often the banner-waving, marching off to battle, heroic standing against overwhelming odds and subsequent last-gasp Saving of Everything by the Forces of Righteousness that gets all the attention. The aftermath to such a conflict often amounts to little more than a chorus of fanfares and a medal-bestowing ceremony, or simply becomes the jumping-off point for the next great quest or battle.

The Steel Remains, on the other hand, devotes a great deal of thematic attention to the concept of aftermath, and is all the more fascinating for it. Some of the major themes of the novel include: loyalty (and its obverse, betrayal), courage, camraderie, honour, and the struggles of war veterans to come to terms with the psychological scars of the conflict.

Morgan also addresses a number of wider socio-political issues, among them: the mechanisms of political control, economic recession, forced repatriation, sexual repression, institutional bigotry and religious intolerance. Quite a number of the issues which we ourselves are made painfully aware of with every news bulletin, in fact; really not at all what you'd normally expect to find in a novel with the 'fantasy' label on the back cover.

In a recent blog post, Morgan describers the book as a "retro-dystopic vision" of a time when "people resolved their differences with bits of sharp steel ... probably not a very nice time to be alive". He also says:

"Look - it's like this: if you really, really love Tolkein with a firmly burning uncritical passion, then there's a good chance The Steel Remains is going to upset you. If you really, really love all those stories about simple, good-hearted farm-boys becoming princes or wizards, then there's a good chance The Steel Remains is going to upset you as well. And if you like your heroes masculine, muscular and morally upright, well, then you could be in serious trouble here."

I'd definitely echo that. If you pick up a copy of The Steel Remains expecting to read a traditional (which I feel is kinder than saying 'bog-standard') fantasy adventure story, then you're going to be in for a shock.

All of which raises the question: will the fantasy-fiction reading audience - a notoriously conservative one for many reasons, not least of which is the generally accepted desire of large sections of its readers and fans to escape from exactly those sort of issues - decide to embrace Morgan's almost unique take on the genre, as a bold attempt to help drag a sometimes overly cliché-ridden genre into more relevant thematic subject areas? Or will legions of avowed acolytes recoil from the lack of familiar, safe reference-points, picking on the one or two more obviously controversial elements of the novel as a convenient scapegoat to justify a rejection of the novel which masks their own lack of willingness to explore?

'Controversial elements'? Oh, aye. Just a couple. In fact, I'd go as far as to predict that The Steel Remains is a book that will split the fantasy reading audience right in two, straight down the middle: love it or hate it. Because it's also a very provocative novel: politically, socially, sexually and psychologically; a genuinely challenging read all round. And there are certain scenes in the book - I won't say what they are, but you'll definitely know them when you get to them - that will make more conservatively-inclined readers very uncomfortable indeed.

Which raises another question: how much of the more overtly provocative (in a genre-standard sense) material in The Steel Remains is there as a result of Morgan wondering just how far he could push the envelope; just how much he could get away with? It's tempting to imagine him sitting there, working out what you almost never see in fantasy fiction and then making sure he throws plenty of that in, along with a bit more of this on top for good measure.

As it turns out though, the question is possibly an unfair one. In a follow-up chat, Simon Spanton assured me that Morgan hasn't actually read all that much within the fantasy genre - a suggestion borne out by the reading lists and recommended books occasionally posted to the author's website - so it's hardly a case of Morgan working out what was missing from everything else, then lumping it together and chucking it all in for maximum effect.

Instead, I was assured that the author has set out to write 'a Richard Morgan novel in a fantasy setting', rather than 'a fantasy novel by Richard Morgan'. It's a subtle distinction, but an important one, and it's one that should help to explain why there's so much in The Steel Remains that you just wouldn't expect to find in a typical example of the genre, along with quite a lot of material that readers of Morgan's earlier work will find both enjoyable and intriguing, despite the change of milieu and the very definite rooting in the fantasy genre (albeit with some intriguing hints that the world, or even the universe, could potentially be a much larger and more complex place than initially assumed).

In conclusion, then: The Steel Remains is one of the darkest, most intense epic fantasy novels I've read to-date. I also think it's a fantasy novel that doesn't so much transcend as extend the genre, into the sort of thematic territory that the majority of fantasy writers wouldn't even consider going anywhere near. As a result, it could just turn out to be one of the most important fantasy novels, epic or otherwise, to have been written in the last ten or twenty years, if only because it could provide an additional impetus for the growing number of similarly-minded writers to think even harder about how far they can actually push their own ideas.

Anyone with a hankering for the sort of intensely interesting fantasy fiction that the likes of Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie, Glen Cook China Miéville, Scott Lynch, Alan Campbell and co. have been writing recently, or even a glimpse of what might have been if the likes of George R.R. Martin, Paul Kearney, Greg Keyes, or even David Gemmell had teamed up with Quentin Tarantino for a novel or two, then this is definitely a story you should seriously consider reading.

But on the other hand, if you already suspect that you don't like your fantasy in the slightest bit brutalist, then I'd simply suggest this: steer clear. You won't be doing yourself any favours by daring the beast in its lair... unless you think the time has come to leave the safe and well-worn paths behind and venture a little deeper into the swamp-muck...

Author Info: www.richardkmorgan.com
Publisher Info: Gollancz (UK)
Publication Date: August 2008
Ordering: Amazon.co.uk

*I should probably point out that I do run Richard Morgan's website, which is how I ended up in so rare and privileged a position...
Filed on: March 8, 2008
Filed under: Books
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Comments

17 Responses to 'Highly Recommended Reading - 'The Steel Remains' by Richard Morgan'

  1. R on March 8th, 2008 8:34 pm

    *Morgan also addresses a number of wider socio-political issues, among them: the mechanisms of political control, economic recession, forced repatriation, sexual repression, institutional bigotry and religious intolerance. Quite a number of the issues which we ourselves are made painfully aware of with every news bulletin,*

    So he goes moonbat again? That's a shame. Thanks for saving me from pre-ordering.

  2. Jonathan M on March 9th, 2008 1:47 am

    I think the amount of hype growing around this book is worrying. A lot of non-epic, slim fantasy is miles away from Tolkien and does what it does very well in quite interesting ways. It doesn't pick a fight with Tolkien.

    Hubris, then Nemesis is all I'm going to say.

  3. Ed on March 9th, 2008 3:17 pm

    I'll not just dare the beast's lair, I'll walk right in and poke it in the eye.

  4. Adam Whitehead on March 9th, 2008 8:20 pm

    Interesting that Morgan is swapping the controversial near-future thriller of Black Man for the pitiless epic fantasy of Steel Remains at exactly the same time that Scott Bakker has swapped the pitiless epic fantasy of Prince of Nothing for the controversial near-future thriller of Neuropath. I must admit to looking forward to The Steel Remains enormously.

  5. Robert on March 10th, 2008 6:23 am

    Man, I got to say that I'm extremely jealous ;) Richard K. Morgan ranks right up there with my favorite authors, and I've been salivating for his take on fantasy ever since he first announced it. Sounds like it's just as good as I imagined it would be :D

  6. Darren on March 10th, 2008 8:51 am

    Jonathan - I don't think Morgan is deliberately 'picking a fight with Tolkien' - that's certainly not the impression I was trying to convey. He's written a Richard Morgan book in a fantasy setting. As a result, if Tolkien is someone's idea of the perfect fantasy novel, then it's probable that they won't enjoy The Steel Remains all that much... apologies if I mis-represented that aspect.

    The mysterious 'R' - You're welcome. This really isn't going to be a book that every reader will love, and if you don't think a fantasy novel with themes above and beyond the norm will be your kinda thing, then it's probably best not to upset yourself by reading it.

    Ed, Adam, Robert - I think you're in for a treat, guys. Gollancz ought to be sending proofs of this one before too long, I'd imagine.

  7. thrinidir on March 10th, 2008 12:58 pm

    I've read his initial Takeshi Kovacs trilogy that left me with mixed feelings; but I'll still probably read this coz' I really wanna know how he managed the transfer from technonoir sf to gritty fantasy dealing with the aftermath of war. cheers for the review though.

  8. Darren on March 10th, 2008 1:06 pm

    Hi Thrinidir - You're welcome. Morgan said somewhere that one of the major differences between genres is that it takes characters in a fantasy novel so much longer to get anywhere... the lack of sub-orbital shuttle flights can be a real issue when you're plotting a multi-location story-arc, apparently... :)

  9. Alison on March 10th, 2008 1:27 pm

    I read Morgan precisely because his novels are provocative and challenging - not because of the setting. From what you've written, Darren, it sounds as if he's pulled it off again!

  10. Darren on March 10th, 2008 2:28 pm

    Hi Alison - Well said. And yes, I think that's exactly what he's achieved with The Steel Remains.

  11. James on March 10th, 2008 10:10 pm

    Really good review Darren, I'm definitely intrigued and will have to check it out when it is released.

  12. thrinidir on March 12th, 2008 1:35 pm

    Damn. I've read this review again. It's fantastic - I'm not completely convinced on the superbness of the novel since I'm familiar with Morgans previous work, but the review it's self is everything I want to be able to do with my reviews. It's low on content and grand on analysis; maybe a bit long for the attention-span of an average joe...but nevertheless a great review.

  13. Darren on March 12th, 2008 2:24 pm

    Hi James, Thrinidir - Well, thank you both very much for saying so. Took me long enough to write (and re-write, and edit, and re-edit...) so it's good to know I managed to end up with something half-decent :)

    I agree with the possible attention-span issues. Keep promising myself I'll keep them short & snappy in future, but then when there's so much in a book to talk about it's difficult to stop sometimes...

  14. Ed on March 12th, 2008 11:46 pm

    Considering how short my reviews are you'd think I'd have written more of them by now, but they take long enough to write as well.

  15. Joe on March 15th, 2008 2:24 pm

    I'm quite jealous, mate, we've both been huge fans of Richard's since the start and I have fond memories of the stir Altered Carbon made back in our Alien Online days (gone but not forgotten) and having Richard signing some books in the store when his name was still just getting out. I've always got more books in a pile waiting to be read than I have time to get through (same as yourself I suspect) but Richard is one of the few writers I will always clear the decks for - soon as those proofs start coming out from Gollancz everything else is getting swept to one side for a week, can't wait to see what he does with this.

    Also nice to see Black Man on the shortlist for the Clarkes this year. On which note fellow shortlist nominee Ken MacLeod confirmed the rumour that the runners up for the award are given vouchers for Clarkes shoe shops, so if you see any top SF writers sporting sensible shoes you know where they got them :-)

  16. KangarooJoe on August 14th, 2008 2:04 pm

    I have just started reading this - fantastic start.
    Great review. I think that it is so important to be challenged by what you read, no matter the genre. But as a fantasy Buff, this is a rare treat.
    So good on RM for giving a stagnating genre (very few exceptions) the kick up the a**e it so desperately requires.

  17. sci-fifantasy on July 12th, 2009 8:22 pm

    Definitely one of the best reviews I read on the Internet for a fantasy novel. Congratulations on that. Now all I have to do is read the book, haven't I?

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