The Dark Defiles (A Land Fit for Heroes)

The Dark Defiles is the final book of Richard Morgan's fantasy trilogy that started with The Steel Remains and The Cold Commands.

I'm a huge fan of Richard Morgan, but the problem with his approach to fantasy is to take all the complexity of modern fantasy and dial it up to 10. The result is a mix of races (dwenda, aldrain, kilrathi), fantasy (magic, dark magic, and super science) and situations that would take a very long novel to explicate.

Well, The Dark Defiles is a very long novel, but I'm not sure it fully succeeds in the explication. It's also only somewhat satisfying. The three main characters, Ringil Eskiath (the gay Barbarian swordsman), Egar Dragonbane, and Archeth (the last half-breed Kilrathi left on the planet) are split right at the start of the novel, and become only two by the end of the story.

As the story proceeds, it becomes more and more clear that the story is a far future science fiction novel, rather than a standard fantasy. This is all very nice, though it's been done before, it's usually done in some long drawn out series because most such authors seem to think it's a cool trick that should be drawn out. Morgan has no such compunctions and has no issues doing one big reveal after another.

Nevertheless, the book is deeply flawed. While the previous novels in the series do a good job of upending standard fantasy tropes, The Dark Defiles spends a bit too much time wallowing in its own meta-fiction, therefore eliminating any chance that you care about the characters. In particular, Archeth seems particularly dense for being an immortal being whose the last daughter of a race of super-engineers.

Furthermore, even the meta-fiction leaves too many questions unanswered. For instance, if the world was so broken when the Kilrathi arrived, why did they bother fighting for it? And the questions of where the random other deities that popped out remains unanswered. Even the fates of our protagonists is annoyingly left untied.

I don't want to leave you with the impression that the book isn't worth reading. The action sequences are done in ways that only Richard Morgan can. You'd be hard put to come up with a better effects budget than what occurs in the mind's eye, and Morgan shows how to do it. Each individual section of the book is comparatively well written, it's just that the whole doesn't quite come together properly and the result is unsatisfying.

Ultimately, the mystery of why this book took so long to come out, and why it was comparatively disappointing is solved when you read the afterword: the author had a son during the writing. That explains everything. Nobody can be coherent after one of those events, and it explains why the novel is so chaotic and unpolished.

If you're a fan of the fantasy genre, this book's definitely worth reading because it does a good job of being very different from what anyone else has done in the genre. If you're a fan of Richard Morgan, however, be prepared to be very disappointed. It's more ambitious than Altered Carbon, but fails far short of those ambitions and hence is probably the second weakest book in his portfolio.

Three stars for the prose and characterization.

Plot, though...oy. It's literally incomprehensible. Granted, it's a complex thing--a novel that starts as a fantasy, turns into sci-fi. It's like the premise of Mark Lawrence's much better Broken Empire: A war has broken the rules of physics, leading to what seems to be a post-apocalyptic setting where "magic" is possible. Lawrence had the wisdom to keep this simple. His universe was strange, yes, but I never doubted the explanation, possibly because Lawrence is a physicist, and had something in mind. Morgan? He complicates, and complicates, and complicates some more, offering zero explanation. That would be ok, if this mess were relegated to the background, but it isn't. This is the plot.

So Morgan offers the requisite initial "war," which broke the rules (I think) plus its results--Grey Spaces, the Void, the Source, the Code, marsh people who know about "glyphs," "dark defiles," "dark court," all very much a part of the plot, yet incomprehensible. Much of this is introduced in the last thirty pages, when Morgan should be elucidating.

THEN there is the heart of the plot, which (I think?) is a battle between our heroes and the dwenda. Here, too, it's a godawful mess. The human societies presented are all evil. I don't have a problem with that; when I look at the world today, I don't see a hell of a lot of just societies. Kiriath, a race of immortal engineers, who might or might not be related to humans (I think????) are siding with the humans...and the Kiriath are genocidal, having already exterminated most of the dwenda. So these are our heroes. That's ok--this is grimdark, and a just war is as difficult as finding a just society.

And the dwenda are bad, because?

...Morgan doesn't offer that "because." And I could accept that, had Morgan, like Abercrombie, claimed that both sides are equally messed up, and concentrated on characters and how absurd the situation is.

Sadly, Morgan doesn't do that. Morgan (I think!!) wants the reader to see the dwenda as the bad guys, but he offers little reason for why this should be. At the end, (no spoiler, this is a part of the novels) he hints that, unlike the engineer-Kiriath, the dwenda are mystical. Eh? What makes it even worse is that the dwenda, what with the Kiriath extermination, are also very weak, leading to final battles which fizzle out, due to small dwenda numbers, and the massive amount of deus-ex-machina rescues for Ringil.

And it's all a huge shame, as Morgan writes beautifully.

after years of waiting for the next instalment of Morgan's fantasy series.
novel is too long and slow, at times unreadable, bearing no resemblance to the first books in the series.
the graphic gay sex scenes are repulsive and add nothing, in my view.

it seems Morgan, on this third novel could not resist reverting back to his sci first background ( absolutely not my cup of tea ) and thus, for me, this book was a disappointment to be read with sacrifice, just out of respect to the idea I had when reading the first two novels.

The problem with reading trilogies that were written over several years is remembering what happened in earlier books. Like many, this book starts in the middle of action with no background material. I found the complexity of novel's world with all of its different races and demi-gods to be too much and quit half-way through it. I found the first book, The Steel Remains, a great book, and highly recommend it. I loved his Takeshi Kovacs novels and wish he would write more of them.

Such an excellent series, such a disappointing ending.

I really loved the first book, The Steel Remains. I loved the characterization, the writing, the ending, all of it. I was along for the second book, but it felt more transitional to me, the characters didn't deepen as much, the plot didn't add as much, but I was with it. Then came this book, I was so excited to read it that I down loaded it in the middle of the night, so grateful that I could do that on my kindle.

And then I read, and read, and read some more. I didn't find anything added to the characterizations, and I felt Ringil slipping through my fingers, he was not the man we first met and he was turning more and more into a cipher for me. The writing is still excellent and the idea/descriptions of the grey spaces worked well for me. But the over arching them? The solution/revelation? That so didn't work for me. I just found the last quarter so disappointing in terms of plot that they whole series started to fall down for me. It felt both slow and rushed. The endless walking through the town, looking for people we knew weren't there. And then the huge reveals that were just thrown out in a sentence and then we moved on. And the weird cliff hanger last chapter. It just disappointed me, I was expecting something so much better based on what I had read before. There is great world building and set up but (IMHO) really inadequate follow through.

Strangely I still recommend the series. I love the characters and the world building/ complexity is just rock solid for the first 2 books. It's such an interesting journey, shame about the destination, but I'm still glad I read the first two and half of the books...

In the Dark Defiles, Richard K Morgan concludes his first foray into writing a fantasy series by continuing to write dark action packed stories that also have enough depth and commentary on current social and political issues to be relevant and interesting. His worlds, whether they are in the future or set in a science and sorcery setting, like in a Land Fit for Heroes, have a gritty realism to them that is easy to relate to. Issues like religious fanaticism, corruption, drug addiction, and racism are prevalent throughout the world.

The main character Ringil, an exiled warrior prince, who also happens to be homosexual, is like many of Morgan's protagonists. He is scarred and haunted by war but still follows a certain moral code even as he kills over and over again in pursuit of his goals. I enjoyed the verbal wit and dialogue that all of the main characters engage in throughout the series. The characters certainly have plenty to be angry about and the verbal exchanges were often as entertaining as the battles scenes.

Morgan continues to excel at writing visceral, gripping, and detailed fight scenes. I never found them too gory or over the top, only realistic and brutal like you would imagine medieval warfare to be. If you like your fantasy sugar-coated and tame this series is not for you. I've noticed that some readers have criticized Morgan's choice to make the main character gay and include a lot of gay and heterosexual sex. It felt like a natural part of the world to me and I thought it never came off as being gimmicky.

The story in the third book contains more of the sci-fi technological aspects of the world and the narrative is slightly more difficult to follow at times. I really enjoyed the world building though that helped expound upon things that were hinted at in the first two and the story comes to a satisfying, but slightly open, conclusion.

Comparing Morgan to Abercrombie or Martin doesn't do him justice. The guy really has a style all his own and will eventually carve a larger niche out of the fantasy market.

I really enjoyed his Takeshi Kovacs novels but this series is much more developed. Lots more insight into the characters thoughts and motivations. Excellent world-building and authentic-feeling characters.

I think that some of the readership has problems with Morgan because he is gritty -- the sex is gritty, the violence is gritty and so is the language. If you don't like reading books that have the f-bomb several times on each page then you should move on. Personally, I think this adds to the story. These aren't the type of characters who would sound right saying, 'gosh darn'. This is adult fantasy, not The Hobbit. It also has gay elements that probably freak out some fantasy readers.

Anyhow, Morgan will grab you and reel you in. If you haven't read any of this series or his other work then you have some fun in store.

One of my favorite fantasies of 2014. And a fulfilling wrap up to one of my favorite series in the genre.

Morgan has unique and wonderful turn of phrase combined with one of the most compelling and fascinating imaginations on page. Here he continues his work that redefines fantasy and manages to combine a technological ambiguity with a almost creepy otherworldness that works both in terms of setting and in the perception of that setting. By the characters, and through them, the reader. Things manage to seem both foreign and alien. Almost the same and yet in this work tellingly different.

Morgan wraps up many elements and leaves others undefined. There are teasing rich tempting hints of a wider universe. There are some things left that while never detracting from the work still beg future resolution. Morgan does this nicely so that you never feel cheated but simply intrigued. As one wit once said, if you can't walk away from a restaurant meal thinking about your next visit, that place has failed in some way. Morgan does not fail. Instead he adds to a body of work that is always rich in sharing a vision that is strong, violent, grim and so fascinating.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but like many the second book reminded me of the lag in the Sword of Truth series. It wasn't as preachy, but it just seemed stalled. I knew this was coming out soon, along with the new Steven Brust novel, and I had both in my calendar to pick up when they released. Fortunately this one ended up on the Vine program, so I was able to snag it from there.

It starts out strong, and it pretty much keeps going. It's as if much of the stuff I had expected in the second book was shifted here instead. There's a very fast pace for everything, and I really love how the author whipsaws you back and forth between the characters on their various missions.

It's nice to get some of the answers to things I had wondered about, and some I really had not been expecting. Characters grew in power, but I didn't see as much growth as characters since I think they were pretty well fleshed out in the first book, and a little more in the second.

As always he does a great job with action scenes. Some other books really just delve too deep into all the tiny, annoyingly drawn out details of scenes or fights, as if they're trying to achieve a certain word count. Morgan has enough detail to give you a good mental image of what's going on, but not so much that you just feel annoyed. Some books I speed read through things like that becuase it's just too tedious. At no point in this book did I feel any sense of it being tedious.

A pretty satisfying ending to the story, and while I enjoyed his works, I didn't feel as attached to the characters in these as much as I have in other books, so I didn't have any sense of sorrow at the end of a series. They were an enjoyable ride, but while some books I've read a dozen or more times, I don't see myself repeating these until I'm in limbo between other series and may want something to fill time while I wait.

Still an enjoyable series, a good conclusion, and some fun reading.

This was an excellent conclusion to the series.

The first novel caught me by surprise. I'd read all of Richard Morgan's science fiction novels and enjoyed them quite a bit. When I took the plunge with his first fantasy book I was shocked at how well he pulled it off.

This series is grimdark and contains a fair amount of sex, offensive language, and a whole lot of blood and gore. Plus the protagonist is nothing like normal fantasy trope heroes. The writing is just as fresh, in this book, as it was in the first. Returning characters are as you remember them and I found the plot threads all wrapped up nicely.

I hesitate to discuss the plot because if you haven't read the previous books you'll be a bit lost. This final novel in the trilogy is quite a long read and worth every page. There are a couple of slow parts but when the action ramps up - hold on for a wild ride.

The Dark Defiles is the concluding volume of the Land Fit For Heroes, in this volume we begin directly after the events of The Cold Commands. Ringil Eskiath, Archeth, and Egar Dragonbane are back and in worse s*** than before as the author manages to mix some heavy SF elements such as semi-sentient computers and aliens along with magic, battles and fantasy races. Richard K. Morgan manages to combine these different aspects and yet makes this story work. There's also the heavy action sequences along with gory violence and language (very Richard Morgan-esque). Lastly the only thing that detracts from the this concluding volume is that the way the story ends, it's a tad unsatisfactory and leaves a lot of threads up in the air.

So keep that in mind, but nevertheless this series is a different read from most series out there and for dark fantasy fans, you definitely can't go wrong with this one.

Probably the best of the three books.
Richard writes about such a murky world with a reality twisting, time defying tangentially driven plot line that its sometimes a little bit of effort to stay aware of just exactly where and when you are. By the time I got to this last book though I was semi used to this and, perhaps because of that or perhaps because this book is a little more linear, i was able to keep pace with this one with much less effort. That allowed me to sink into the story much more.
The story did feel a little bit like mopping up and yet still questions are unanswered at the end. It was a great ride but I'm not sure if it's done? I suppose this lends to the gritty realism which is Richards trademark but I probably would have enjoyed a cleaner ending.

Overall: Its a great book which continues in the same vein as the previous, possibly a bit darker. Read it if you enjoy grimdark. It certainly earns its spot there.

Dark Defiled, the final novel in Richard K. Morgan’s epic A Land Fit for Heroes trilogy is the love child of Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold and George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. This book is equal parts cold, brutal, and grim with liberal dashes of humor and futuristic science. The author has created a story and world very much for adults and has given traditional fantasy tropes a hard kick in the fruits. The three main characters are all interesting and compelling though not in any conventional manner. The book features violence in buckets and large amounts of near pornographic descriptions of sex. The story holds all of these elements together though the ending is a bit ambiguous. All together, the Dark Defiles is a very satisfying well written conclusion to an outstanding dark fantasy trilogy.

There is no better "grimdark" fantasy or SciFi out there.

This is the best SF/Fantasy series since the Heroes Die books. Super nasty, smart, complex, brutal, sad, genius. I don't know how anyone can write like this.

This last book has the largest sweep of the three. Things aren't just pulled together as in some third books - - the scope is actually broadened first, and only then slowly resolved. Or mostly resolved . . .

Mr. Morgan must have felt pretty good to get this done. I don't know what he is going to do next, but I hope he's got a lot more stories on the way. They bring me joy.

Richard K. Morgan's third Land Fit For Heroes book is primarily a character driven book so is somewhat slow moving through most of the earlier portions in particular. There's lots of profanity, gay sex, etc. that will turn some readers off, I personally don't mind a little but it seemed a bit over-done and not really contributing to the narrative at times. The ending as well is a bit contrived and not very satisfying (I would describe it as deus ex machina which I really detest as a way to wrap things up), but fans of Morgan will certainly want to read the final book of the trilogy regardless, and there's a lot of great elements here to like, the well-drawn characters, excellent battle scenes, it's definitely not your run-of-the-mill fantasy book, but it's a big book and not for casual readers.

Well, things have certainly changed since 2008. Back then, advance rave reviews regarding Richard Morgan's forthcoming The Steel Remains proclaimed that fantasy was about to get real. The author's fantasy debut was heralded as the work that would turn the genre on its head. With such lofty expectations, before the book even hit the shelves worldwide, it was no wonder that The Steel Remains failed to amaze SFF fans eagerly awaiting its release. Indeed, although it was an entertaining and action-packed read, unfortunately it was nowhere near as groundbreaking as advertised. In my opinion, Morgan relied too much on shock value. Instead of focusing on multilayered plotlines and his habitually superior storytelling skills, the author's main problem was that he went only for the grit, the nastiness, the explicit language, the "in your face" violence, the gore, the drugs, the sex, homosexuality, etc. Stripped of those elements, however, The Steel Remains didn't have a whole lot to offer in terms of plot.

Though not perfect, The Cold Commands was an improvement in pretty much every aspect of the tale. A lot of filler material created numerous pacing issues, yet plotlines progressed and hinted at a bigger, more ambitious overall story arc. It's no secret that epic fantasy has become nastier and more violent in the last decade or so. Dark and brooding epics have irrevocably altered the sub-genre, even if some authors are attempting to reverse that trend. Although it featured its fair share of blood, violence, and sex, in The Cold Commands Morgan avoided many of the pitfalls that made The Steel Remains at times so offputting by creating a better balance between all that grit and the actual storytelling.

Fastforward to 2014. . . Downgraded to trade paperback format on this side of the Atlantic, the final installment in A Land Fit For Heroes, The Dark Defiles, will be published next week with very little fanfare. Hard to believe that the series everyone was talking about six years ago is receiving little coverage now that it's coming to an end. Too bad, as this third volume probably is the best of the bunch. Once again, far from perfect and suffering from some of the same shortcomings as its predecessors, The Dark Defiles nevertheless brings the series to a close in interesting fashion.

Here's the blurb:

Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold meets George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones in the final novel in Richard K. Morgan’s epic A Land Fit for Heroes trilogy, which burst onto the fantasy scene with The Steel Remains and The Cold Commands.

Ringil Eskiath, a reluctant hero viewed as a corrupt degenerate by the very people who demand his help, has traveled far in search of the Illwrack Changeling, a deathless human sorcerer-warrior raised by the bloodthirsty Aldrain, former rulers of the world. Separated from his companions—Egar the Dragonbane and Archeth—Ringil risks his soul to master a deadly magic that alone can challenge the might of the Changeling. While Archeth and the Dragonbane embark on a trail of blood and tears that ends up exposing long-buried secrets, Ringil finds himself tested as never before, with his life and all existence hanging in the balance.

The worldbuilding is one of the facets with which Morgan has been decidedly inconsistent throughout this trilogy. Within the pages of The Steel Remains this aspect was, to a large extent, quite barebone. Thankfully, the author didn't play his cards as close to his chest in the second installment and we learned a lot more about the universe and how it worked. These revelations demonstrated that there was more depth to A Land Fit For Heroes than met the eye. Once more, I particularly enjoyed how Morgan used some science fiction elements in his worldbuilding We learn much more about the mysterious Kiriath and their technology. And even though most of their secrets remain undisclosed, the author opens up about the Aldrain and their origins, the Dark Court, and the ikinri'ska.

As was the case with its predecessors, The Dark Defiles is another character-driven book and the various story arcs focus on the three main characters: Ringil Eskiath, homosexual hero of the infamous battle of Gallows Gap; Archeth, a kiriath half-breed abandoned by her brethren and now advisor to the Emperor of the Yhelteth Empire; Egar the Dragonbane, who fought for the Yhelteth Empire during the War against the Scaled Folk and was driven away by his own people. All three protagonists remain too edgy and over-the-top for their own good, which makes it difficult to relate to any of them and root for them. Back in The Steel Remains, Morgan created a cast of morally and sexually ambiguous characters, but failed to inject enough life into their personalities and back stories to make them memorable. Character development was much more present in the first sequel and the same can be said of The Dark Defiles. Trouble is, there are constant inner monologues occurring inside every character's mind, which often gets quite annoying. It always gets in the way of the narrative and I feel that it seldom brings anything to the tale.

As was the case with the second volume, the pace was probably the aspect of this novel which left the most to be desired. It starts very slow as we follow the companions' quest to find the last resting place of the Illwrack Changeling. Everything picks up in Archeth storyline, as the science fiction elements are introduced and suddenly I was hooked. Problem is, Ringil's chapters, meandering as they are, more or less kill whatever momentum generated by Arceth and Egar's POV sections. Which makes for a skewed reading experience. Through Archeth's chapters we learn more about Kiriath secrets, making these portions real page-turners. On the other end, though Ringil's chapters provide their fair share of revelations, everything moves at a much slower pace and are often kind of boring.

Although the ending offers some sort of resolution, by reaching the last page of The Dark Defiles readers will find themselves with way more questions than answers. Some people have asked me about A Land Fit for Heroes being connected with the broken moon and the Takeshi Kovacs books. I'm afraid I haven't read them all and I'm too far-removed from them to make the connection, if indeed there's one. All I know is that, even though the author does provide a number of answers before the end, not everything makes sense and in some respects I'm still a bit perplexed as to what the entire series was all about. There are quite a few surprises along the way, an impressive body count, and an ending of sorts. And yet, Morgan definitely leaves a lot of threads up in the air, which leaves the door open for more to come. He's under contract to write two science fiction books next, so it remains to be seen if a return to fantasy will be considered. . .

To a certain extent, beyond the grit, the profanities, the gratuitous sex scenes, and the graphic violence, The Steel Remains left readers with rather thin plotlines. The Cold Commands turned out to be an improvement in that regard, and so is The Dark Defiles. Still, it's likely a case of too little, too late. And since it suffers from pretty much the same shortcomings as the second volume, The Dark Defiles simply cannot save the day by elevating this series to another level. Expectations were certainly too high to begin with, but by focusing on shock value Richard Morgan failed to imbue this fantasy trilogy with most of what makes his science fiction works such remarkable reads.

If you like your fantasy dark and gritty, chances are that you might enjoy Morgan's A Land Fit for Heroes. And now that you can read all three volumes back-to-back, I figure readers might pick up a lot of the nuances that SFF fans who were forced to wait years between installments probably missed. It might not be as special and groundbreaking as publishers initially made it out to be, but fans of Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence, and George R. R. Martin may find a lot to like about this series.

This book does bad things. It makes you neglect work. It makes you fight sleep even when you are exhausted. It makes you worry you are reading too fast and the story will end too soon. It makes you forget to close your reader on the airplane making everyone yell at you. I know these things from experience.

I have been a big Richard Morgan fan since "Altered Carbon" (which I still think would have been a great series with a bit more attention). I loved "The Steel Remains" and "The Cold Commands" and I am glad I reread them recently. Don't even attempt this book without reading the first two in the trilogy. No backstory here. Keep up or drown.

Mr. Morgan writes great fight scenes and, unlike GRRM, at the end of the book there are still a few people left standing.

I received a review copy of The Dark Defiles by Richard Morgan (Del Rey Spectra) through NetGalley.com. I promptly preordered the hardback. Give that man his royalties!

It's hard to review this book without spoilers, and this is a book best left unspoiled. If you have not yet been reading this series, and if you like rich, meaty fantasy ala Game of Thrones, ala Brandon Sanderson, ala Sword of Truth, you should be. If you liked the first two books of this series, you will not be disappointed by the end, except maybe that it does end. It's been a most extraordinary ride.

Solid fantasy entry. Definitely dark and gritty, and some might be disturbed. Dispite having not read the previous two entries in this trilogy, I still felt connected to the characters and overall story. No doubt that my reading experience would have been enhanced had I read the previous two books, but none the less I enjoyed this fantasy story a great deal. It is certainly not for the faint of heart, so buyer beware.

Defiles is the third and final volume in Richard K. Morgan's fantasy trilogy about three heroes' epic battle against the dwenda, alien killing machines who pop in and out of existence and seem determined to enslave human race. Humans defeated the dwenda once before, at dreadful cost, but it appears they are here again. Three battle weary heroes oppose them: Ringil Eskiath, human, master swordsman and gay; Egar Dragonbane, a steppe nomad; and 207-year-old Archeth Indiamaninarmal, half-bred Kiriath-human, who was left behind when the Kiriath earlier abandoned earth. It would be pointless to detail all the twists and turns in the complicated plot line. Suffice it to say, that for much of the book, the heroes are looking for a fabled lost sword, supposedly wielded by the long-dead Dark King, Illwrath Changeling. They don't know if it even exists, don't know where it is if it does exist, and don't know what baggage it comes with if they ever do find it. (Magic comes with a cost in this world.) Morgan is an exceptionally good action writer and his heroes are interesting types. Though redoubtable warriors, Ringil and Egar are middle-aged now. They're thoroughly tired of fighting and strife. They don't get much chance to relax in this book but you can tell they'd like to. Or would they? For what place is there for killing machines when the killing has ended?

Morgan is reportedly headed back to science fiction after the completion of this novel. I don't care which direction he goes in, fantasy or sci fi, so long as he continues to write adventure stories of the caliber of this one.

An interesting concept from start to finish, this series does not disappoint with a thought provoking conclusion. As with any good tale, much is left for the reader to slowly understand between the lines that's not written, along with the storyline that is. Morgan's craft has improved with time and experience, i just hope future works come quicker to his adept mind and hands, and eagerly await where his thoughts turn to next.

I've been reading Richard K. Morgan since Altered Carbon and have been loving this fantasy trilogy. This last installment has not disappointed. If you've enjoyed Morgan's other works are or are a fan of gritty scifi and fantasy, this is worth the read.

Everything Morgan has written is awesome. This was a great series and he had ended it well. If you haven't read his other books you should. A land fit for heroes is a great fantasy setting with some unique story aspects.

I am a vintage scifi readerover 30 years. Maybe I would have liked this is if I started with book one. But if I pick up book three and by page 50 I do not want to start with book one, thats a big warning. I just did not find it interesting, and too much violence, yes GT had violence, and it was shocking, but maybe the shock factor has wore off after ten years?

This is a great fanatsy with some elements thrown in that I hadn't seen before. At first the size of the book was daunting, but before you know it, you're almost done. Very fast paced and fun to read

Having read a number of Morgan's previous books, I was rather disappointed with this effort. He seems to have fallen into the "I can be grimmer than you" competition that so many fantasy writers are embarked upon. Shlock, sex an gore. Nothing really new or emotive to read here. Sad.

Richard K. Morgan finishes the tale of an expedition to the far north to locate the tomb a dead sorcerer that was started in The Cold Commands (paper).The tomb was looted and, while our heroes were gone, the Empire started a war with the League. So the group is captured. Egar, dragonsbane and Archeth, the half-breed daughter of the immortal Kiriath get shipwrecked and survive to find an ancient Kiriath fortress with a living demon controller (think immortal computer) with plans for Archeth. Ringil Eskiath the sorceror warrior takes control of the ship carrying him and returns to face some of the ancient Dwenda in his home town. Everybody it seems, including the ancient gods have plans for these two including sending them down The Dark Defiles.(paper from Del Rey). Mr. Morgan has great fight scenes and fun characters, but the plots within plots got too complicated for my taste and some of the action was a bit too arbitrary. Review Published by Philadelphia Weekly Press