The Cold Commands by Richard Morgan
reviewed by David Soyka
In the second of A Land Fit for Heroes series, our story involves Ringil's efforts against
slave traders and the rescue of one of its victims from a fate that goes beyond indentured servitude. Meanwhile,
the paths of three former comrades who fought together in the Dragon wars -- Ringil, Egar the Dragonbane and Arceth Indamaninarmal -- begin to
intersect towards a quest to find a mythical island that shares existence with the Grey Places that may be a
bulwark against a threat to civilization.
The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan
reviewed by John Berlyne
Ringil is a war hero entering the middle years of his life. He lives in retirement, feeding
himself from the proceeds of minor mercenary work and the telling of tall tales
of his prowess. His fame stems largely (and deservedly) from the part he played in an infamous battle against the
lizardmen who so nearly conquered his people, and perhaps without his actions, the war might have been lost. However,
the gloss has faded somewhat on Ringil. One day, his mother
arrives unannounced to ask for his help in tracing a relative recently sold into slavery.
Thirteen by Richard Morgan
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
Dark, twisted, and violent. No one familiar with Richard K. Morgan's previous novels will be surprised to see those adjectives
applied to his latest work. What they might be surprised to find is that it is also emotionally
captivating in a way that allows the story to rise above the violence, and make the reader sympathize with and care for at
least one character that most of the other characters in the novel, and, in fact, almost everyone who lives in the world
they inhabit, fear and loathe in a way that is instinctive, ingrained into their very nature.
Thirteen by Richard Morgan
reviewed by Jakob Schmidt
In the near future, humanity has to deal with the fallout of the gung-ho genetic engineering in the past few decades, which produced
several varieties of humankind. One of these, variant Thirteen, is an atavistic offshoot bred for war purposes and prone to
violence and paranoia. Carl Marsalis is a variant Thirteen who makes a living by hunting down other Thirteens who have
illegally re-migrated to earth from the Martian colonies. When the Thirteen Merrin returns from Mars and starts a bloody and
seemingly random killing spree, Carl is recruited by the colonial authorities to hunt him down. Soon, he finds out that what
looks like the bloody trail left by a madman is in reality a complex ruse...
Woken Furies by Richard Morgan
reviewed by David Soyka
A loner living by his own brand of cynical morality who nonetheless does the noble thing in the end, cast in a shadowy world
where no one is who he seems. Or who she seems. Though the she is very good in bed,
albeit an act shrouded in desperation, with no illusions of happily ever after.
In the end, we're all doomed to our respective fates. The only real question is how well we manage to cope.
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Market Forces by Richard Morgan
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
As society splits further into the haves and the have nots, government becomes less and less meaningful in peoples lives. Globalisation
allows international corporations to become powers unto themselves, their only ethics that of the bottom line. Add in an economic
depression which takes social services away from the middle and lower classes but preserves the status of corporate executives.
This is the world in which Chris Faulkner finds himself a privileged member.
The novel gives us the unrelentingly violent tale of a man who would probably be a fairly decent human being,
if his own past, and the world he lived in would only allow it.
Broken Angels by Richard Morgan,
The Separation by Christopher Priest and
The Tain by China Miéville
reviewed by David Soyka
While Tony Blair lines up behind the Bush administration in positing war with Iraq as a clear-cut case of good versus evil, some of his
countrymen provide persuasive commentary that such a dichotomy is never the case. War is only black and white in movies from the 40s; in
reality, it runs blood red, and its tributaries are not always so easily or clearly defined. Which isn't necessarily to say that war is
never unjustified or unavoidable; only that the "make-believe" needs to be sifted from the actuality in hopes of making reliance on it less likely.
Ironically, it is the purveyors of "make-believe" who articulate doubt upon this simplistic precept invoked by both sides in any
conflict. Although British writers Christopher Priest, Richard Morgan, and China Miéville may all be shelved together in the SF and
Fantasy aisle, each works in decidedly different sub-genres to provide compelling commentary on the considerable shades of gray between
the seeming dark and light.
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
reviewed by Donna McMahon
It's far future Earth, and mercenary Takeshi Kovacs is waking up in another unfamiliar body.
Kovacs has been revived to investigate the murder of Laurens Bancroft, a man centuries old and immeasurably wealthy. Bancroft
is alive and healthy in a backup copy of himself, but he wants to know who managed to kill him and how. And if Kovacs succeeds,
he will earn freedom, money and release on his home world.
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
reviewed by Victoria Strauss
Takeshi Kovacs is a former Envoy. Envoys' specialized training and neurochemical enhancements, designed to
make them perfect long-distance warriors and flawless investigators, also place them just this side of
psychopathic. Many Envoys, when discharged from the Corps, turn to crime, and Kovacs is no
exception. Kovacs wakes from imprisonment to find himself in Bay City, Earth. He's been
retrieved and hired by industrialist Laurens Bancroft, whose fabulous wealth allows him
to maintain a clone facility that renders him and his family effectively immortal. Kovacs'
assignment: to investigate Bancroft's death in a previous body, which the police have ruled a suicide.
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