This book review was part of a podcast discussion.
Listen to the episode here.
Best known for Altered Carbon, Richard K Morgan’s hard-hitting authorial style extends to everything he writes. People hurt and get hurt. They cuss and make bad choices and struggle and that’s what makes them interesting. Altered Carbon was strong on the basis of Morgan’s vivid vision of the future and his compelling cyber-noir. The Land Fit for Heroes trilogy, beginning with The Steel Remains, hooks us a lot harder with its anti-heroes’ flaws.
The three main characters are a former war hero with a dark streak, cast from his father’s good graces by his homosexuality; a fierce warrior of the “savage” northern tribes, now settled into an ill-fitting chieftainship and nostalgic for his prime; and an immortal woman from another world, forced to prop up an immoral emperor to pursue the agenda of the family that abandoned her. There’s a lot of sex, lots more blood, and even a little love. The sex is sexy, the violence is fast and brutal, and the love is touching and well-earned. I’d read it again.
Seattle, WA
Sometimes, Peter Schaefer conceals a puzzle in his bio. Little do lovers of the cryptic know that Peter is an encryption system given life, a cipher grown so complex it attained consciousness, along with a love of games, books, and improv. Everyone who believes they meet Peter only meet its proxy, a husk employed only for its wit. Has anyone seen beyond www.paschaefer.com or www.shoelesspetegames.com in spite of his esoteric calculi? Sadly no. Not a single person, and not any group of people.
