A Review of The Cold Commands, by Richard Morgan

The Cold Commands by Richard K. Morgan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This sequel to The Steel Remains, 2010 Spectrum Award for Best Novel, is an action-packed, hard-edged and gritty heroic fantasy. Events set in motion in the previous novel in this series continue, as does the saga of Ringil Eskiath—Gil—a soldier and warrior and mercenary without equal, and a lover of men in a homophobic society. He's not polite, he has little finesse, but he is tough and capable and you do learn to love him--or at least respect him, baggage and all.

This time, the stakes are higher. The Kiriath, a nonhuman race who once saved humans from the dark magic of the Aldrain (a very dark version of the fey), left behind machine intelligences in orbit around the planet. One has fallen with a dire message: a creature called the Illwrack Changelings, who grew to manhood in the Grey Places of the Aldrain—a lover of one of their warriors—is stirring from a deep magical sleep. When he wakes, the Aldrain will answer his call, and return. Humanity will have to face them alone.

The Emperor orders an expedition to find this being, but first, the heroes must be gathered. This means that Gil, with his tough, fuck-you attitude, is called to the quest, as is one of Gil’s few friends, Lady kir-Archeth, lesbian, half-breed Imperial, half-Kiriath. Like Gil—although certainly not as brusque and as uncompromising as Gil—she doesn’t suffer gladly. Neither hides their sexual orientation. The third hero called is Egar, the Dragonbane, a Majak warrior, who respects Gil and has his back.

The gathering of the heroes is the story here, and the personal and public fights and ordeals and obstacles encountered along the way. That Gil and Archeth can find moments of love and occasional tenderness in this brutal world is a testimony to the brilliance of the writing, and the compelling nature of the characters and their lives.



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