Richard [K] Morgan's News and Views

86 Comments:

Congratulations! I don't think you can truly be said to be an artist until you shock and appall enough people.

The homosexual lobby. OH NOES!

By  Theresa, at 10 January 2010 15:55  

"I'm with the faggot!"

I have read every book that you have released and a few of the black widow comics. To say I am a fan is an understatement. I have to admit the visuals that I was left with in some of the gay sex scenes I don't particularly enjoy. "The smell of shit from his open anus" would have to top the list. It's just more than I needed to know. In the same vein, I would not need to read about a gigantic cum shot delivered to a woman's face and then her being cock slapped. There is nothing wrong with any of this, I just don't read books that have graphic depictions of sex. I thought that was reserved for Danielle Steele? ; )

What I find funny is that books require no warning sticker what-so-ever while video games get raped by legislation constantly. A teenager could just as easily pick up this book as they could Grand Theft Auto. Movies and TV both have to warn about content. Music too. Funny that books have somehow managed to slip under the fascist-legislation radar.

Anyway, while I did not want to imprint my mind with a man-on-man sex scene, I still absolutely love the character and the world. I hope you do more stories of your three anti-heros in this universe. It is hands down the funniest book that I have read in years. I would love to hang out with you someday, I am positive that you are just as funny, sarcastic and cynical in real life. As long as we don't have to do any gay shit : )

My only question is why you left out the graphic lesbian scene!! You even set it up, then skipped it. I was like "wtf man." Thats the real tragedy here.

sincerely,

RKM Fan for life

By  se7en, at 10 January 2010 17:16  

Wow! I never knew Gay sex requires certification clearly labeled on the cover. You learn something new everyday, even if it how small minded some people can be...

By  Pete, at 10 January 2010 17:27  

My only question is why you left out the graphic lesbian scene!!

Possess your soul in patience, man - I got you covered. Dark Commands is coming.....

By  Richard Morgan, at 10 January 2010 17:50  

Possess your soul in patience, man - I got you covered. Dark Commands is coming.....

MUST we pander to this ridiculous male hypocrisy where an explicit m/m scene is an effort against nature, sure to arrest your testosterone production and make your dick fall off, while a f/f scene is merely the ultimate in titillation. It really gets tiring after a while.

By  Theresa, at 10 January 2010 19:08  

This may be a precursor - after all, the tpb is coming out Tuesday in the U.S., and people are more apt to spend money on a paperback. So you might be hearing more of this type of response!

BTW, I have heard from my sources that after Xmas, many people returned the Palin book to the bookstores.

Linda

By  Anonymous, at 10 January 2010 19:16  

Ah, but you misunderstand me, Theresa. There'll be lesbian sex in TDC for the same reason there was male on male action in TSR - because it serves the plot and character. Not like you couldn't see it coming last time around, after all.

But you're right, of course - perception of these things is skewed; I could have rolled out page after page of girl on girl in TSR and it would barely have made a dent with the reviewers.

Brittle thing, the male sexual psyche.......

By  Richard Morgan, at 10 January 2010 19:20  

Brittle thing, the male sexual psyche.......

Well put and very true. It is a double standard for sure. Girl on girl is very mainstream and not seen as "gay" but thats mostly to do with the fact that the girls depicted are very feminine and it's shown as drunken experimental promiscuity. It would be called "gay" I'm sure and not "porn" if the two women had short hair, wife beaters, levi's, work boots and they were built like brick shit houses : )

I can't wait for the new book and to know which games you are doing for EA!

By  se7en, at 10 January 2010 19:30  

The other real issue that people are ignoring here is why Books do not have a warning system in place while every other form of entertainment does. I am not saying this because of the gay scenes but just sex and violence in general. Gil smashes a child's head into pulp. That would never fly in a game, movie or on TV. Ever. Doesn't anyone else find it odd. Maybe teenagers don't read books ; )

By  se7en, at 10 January 2010 19:34  

The other real issue that people are ignoring here is why Books do not have a warning system in place while every other form of entertainment does.

Books do have a warning system: Children's books are in the Children's section. Young adult books are in the Young Adult section. Adult books are in the adult section.

If what you are asking for is warnings for adults based upon content within the book (e.g. GAY PROTAGONIST! Main character is really a MASS MURDERER! VIOLENCE against women!) so that you can decide before hand whether your sensibilities will be offended, well, that's sort of an internet fiction way to go, and hardly appropriate (necessary or desired) for books.

Then, of course, if you are talking about video games and movies, you would have to talk about the difference between visual representations and print. Or is the issue video games and comics as children's toys developing an adult application over the course of years as the format matures and its audience ages?

In any event, it's apples and oranges -- which is why it's rather difficult to address you comparison.

By  Theresa, at 10 January 2010 19:48  

Ah, but you misunderstand me, Theresa. There'll be lesbian sex in TDC for the same reason there was male on male action in TSR - because it serves the plot and character.

That's good to know. I never felt the graphic sex in TSR was gratuitous, and though i appreciate different opinions on the matter, it seemed very obvious to me that the main character had allowed his sexuality to define his life as a result of parenting, personality and trauma, and instead of adopting a modest amount of conformity to allow his proclivity to fly under the radar, he overcompensates in the other direction by being so aggressive about his sexuality as to make it the single most important thing in his life. Hence, it seemed to fit in my mind that all the sex scenes, and the Seethlaw scene in particular (especially the first one) had a graphic, sharp, startling quality since we were viewing the story from the pov of a character for whom sex is very important. The situation with Seethlaw, in particular, was unique, and required an articulation of that uniqueness in the context available (given that the main character had no long bouts of introspection where the startling nature of the interaction could be sussed out). Or I could simply look at the explicitness as an extension of a refreshing stylistic choice, in line with the use of profanity and anachronisms -- all of which, when taken together contribute a whole lot to the story.

In any event, porno flicks are gratuitous. Explicit sex scenes aren't gratuitous simply because they're explicit.

By  Theresa, at 10 January 2010 20:05  

Unfortunate that in a world of atheism and social democracy that we would have to be subject to this hate speech.

Part of the beauty of an M&M combo would be an end to this homo-phobe mentality.

ps. Richard, I do like graphic sex.

By  Evalin, at 10 January 2010 20:36  

What is wrong with Atlas Shrugged? Too Chinese for you?

By  Dagne, at 10 January 2010 20:55  

All this homophob venom reminds me of the worst in Allah and Hitler.

Which begs the question: which is worse: turning to a closet atheist who puts saint wannabes to the test or to an unrelenting god who nails people to crosses for humor and then sentences them to eternal damnation in hellfire?

By  Daphne, at 10 January 2010 21:21  

I am always amused by sodomy comments and the like. I can't think of any "gay" sex act that straight couples don't perform and perform often (or often enough that they are not remarked upon even if not discussed over dinner).

I wonder what would happen if you had MF anal sex in a novel.

By  Al, at 11 January 2010 00:17  

"Which begs the question: which is worse: turning to a closet atheist who puts saint wannabes to the test or to an unrelenting god who nails people to crosses for humor and then sentences them to eternal damnation in hellfire?"

Well, it is a really hypothetical question since only one of these two things can actually exist in the real world (and it isn't the second one!).

By  Al, at 11 January 2010 00:18  

I'm sorry, but my bullshit detector has been set off a bit by RM's comments.

First let me say I'm just as big a fan as the poster se7en above, but like him, I also was a bit put off with the over the top descriptions of "manly love". Now we could go on for pages arguing back and forth with well reasoned extrapolations of how much of an intolerant asshole that makes me, but to cop out with the statement that "because it serves the plot and character" is a bit disingenuous.

Sort of reminds me of when John Scalzi went off on a reviewer a couple months ago, with beautifully reasoned clever comebacks of course, because he dared suggest that Scalzi's last book was a mediocre effort at best.

Which is the same sort of argument you get from any artist who's reached a certain level of success, that basically boils down to the unspoken argument that since said musician/writer is the one with the talent, anyone exhorting anything but their justified greatness and brilliance should just shut the fuck up and take their bigoted, unenlightened views elsewhere.

I'm sorry, but it doesn't take talent to recognize talent. I don't have to be a brilliant writer or musician to recognize when I'm reading or listening to a piece of shit or a work of brilliance. It's something instinctual in all of us, however subjective. So in that vein, I can totally see how some would be put off with the over the top descriptions of sex in TSR. I don't really recall the descriptions of sex (I can't now really remember) in any of the Takeshi books nor in Market Forces nor Black Man being as over the top explicit as in TSR. Would they not have served the plot there? Dunno, maybe I'm wrong here, but something just doesn't quite feel instintually right about dismissing out of hand the politely worded comments of Anthony Diener, even if he decides to go off the deep end with the homosexual lobby comment. Did the descriptions serve the plot and character? Kinda, but something just didn't feel right when reading them. It sorta came across as the universally considered next big SF writer trying to shock and awe with trying too hard to "shake up" a tired old genre.

Anyway, I might just be told to fuck off now, but regardless, a huge fan of your work RM, you're an immensely talented man, even if the occasional scene in TSR left me slightly wincing... :)

By  Laszlo, at 11 January 2010 01:05  

To me, Richard Morgan writes good sex scenes. The gay ones were disturbing and *didn't* turn me on (honest Mum, Dad)!

But i'm sure the Hetrosexual scenes both in T.s.r. and previous books would have a similar effect on gay readers.

Most of the time in novels sex scenes do nothing to further the plot etc, but I would argue most of the time we have sex it does nothing to further the plot either, we still do it, and gladly :D.

By  Duncan, at 11 January 2010 01:46  

Laszlo, you need to re-read Mr. Morgan's novel. His very first published novel had what at least a few people considered an overly explicit sex scene (I remember a reviewer commenting on it at the time and I noticed the scene in the novel).

Of course, it was Het sex so no one cared, right?

He has sex scenes all through his work. The fact that you don't remember them while bitching about a homosexual sex scene just says something about you, not the author.

By  Al, at 11 January 2010 01:55  

Evidently I'm the only one who felt you held _back_ a bit on the sex scenes in TSR. Wardani/Kovacs in Broken Angels stands out in my mind in particular as far more lengthy and explicit than anything in TSR. Although I think you'd have gotten the same supporter-of-the-homosexual-lobby routine whether you'd included a male/male kiss or a sex scene twice as explicit as anything you've written thus far.

You know, I wonder. Have you ever once gotten a letter like this from someone complaining about your books being too violent? I mean, Gil cut Grace's throat "on camera" and the reader was right up there with him the whole time. Just as an example. Ever gotten a "boycotting" letter for that? Or for pervasive drug use?

I'm also curious as to whether there'll be any fuss like this over the (projected) lesbian sex scene(s). I'm guessing no. That just doesn't seem to make people squirm. Well. Unless you decide to get _really_ creative, I suppose.

~DJ

By  Anonymous, at 11 January 2010 02:42  

I'm an atheist who believes in All?AH! posers.

Impending question of the day I ask
Which engineering school did allah pass?

By  Daphne, at 11 January 2010 03:10  

Speaking as a member of the Queer Cabal - we'd like you to know we have appreciated all you've done for us, especially with regards to the hot swordy gay sex. We look forward to more swords, more uses of the word "cock," and more hot sex scenes in the service of literary and social subversion. Thanks, and goodnight.

By  Annalee, at 11 January 2010 07:04  

Gay lobby indeed. Because, like, everyone knows the world is run by gays and at this rate human procreation is likely to come to a complete halt by the middle of next week when the final heterosexual becomes gay.

By  Richard Fletcher, at 11 January 2010 12:09  

Bum-holes, eh?
4 billion years old, and still causing controversy.

By  Castro, at 11 January 2010 12:33  

Your work shares a bookcase with Atlas Shrugged in my house too. Not to mention The Fountainhead!

It's ok though, I didn't mind the bumming :-)

By  Graeme Baldwin, at 11 January 2010 17:14  

@se7en

I dunno, my Mum and Dad had a rating system for books at home. It was that I could read whatever I could reach on the shelves. Given that the pair of them are basically short-arses that left pretty much anything available to my callow eyes. Didn't do me any harm. I don't think explicit sex and violence in books is harmful for kids.

For one, I think, especially in novels, people tend to over-estimate the kids interest in "adult" fiction. I mean that in the sense that Richard Morgan's fiction is "adult," rather than the more tedious end of un-erotic fiction that attempts to clumsily provoke a physical sexual reaction from men (and, hey, who's to say it doesn't work - we're a pretty pathetic bunch ahahaha).

I think what I'm driving at is that kids will be (for the most part) bored by properly adult fiction (as they should be allowed to be, they're kids ferfucksake) and if they do read it and understand the rest of it I think that they should be given enough credit that they can put the sex and violence into its proper context (I know, having been that irritating and precocious little prick :))

Although that dude that emailed you, Richard, was one odd guy. This stuff always comes up though. I posted a video on youtube of the West-end festival in Glasgow and got absolute pelters from this really weird cranky guy who believed in a homosexual conspiracy. Was pretty funny though.

By  redrichie, at 11 January 2010 20:40  

indicating the abnormal political/sexual sub-plot of your book

I doubt that this guy has Atlas Shrugged or the Sarah Palin on his bookshelf. Gay Sex = Abnormal, the philosophy of Quellcrist Falconer = Totally fine.... :-/

By  Infovore, at 11 January 2010 21:31  

Hysterically funny - though, since I live in the U.S. myself, it's not as funny as it would be if I lived in a more civil country. I get plenty of both types (the in-your-face nazi-sympathizers and the pseudo-intellectual right-winge-ers).

BTW, when is a Takeshi Kovacs movie going to appear??? I thouht you sold the movie rights YEARS ago! Waiting patiently till I saw what movies I had to look forward to this year (!)... lol.

By  Carla J. Patterson, at 11 January 2010 21:31  

I, for one, have enjoyed the hell out of every one of your books, and I'm looking forward to the next one.

I'm not sure the intensity of description in The Steel was all that different, it just happened to be gay sex, which went with the character. Hell, like on many of your books, you warned people that they might not like the book! That it would be different! What more could they ask for? Since I read Altered Carbon I have been nervous about picking up each new series or book you put out, figuring they couldn't match up. I have yet to be disappointed.

I look forward to the next one in the series, and I hope you follow up 13! I think we all miss Kovacs.

By  Steve, at 11 January 2010 22:23  

I thought Steel sucked because it teased the gay angle and never delivered. Too much time spent in the swamps, not enough adventure amid hard rocky terrain.

By  BoogerN0z3, at 12 January 2010 04:10  

My word. These people need to go suck an otter pop. Slowly. They're just as whiny as newborns.

As a female, I was delighted by this book. It was a complete shock and I had to go back a few pages to get the initial reference to the lead being gay. It was too good to be true!

Having collected several additions of most of your books, I saw I most appreciated this and can't wait for more.

Keep doing you.

By  Kelley, at 12 January 2010 12:47  

Ya know.. I check your page damn near every day, looking for your postings and I'll be damned if you didn't slip another one by me. Christ.. 32 comments already! I need to be quicker.

Anyway...

I don't know what goes on in Europe, vis a vis the "Gay Agenda", or whatever the fuck. Don't hear anything over here regarding same, so I'm guessing it is something of a non-issue. I could be wrong.

Here in the land of Mega-Churches and FOX News, however, the status quo remains pretty much the same as it was in, no doubt, the Dark Ages, when it comes to anything considered to be whatcha call deviant behavior. The irony being, of course, the number of people annually caught with their hands in that particular cookie jar; and, of course, who those people invariably turn out to be. I'm guessing a hint isn't even necessary.

But, yeah, no surprise you would get some off the wall bullshit like that - eventually. I, too, am surprised it took so goddamn long. Then, again, one has to suspect the number of these people who are actually literate is most likely a small percentage of the whole.

As for the complaint that there should be some warning, I have to take exception with that for a couple of reasons. Up front, like someone else mentioned, if you buy a book in the 'Adult' section of a book store, you really should expect it to have adult themes. For another, I seem to recall hearing some months before the book in question was even available that it sported a gay lead character and that, yes, there would be sex.

Honestly.. I, being a male of the species, would have much preferred the woman on woman sex scenes explicitly described, but I also understand your need to include the mano a mano one. If I weren't prepared to accept that up front, I would never have picked up the book in the first place. And, seriously, I've seen much worse in books with a helluva lot less to offer beyond said descriptions, so it seems a tad disingenuous to piss and moan about it after the fact anyway.

Just my opinion, of course. I'm sure Bret Hume would have a different one. Fair and Balanced, to be sure, but different.

Belatedly Yours,
Rich

By  Rich, at 12 January 2010 16:27  

Keep writing what you want to write and I can pretty much guarantee I'll keep reading it and loving it.

Granted, as a guy I prefer girl-on-girl action to man-on-man(chuckle) but I really loved the fact that you decided to break with convention and have a gay protagonist. Keep up the great work!

By  Anonymous, at 12 January 2010 17:35  

Dear Mr. Morgan,

As a fellow agent of subversion for the homosexual lobby, you can thank Mr. Diener for at least one new sale. I just ordered The Steel Remains from Amazon.com.

See you at the sekrit meetings. *cackle* *snort*

Shayla

By  Shayla Kersten, at 12 January 2010 18:24  

For Americans, The Steel Remains just came out today in trade paperback. There's a nice excerpt from THE COLD COMMANDS - so go buy a copy!

Linda

By  Anonymous, at 12 January 2010 18:41  

The homosexual lobby? So that's where they went after they escaped the closet!

I love that image of your books living next to Palin and Coulter's. Makes me feel so sad for them, they deserve a much better home.

By  Anonymous, at 13 January 2010 01:06  

There's a nice excerpt from THE COLD COMMANDS

There's an excerpt! Aw shit! I had planned on ordering this from amazon to arrive with my Mass Effect 2 pre-order, but now I guess I have to make special arrangements...

I'm just so glad that book number 2 is clearly under production, and we won't have to wait 5-7 years to see a continuation.

By  Theresa, at 13 January 2010 01:39  

Dear MISTER Anderson, uh, Morgan,
not much to add here except to confirm that in times like ours it's quite an effort to get people to actually write you some hatemail.
As I am a writer in germany, hey nearly no boundries here, I think you should just send the guy a signed copy of the next book and reward him. Although he is a quite a doushbag, "the steel remains" obviously shook his world. I wonder why he didn't have a problem with the BLACK MAN ;-)

Just keep on writing, MISTER Morgan, you ROCK!

Have a good one,
Boris

By  Boris von Sychowski, at 13 January 2010 13:03  

Okay.. so I wandered by Barnes and Noble last night and had a look-see at the excerpt.

I want a fucking map! Let us all lobby Richard for a map. Seriously. I mean, really, wouldn't it just make it that much more enjoyable to read? Plus, also, too, besides.. I happen to know that at least one exists, though the copy I got of it leaves a lot to be desired.

Anyway...
What do ya say, Rich?
Can we have a map?

By  Rich, at 13 January 2010 14:28  

Rich - re the map: Complain to Del Rey publishing at delrey.com, not Richard!

By  Anonymous, at 13 January 2010 15:36  

Not necessarily complaining. But, if anyone has an in with the publishers, my guess is it would more likely be ol' Rich. So.. we lobby him, he takes it to the brass at the publishing house and our wish is fulfilled.

..er, something.

By  Rich, at 13 January 2010 16:36  

Rich,

I'll bet if enough fans contacted DelRey requesting a map in the next book, they'd listen. Wanna start a movement?

It would be kinda cool to have a little bit different map from the UK one too, to reflect the possiblity of an alternate reality...??

By  Anonymous, at 13 January 2010 20:26  

I find it amusing that he used the term "subversive" as though it were an insult. Most of the great science fiction writers have been subversive... seems more like a compliment to me.

By  Deleva, at 14 January 2010 02:41  

your function in life is to piss people off so keep on doing what you do. your not a true writer until someone utterly despises you for what you written.
so let me be the first one to congratulate you. but really i should be the one to have written you such a letter because this book needed more wholesale slaughter
for gosh sakes Takeshi Kovacs is a slaughtering machine. That's truly what people should be complaining about yes I was put off a little on the gay sex scenes but overall it was a great book. this first book is clearly lacking in this category or it's just me because I really wanted a another Takeshi Kovacs book and wholesale slaughter only Takeshi Kovacs can provide.


your loyal fan for life

By  king-pookey, at 15 January 2010 10:11  

I have to disagree with Mr. Diener – I thought the gay scenes were pretty hot :D

And I'd love to say I'm going to buy your next book because you were brave enough to write a story with a gay protagonist in a genre largely read by straight men. But to be honest I was going to buy it anyway as all your books so far have been brilliant.

By  Will, at 15 January 2010 16:37  

RM- "reason there was male on male action in TSR - because it serves the plot and character."

Of course, but I'm wondering if you didn't have an evil little grin while writing. Is it really just for the characterisation, or surely there is a certain degree of intentionally provoking many of your less open-minded readers?

By  Simon, at 15 January 2010 21:50  

I just started reading The Steel Remains yesterday and I look forward to seeing what all the "controversy" is about. Talk about timing! :)

By  Small Infinities, at 15 January 2010 23:28  

Is anyone sure that guy was not simply jealous? I mean he is probably sitting at his computer right now typing out Kovacs-on-Gil gay fan fiction as we post here.
You should type out a little scene such as that and send it back to him, it will probably get him all hot and bothered.
As for him being in the Mid-West, I hope you’re not right, I am stuck in said Mid-West and the place is overrun with people like him, we can’t fit anymore in here.

By  Lord of Indiana, at 17 January 2010 12:56  

I love one reaction to the 'gay agenda-conspiraloon' attitude, which went thus - "Oh wow, you're GAY? Really? Gay, huh? WoWWW!!!...okay, I'm bored already..." Which I think is really way more mature than the bigot-mob freakery.

cheers - Mike

By  rockitboy, at 20 January 2010 15:40  

I love you and now I must follow your blog. Also, Gil needs a sequel and twice as many gratuitous gay sex scenes, because while maybe ONE closet case claims that he'll not buy any more of your novels, you know there are THOUSANDS more who will.

By  BeckyB, at 20 January 2010 19:07  

TSR was great post-apocalyptic fantasy and without doubt the homosexual sex was shocking for me...especially the borderline implications of pedophilia in Gil's first sexual encounter.

Nevertheless, I think we heteros need more exposure to normal, consenting and positive homosexual relationships including the sexual angle. Six Feet Under and Torchwood are case in point examples where these relationships are well developed in conjunction with the sex.

I'm hopeful TDC will build the passionate relationships further, continuing the trend of representing same sex relationships with dignity alongside the passion.

Keep 'em coming Richard...the world needs more unabashed and insightful prose on topics that continue to be closemindedly taboo!

River

By  River Sol, at 22 January 2010 06:28  

"I want a fucking map! Let us all lobby Richard for a map. Seriously. I mean, really, wouldn't it just make it that much more enjoyable to read? Plus, also, too, besides.. I happen to know that at least one exists, though the copy I got of it leaves a lot to be desired."

Behold!

http://forum.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?4741-The-Steel-Remains

By  Adam Whitehead, at 23 January 2010 04:46  

The question we need to ask ourselves is, is this the type of book you would want your wife or servants to read.

By  Tufmudda, at 24 January 2010 23:08  

Congratulations! Hatemail from the hateful should be worn like a medal.

It was a damn good book and that should be all that matters.

By  Evanda Char, at 26 January 2010 00:03  

@ Pants
Thank you, that was hands-down the funniest thing I've read in ages. You rock.

My opinion is graphic sex scenes are enjoyable to read when they're well-written and you actually give a crap about the characters and the story - regardless of the sexuality of the protaganists.
Also I haven't re-read the Kovacs trilogy in a while but I'm pretty sure there was some m / f action of the backdoor variety in Broken Angels or Woken Furies - albeit in far less detail.

And Richard, your Agent Smith references were the funniest thing I'd read in ages until Pants made his post.Thanks, as always.

By  Fabienne, at 29 January 2010 05:32  

Richard, I don’t know how you got your printers to put that Elders of Sodom Seal of Approval on the duskjacket in UV‐sensitive ink, but what a marketing coup! The Gay Mafia are completely delighted with how they’ve manipulated you into sneaking such a brilliant, hot, and subservise novel to the unsuspecting flocks. We’ll see who sqeezes the last baaaa out of ’em!

I can guarantee you that a lot of us enjoyed the gay scenes (even if a bit on the rough‐trade side), both out of prurient interest and for the welcome relief they provide from the gaggingly vanilla “princess saved by shining knight” claptrap so pervasive in fantasy.

Archeth is easily the most sympathetic of the main characters. She’s the only one who seems grown up enough to let her head override her gonads if needed. Her knife scene Ringil is a bit too damaged and unsubtle in comparison, although he’s undeniably hot.

I really like what you did with the Ljósálfar and Svartálfar tropes with the Aldrain and the Kiriath respectively. Not only do you reverse the more customary good‐guy/bad‐guy assignment there, you also show that alien though they each seem to the others, that underneath they’re just people. You hint the it may be so with Lizard Folk, too, and even the Dwellers are shown to see themselves without a bunch of idiotic mysticism. Only the priests and shamans in this book are loons. The fawning kitsch‐hoarding of what common people think to be Aldrain artifacts is amusing in a sad way.

Some images are still vivid months after reading the novel. The King’s Reach. The everliving heads. The black spike in the crater at Hennais M’hen left over from the nearly forgotten Aldrain–Kiriath war.

My favorite scene has to be when Archeth in cold, krinz‐edged fury recovers Elith from the Citadel thugs—righteously triumphant!

Now maybe it’s too obvious to say, but I haven’t read any reviewers mention your clever use of half‐familar morphology to evoke the right subconscious reaction: dwenda from Spanish duende; Aldrain hearking back to elder or alder, or even to he‐who‐must‐not‐be‐named’s Eldar; Welsh‐sounding Angfal, Kalaman, Pelmarag, Tarnval; the cyber‐connection between Greek κυβερνήτης kybernetes for “steersman” and the Helmsmen as sentient, organic, and possibly insane navigational computers; even the seseante townsman who can’t pronounce Kiriath properly.

There’s more subtlety here than I’ve seen critics mention. They complain about you hatefully beating on the hatefulness of organized religion, but they don’t notice the respect you seem to give Rakan and his Throne Eternal detachment by the end. They don’t notice that Jhiral isn’t completely decadent, just jaded by absolute power; he even reconsiders the wisdom of forced resettlement.

You’re not extolling drug use, just presenting it for the fact of life that in one form or another, it is. Would they be complaining if you called these alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine? No. You don’t glamourize it. It’s just what happens, and to pretend it didn’t would be fake. You show its unpretty costs and after-effects; Angfal warns Archeth it’s not a good idea.

One question: how do you pronounce Yhelteth? Does it start just like English yes, or does the ‹yh› stand for IPA /ʎ/ (a palatal lateral approximant) or for some other sound?

“Cold commands” — now where have I heard that before? Ah right, it’s from Ozymandias:

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command...

As for a dark lord shall rise, well duh! Of course he shall; otherwise there’s no money shot! Remember, the Gay Mafia are watching.

By  tchrist, at 1 February 2010 21:14  

Amazing review/comment tchrist!

By  se7en, at 1 February 2010 22:04  

Okay.. my plan, upon getting my grimy paws on a copy of "Dark Commands" was to re-read "The Steel Remains", then jump straight to "Dark Commands", figuring there will be a carry over and I could, then, not have to keep going back and looking up characters and et cetera.

Now,having read tchrist's little blurb here, I'm thinking I might have to read it twice. Either (s)he is a graduate of Evelyn Wood or just has a photographic memory. In either event, I'm embarrassed to say I totally don't remember all that. Some of it, yeah.. but that much detail I could not recall, if my life depended on it.

Informative, to say the least.

By  Rich, at 1 February 2010 22:26  

Your review was most entertaining, though one should not criticize the efforts of a princess until her desires have been fufilled. Read up to what Mao's Princess wants at ChinaSmack.http://www.chinasmack.com/secrets/perverted-girls-experiences-chinese-men-1/

Mao's princess writes under Evalin.

By  Mao's Princess, at 2 February 2010 06:21  

tchrist - what can I say, man?

It's always nice to be appreciated, but to be appreciated at that level of engagement, to have someone pick out all the background notes that way, is just awesome.

You need to get a job reviewing for SFX. Reviewing my stuff, especially!

By  Richard Morgan, at 2 February 2010 11:03  

Yes, please take Richard's advice and review his stuff for SFX! I knew this book had more detail, research, references than most readers realize, and it's been a bit frustrating to not be knowledgeable enough myself to "get" everything, even though I know it's there! So I appreciate more than you know your review and observations.

The only negative feeling I have about your review is I had resigned myself to being patient for Cold Commands not coming out for a year, and now I'm back to "can hardly wait" status.

L

By  Anonymous, at 2 February 2010 16:39  

Richard: Don't change a thing. Ever. That's all I have to say. :-)

By  Jaimi, at 3 February 2010 17:33  

Fantastic review tchrist, but come on Richard! Answer his question: how do you pronounce Yhelteth?

And can we get the US excerpt of the follow up on your site?? Please??

Mark

By  Anonymous, at 4 February 2010 13:58  

Yel - teth is the way it is pronounced in the audio book.

By  se7en, at 4 February 2010 15:51  

oops - sorry, completely slipped my mind, been all over the place the last couple of weeks.

Uhm, this being fantasy, you can pronounce the names pretty much however you like, really. Personally, I tend to roughen the Y, put an arabic throatiness on it. Imagine the word said by a guy with a thick Russian accent, and you're pretty much there.

By  Richard Morgan, at 4 February 2010 17:55  

RICHARD K MORGAN
Agent of Subversion for the Homosexual Lobby Since 2008™.

There's a t-shirt idea if ever I heard one.

By  Anonymous, at 4 February 2010 22:04  

I'd buy one.

As long as it were black..;-)

By  Rich, at 4 February 2010 22:19  

Richard, I’m glad you were pleased; it was the least I could do. I felt it important to bring to light elements that get short shrift. You obviously put a lot of thought into them. Sometimes reviewers weren’t picking up on the background notes. Others seem too blinded by sex, drugs, and violence to see the story for anything but that, which annoys me—and probably exasperates you.

If I were to write a proper review, I’d have to tease out a lot more themes and grace notes, which would mean I’d have to read it again and keep written notes this time. :) Reviewers have touched on a few themes, but not as appreciably as they should have. And nearly none talk about what you’re doing with a genre that has almost always been too full of treacle and New Age pandering for any sane person to put up with.

The last time I saw an author creatively weave tired and over‐done fantasy tropes into something surprisingly new was probably Gene Wolfe’s Knight and Wizard diptych. His capricious denizens of Aelfheim were no airy‐fairy elves, but semi‐scary Álfar. Interesting with the nested world, but for some reason not personally satisfying. I’m getting a lot more out of the worlds you built in The Steel Remains. I just like what you’re doing a whole lot, and for no few reasons. No offence to Wolfe, whom I certainly respect: surely his Book of the New Sun is what fantasy can be but almost never is. I want things to make sense at some level, and BotNS shares with you a certain SF approach to fantasy that really appeals to me.

What other themes would I mention in a review? Not sure. I know I saw a lot of them, which means there must be many times that numbers I missed. I’d have to weed them down to a punchy subset, much smaller in number than you used.

There’s the changeling theme, like Skafloc and his brother from The Broken Sword, and no few others.

There’s a mortal spending time in the perilous realm wooing and perhaps winning an immortal bride, from The Queen of Air and Darkness or The Queen of Elfland’s Daughter. Hm, that makes Seethlaw the fairy‐bride. Slain by the mortal prince, too: how cool is that?

I wonder whether we aren’t due for the sword that drinks souls theme per Elric of Melniboné, Sethra Lavode, or Túrin Turambar.

I seem to detect in the burnt and disabled fire‐ships some echo of the Lebor Gabdla Erenn’s Tuatha De Danann, those semi‐divine beings that some thought magical demons and others proud men, who burnt their ships upon arrival from somewhere beyond, a you‐cannot‐go‐home note also found in the Fëanorians terrible theft and then similar burning of ships upon their own arrival to mortal strands. Anyone who thinks all elves are Tinker Bells should stop watching Disney.

The band bears a striking resemblance to Bifröst, the Eddaic rainbow bridge or shimmering path leading to Asgard as for the nomads, the Sky Dwellers’ Shining Road leads to their Shining Home. Intriguingly, the rainbow bridge was slated for destruction by the Sons of Muspell during Ragnarök, so you wonder whether the Kiriath might have some hand in that. Ringil carps to Shalak, “Yeah, and I knew Majak herders back in the day who thought the Kiriath were all fire‐blackened demons. [...] Rejected from the Depths of Hell to walk the Earth in Eternal Damnation.” The band could well be lunar shards left over from some catastrophe, natural or otherwise.

(to be continued)

By  tchrist, at 5 February 2010 00:14  

[part 2]

I’m pretty sure there are at least three morphologies going here for the different cultures. Combined with realistic dialogue and gritty mood, this makes the book a lot more believable, and therefore a lot more enjoyable.

Some words evoke several simultaneous possibilities. Kiriath is one of these. There’s ‹kirian› as a bad‐ass girl not to be messed with. Tanith Lee had a character ‹Cyrion›, pronounced with a hard Celtic ‹c›, and there are other Celtic possibilities as well, but my strongest association was the ‹kύριε› in ‹kύριε ἑλέησον›, kýrie eléïson, from the vocative of ‹κύριος›, kyrios; so ‘O Lord!’, which is probably what the folks who first saw them said.

That final ‹‐th› there could be just about anything. English has an embarrassing abundance of words that end in ‹‐th› meaning /θ/, or ‹‐the› meaning /ð/. There are those where ‹‐th› functions as:

• a productive suffix (twelfth, millionth, nth; quoth, bringeth, doth, hath)
• a semi‐productive suffix (width, depth, health, wealth, stealth, warmth, month)
• at the end of names of people and places (Cynefrið, Keith, Kenneth, Edith, Elizabeth, Gareth, Garth, Goth, Griffith, Meredith, Woolworth; Seth, Ruth)
• at the end of many other words (with, bath, both, myth, moth, kith, cloth, ruth, loth, wrath, mouth, tithe, firth, sabbath).
• words from Welsh (èdd, èth; Gwynedd, Dafydd, Lludd, Llyfrgellydd; arglwydd, brith, llawenydd)
• words from Spanish (Aranjuez, Badajoz, Cádiz, Jerez; ajedrez, alcatraz, vejez; vistazo,
perrazo, sartenazo, coñazo, mariconazo, maricoñazo :)

Given all those, it’s rather hard to say what’s on in my brain here. Probably a bit of each. I just know that it works well. The strongest pull may be ‹‐th› as a collective plural, meaning all of that sort. The ‹‐th› is in ‹Archeth› and ‹Yhelteth›, too, although I think those are completely morphologies at work there.

Thanks for the tip about Yheleth. When I read the word, I said something between /ˈjɛltɛθ/ and /ˈjɛltəθ/ in my head, probably /ˈjɛltɨθ/, but with a tighter, more pinched, and breathier beginning than the IPA I just wrote showed. I wondered whether the ‹h› in ‹yh› made those two letters come out as anything beyond the normal English ‹y›. It could even make the ‹y› a vowel, and then the word would have three syllables: /ɪˈhɛltɨθ/, but I didn’t think that was probably the case. Consonant possibilties I thought of include:

• /j/, the common palatal approximate in English ‹yell›.
• an aspirated or devoiced version /jʰ/ or /hj/ that’s like a breathier version of ‹cute›; it could therefore be like
the difference between ‹weather› and ‹whether›.
• the voiceless lateral fricative /ɬ/ from Welsh ‹Llywelyn›.
• the palatal (quasi‐)fricative /ʝ/ from Spanish ‹cayó›.
• the allophonic palatal affricate [ɟʝ] from Spanish ‹el yugo›.
• /ʎ/, the palatal lateral approximant of Portuguese ‹galho›, Catalan ‹espatlla›, and in some Spanish speakers, ‹calló›. The Catalan surname ‹Llull› has this sound on both ends: /ʎuʎ/, which Frank Herbert transliterated into ‹Yuey› for Dune.

I haven’t thought much about the step nomads and what appears to be central Asian morphology that you’re using there. There are plenty of thief of fire characters in the mythologies, and I don’t think Prometheus will turn out to be the best model for Takavach. Loki would probably be better, but I really don’t think the Dwellers are going to end up being Æsir calques: Kelgris has too much of Kali in her.

Richard, I’ve bought your book seven times: once for myself and then a half‐dozen to give to friends. They’re all hooked.

There’s an audio book?!

Hm....

By  tchrist, at 5 February 2010 00:22  

tchrist - you are either an English major or didn't do nearly as many drugs as I did in high school! I could not remember and 1/8th of what you have picked up.

Elric was my favorite fantasy character of all time. Really when he was possessed by Stormbringer : ) Now, Gil is definitely in the running.

Audible is the way to go... $14 per month = 1 book. Its great because I am a game dev and dont have time for actual reading anymore. I am either working on games or playing them to keep up with my industry. With audible/iPod I can listen and drive, do the dishes, fall to sleep, whatever. I also really appreciate good readers because they also add a lot of life to the story leaving my mind room to wander and custom tailer the visuals. When I sit down with a book my mind wanders too far and I have to go back and re-read the same pages over and over again, haha.

I have actually listened to all RKM books. Altered Carbon was the first audio book that a friend of mine gave to me. I have been hooked on RKM and audible ever since.

By  se7en, at 5 February 2010 02:08  

se7en, nope just a computer programmer who reads too much.

I've lived in Madrid and London, worked in Bristol a few weeks once, hung out at Cardiff. I live in Colorado now. Long ago I did work for Gary Gygax at TSR in Wisconsin; my name’s in the playtesting credits for G3, the fire giant module. I can tell you that Gary took much more from Poul Anderson, Jack Vance, Fritz Lieber, and Michael Moorcock than ever he did from Tolkien, whose influence on D&D was actually pretty negligible. Not really Gary’s idea of adventure.

Still, we didn’t read any dark fantasies with gay protagonists then, which was a real shame. Even today most of the few that exist are as lame as most of the rest of genre; The Steel Remains is unquestionably the best such I’ve read.

On ritual chemicals, I doubt it. Oh, I suppose you might be right, but I’ve always had the notion that the people who did more of them than I did aren’t alive any more to tell their story.

By  tchrist, at 5 February 2010 03:47  

I just finished The Steel Remains and have been reading the comments here. Very impressed by those of tchrist. Way above my educational level. Just thought y'all might be interested in the first reactions of a US midwesterner steeped in christian religious education who also happened to view the semi-cartoon movie of Beowolf. Hence my following unedited first thoughts:

Certainly whole book deserves a re-read. I finished last night. Went WTF?! Clueless. Then slept on it and woke up Ringil as Grendel from Beowolf. Ringil's cousin carries the genes of the Aldrain. Oh, so he must too.

In fact, take a pinch of Beowolf and and pinch of Christianity, stir vigorously and let rise. Ringil starts off seeing his friend die for his sins and carries that with him all his life. When he is seduced by the demon/god he enters an alternative universe where he experiences being the one who dies for his friend's sins, keeps his sanity and somehow incorporates that into himself. He frees the slaves. There is no reason for that act expect to further define who Ringil is. He acts to "save the children." He wants to end all wars. Yet he is the avenging lord, who comes in the night to slay the wicked.

If we are talking about a Jesus with sword in hand I get a little concerned. Isn't that how the right-to-lifers see themselves when they off a doctor?

By  del2007, at 7 February 2010 18:01  

del2007, regarding Ringil carrying some Aldrain strain like his barren cousin, I initially thought similarly, but discarded the notion because cousins aren't really all that related.

But I think you may be right. This is from memory, not citation, but I can think of at least three clues pointing that way.

One, humans aren't supposed to be able to endure the fast paths without going insane. Gil obviously travelled them, so either that isn't entirely true or else Gil isn't altogether human or altogether sane—or both.

Two, remember how he manages to see the Aldrain bridge and other works? And how he and Archeth could see structures that humans couldn't? (Hm, and why could Archeth? Could she have survived the long, hot paths of her people's journey?)

Third, the tell-tale blue fire that Gil couldn't quite catch with his eye when it flashed in the mirror at the end.

Sure, he could just be sensitized from the time he spent in the Aldrain marches and this something that could happen to anyone, but I don't think so. Remember the akyians' reaction to him?

Hm, or was that Achaeans or Akhiyans, or something to do with Achaia? All set off resonances.

I'm just kidding. It does Richard a disservice to pick apart his work looking for analogues in other tales and myths. What he has done is his own creativity at work. Sure, he's mined some of our common collective myth structure, but so what? Everyone does that. It's what he does with them in his story that matters, and that is entirely his own. I've already remarked how refreshingly creative I've found his uses of these.

Still, it does no good to peer too deeply into the tea leaves. One must appreciate the soup for itself without picking apart what went into it. The same can be said for a great painting: you don't spend too much time on what ingredients went into the brushes and the paints.

Instead of playing with the soup's ancestors, but just savouring its own unique aroma, here are questions I hope to learn answers to in future books, questions that come only from the story itself, not out of any putative ancestral influence:

* What really happened to the Kiriath, and did they perish in the fire?

* What Aldrain tricks could Seethlaw have taught Gil, given time?

* Might Gil ever be able to learn faster, cooler paths than the long, hot ones the Kiriath took, and so bring Archeth to her people?

* Why does mixing Aldrain genes in human stock lead to sterility when concentrated? Is Ringil sterile? Is Archeth?

* Why do the Aldrain and the Kiriath both seem to know about the far-distant human future?

* What do the akyians see in Ringil?

* Since you can't go back in time by taking strange paths through the Aldrain marches, how did Gil see the moon when he was with Seethlaw?

* Whose rules were the Aldrain playing by with their failed mass-sacrifice ploy?

* Why were the Dwellers messing with Gil's hot tea?

* Is the ancient weapon that lies dreaming in the crater truly dead, or with strange aeons...?

I've probably got four times that many questions, but those should give everyone plenty to ponder for the next six months. I sure will.

By  tchrist, at 8 February 2010 08:36  

tchrist: I disagree we're doing Richard a disservice - hey, it's fun to look into the tealeaves. I mean, you seem to be the expert at the tealeaves anyway. It doesn't mean we don't appreciate Richard's creativity - he's both creative and clever. It shows the care Richard puts into his work - AND, I always learn something. It makes me think, wonder, and try to find the reference, thus learning happens. I appreciated del2007s perspective as well.

I'm re-reading it to put down some of my questions too.

Why did Seethlaw's scent seem so familiar to Ringil? Did the sword jutting at an angle from Ringil's shoulder represent his feeling impaled and wounded, just as his friend was literally? Is Takavacs really Takeshi Kovacs? Is Takavach also The Wanderer? My biggest question is, is Ringil too wounded and changed to ever heal? How will it all end? More questions to follow as well, but I've just started re-reading.

Re the moon, I took it to mean it's another possibility, (alternate reality) not an earlier earth.

Please forgive me, Richard, for being presumptuous here by speaking for you, but tchrist, Richard might not answer all of these questions. If I remember correctly, he's likes to leave a bit of ambiguity.

Linda

By  Anonymous, at 8 February 2010 15:27  

Back to reading tea leaves:

It was the "hot" sex, I think, that highlighted for me the easy resonances with Beowolf. It was a real seduction, not just a roll in the hay. Seduction by and slaying of the demon/god is essential to Ringil's becoming.

And is it such a stretch to find christian themes in the suffering of a man hanging on a pike at the city gate for another's trangressions?

If in Beowolf christianity displaces the old gods, no such thing happens in TSR, images from each are wound together in new and creative ways.

I don't propose this as an interpretation of the book, just one thread that resonates with me.

By  del2007, at 8 February 2010 16:43  

Couple of thoughts:

Maybe the Dwellers are just playing games.

Maybe the Akyia see Ringil could become all possibilities, since each experience in the Aldrain marches seem to be affecting him and tearing him apart.

Maybe we're making it harder for Richard to come up with a new plot to surprise us all. In which direction will he take the story?

By  Anonymous, at 8 February 2010 19:32  

Linda, I would never ask Richard all those plot-relevant questions! That would be not just utterly crass, it'd be begging for spoilers. I'm way happy to see the story grown on its own without peaking ahead. I too much enjoy figuring things out at Richard's own pace to want that spoiled.

Those were just questions I hope to understand better once I've read further books with these characters (whom I love, by the way). I fully realize Richard might never answer all questions in a future book. A good writer fills a believable world not just with older elements from that world that poke through to the present, but also has things that are never fully explained. We don't have explanations for everything in our own world, so there's no reason to expect a created world should come with all the answers, either. It all just needs to make internal sense, without (too many) paradoxes.

Anon@15:27, I was somewhat apologizing for appearing to pay more attention to possible source-inspirations than to the current story. And I was completely staggered by your musing on Takavach and Takeshi Kovacs, like seeing a new figure hiding in a familiar painting you'd never noticed there before. Brilliant! It's even more compelling when one remembers that TK's surname was to be pronounced [ˈkovaːtʃ] like the Slavic word for smith.

Anon@19:32, perhaps I'm going too far by presuming it is the Dwellers fucking around with Gil, not some other group. It just seems their style. Likewise with the animated corpse in the cage.

I'm thinking the grinning return question to Gil's "Who are you?" of "Don't you know?" might not be something we're expected to know the answer to yet. I even wonder whether Gil is honestly expected to know that answer: it could be more Dweller wickedness there to distress him.

Getting back to the theme of Richard's initial posting—that is, "I got one!"—how many of you (not Richard) think The Steel Remains would make a great film?

Do you think there'd be too much homophobia (or homophobia-phobia) for any filmmakers to touch it?

Even if someone did buy up a film optionl, would any studio or director have the balls to make a film that closely followed Richard's novel, or would they pull some lame-ass Disneyfied cop-out?

By  tchrist, at 8 February 2010 23:33  

Some of these things are like finding really cool easter eggs in dvds.

And, I do happen to know a Hollywood producer. Hmm...

By  Anonymous, at 9 February 2010 01:21  

It would make a cracking film, in my opinion. Possibly one of the 'easier' of Richard's books to fully realise on the big screen...

As for the gay scenes in the book, I don't think they would have to be chopped out, but no doubt they would be rendered less vividly, as it were.

I'd effing love to see this as a movie!

Mark C

By  Anonymous, at 9 February 2010 10:24  

Oh, this is too funny for words. The homosexual lobby???? Didn't know one existed and, if it does, so what? I, for one, love your sexy homo character in The Steel Remains. My God, what have we come to that people are this close-minded about literature, about art, about life, about two people enjoying sex? Someone's sexual persuasion doesn't bother me in the slightest and it's none of my damn business anyway. For the record, I am a HUGE fan of the proudly and openly gay singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright too. He is an amazing talent. Too bad this country treats men (and women) like him as second-class citizens. Apparently, that has now extended to works of fiction and fictional characters too. Absolutely amazing and so very, very sad. Mr. Morgan, I cannot wait for the next installment of this story. The first was wonderfully written and gave us a great hero/anti-hero who was HOT and home. Keep up the good work!

By  Anonymous, at 13 February 2010 01:27  

well... I must say I was put off by the gay sex bit... just not the kind of thing I care to read about.

all in all I was rather disappointed by the book compared to past efforts...

By  Anonymous, at 13 February 2010 01:29  

disappointed at your shot at the "mid-west". by saying that you sound like the liberal elite.

fuck off.

By  Anonymous, at 13 February 2010 02:44  

Anyone who thinks that there is a "liberal elite" deserves the comments. I'm sure that you think Fox News is fair and balanced too!

By  Al, at 13 February 2010 03:30  

Wow - the liberal elite, the homosexual lobby. All I need now is an in with the International Zionist Conspiracy, and I'll have the full set.

By  Richard Morgan, at 13 February 2010 16:56  

I read bits and pieces of what's written in this post,and just want to add the following :
I am a fan of Richard Morgan SF books, read them all, loved the Kovac's books, would like to see it at the movies one day.

And for TSR, I was totally put off by the very graphic scenes, could not finish the book cause I really just did not like what I was reading, felt a little sick with it.

So, I'll be happy to read more of Richards stories back into the "normal" SF worlds of his ! lol.

And I'll beware of the fantasy ones.

By  Anonymous, at 14 February 2010 17:47  

What gave me the creeping thrill of fear was picking up something appearing to be a tired swords and sorcery story from a science fiction author whose stories I'd grown to love. Another one gone to the bad, I thought, and dismally settled to see how far I could get.

Then I read the book. In a longgg night.

Loved it. And the scenario that leads to the line "I'm with the faggot". Exceptional. Rich, complex characters with individual motivations.

I ended up thinking it's probably the best you've written, so far. Keep it up, please!

tchrist's analysis is far beyond where I've gone. I've assumed this is another planet to which humans, human derived and others have come (assuming that at least some of the mechanisms are involving probabilistic technologies that allow for world-walking, and tunneling to the flat gravity spot at the centre of the world, as in The Algebraist, etc). I've chosen to believe that the book isn't fantasy at all. It's hard SF - but with Clark's "sufficiently advanced technology".

Anyone disturbed by the sex scenes in TSR is probably going to have real problems reading, ohh, The Naked Lunch, or Banks' Song Of Stone or Complicity. IIRC, for all of Takeshi's fearsome capacity for violence, I don't recall any non-consensual sex. Maybe I need to re-re-re-read. :)

Do I have a richer internal life after reading any of these? Yes. Nothing finer than seeing the world from a different perspective!

So... Any chance of you writing a book in which we can be given a sympathetic portrait of Sarah Palin's view of the world? As a near antithesis of everything you've written, that'd have to stretch your talents ;)

By  JezC, at 6 March 2010 20:37  

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