The Dark Defiles

Written by Richard Morgan

Narrated by Simon Vance

Compared to Michael Moorcock and Joe Abercrombie alike, Richard Morgan's fast-moving and brutal science fantasy reaches its final volume as Ringil comes to his final reckoning and sees the world tipping into another war with the dragon folk. And, most terrifying of all, the prophecy of a dark lord come to rule may be coming true very close to home....

The Dark Defiles is a supremely fast-moving 240,000 word epic. A massive-yet-tight story that both shines a light on some mysteries from earlier volumes and reveals deeper mysteries yet. We encounter the artifacts of an ancient race, learn the true story of the ghostly Dwenda and follow three old friends as they face their greatest test yet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette UK Audio
• Release date: Nov 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781409155614

Richard Morgan

Richard Morgan was born and raised by goblins on the Yorkshire moors. He has painted backgrounds for Disney TV and now writes and illustrates children's books. He lives in Cambridge, England, and has a family of goblins of his own.

Reviews for The Dark Defiles

[dokfintong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Long, dense, wonderfulThis 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 to 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!

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Free review copy. I began this fantasy series very excited over the gay barbarian protagonist persisting despite his society’s homophobia and the half-alien lesbian protagonist whose involvements in palace intrigue are almost the least of her worries. Over time, the grimdark elements started hitting me harder (in the previous volume, protagonist #1 deliberately puts a woman in a position where she is raped to death in order to achieve his goals, and stands around as it happens), and I read Morgan’s blog (always a dangerous thing with authors) where he became increasingly defensive about the whole grimdark thing—he doesn’t like the label. Still, Morgan writes meaty plots—in this one, there are at least three separate threats to human existence, although one has been fairly soundly beaten back for the moment; the balance of power between human magic and alien/elvish technology/magic (very hard to tell) is constantly shifting, not to mention the relationships between the people involved. It’s a quest story where the characters don’t find the quest object, which is refreshing. The story ends at a point that feels like a real ending, but politics will obviously continue to create huge problems for the remaining protagonist. I was going to say that there was also a lot less rape in this book, at least onscreen/within one degree of our characters, but then the last hundred or so pages of the book made that wrong. I’m glad I know the ending, but I would not recommend this to anyone who doesn’t enjoy GRRM.

[surtac_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well worth the wait. A brilliant conclusion to the trilogy.

[imyril · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another year down the line, and our so-called heroes are flailing around the far north failing to find the grave of a long-dead Dark Lord fated to return, or the Kiriath fortress that supposedly guards it to ensure he doesn't. When war erupts along the border, their carefully-negotiated terms of passage are ripped up and Ringil's status as the most wanted man in Trelayne comes back to haunt him. As his mastery of the ikinri ska matures, has he become the new Dark Lord prophecied or do the dwenda, the Helmsmen and the Dark Court have a few tricks left up their sleeves?I found this less challenging than the previous volume, which is to say whilst still soaked in bloody violence, I was less appalled - although it's worth noting that Morgan has form for subverting ethical sensibilities (see Takeshi Kovacs in Woken Furies) and Ringil's return to Trelayne is monstrous in terms of collateral damage. Perhaps appropriately then, this volume is also less funny as the trilogy gets down to epic confrontations and (un)just desserts. The split narrative slows things down again here - while Egar and Archeth remain together, their story becomes so divorced from Ringil facing down the threat to the world that it's almost on par with Brienne's wanderings in A Feast For Crows (thankfully it's more interesting). While Ringil has the core narrative, Archeth gets all the character progression - it's an odd split, however realistic it may feel (or familiar to those who have ever annoyed their storyteller by splitting the party).However, it remains gripping entertainment if somewhat drawn-out and the tale is heavily laced with mythic back story for the reader that worries about background detail (cue much pub/forum discussion of what some of it actually means). All in all, good stuff, but arguably less interested in challenging grimdark tropes than adopting them as the focus shifts to resolution. Expect blood, guts, swearing and mixed feelings about representation.

[bernadette877 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very satisfying end to this dark fantasy trilogy. (Well, the reader might see the hints to an SFnal explanation...)

[ragwaine · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love Morgan's writing and I love fantasy, so I was very excited about this series. Unfortunately I was often confused reading the first two books. This one seemed to be much clearer, but the ending was a let down. Still definitely worth the read. They're all available on audio and the narrator is great.I don't usually like the blend of sci-fi with fantasy, but what he's doing here works for me. It's kind of "grimdark" too, which I like. I could do without the graphic sex scenes, straight and gay. I understand they add to the grittiness, but a little less detail would be good. It's almost embarrassing to be in line at the post office listening to (basically) porn.Morgan will be sorely missed as a writer. I think I've read all but one of his books now. Still waiting on this Kovacs novels to become a TV show or movie.

[ralphd00d-325171 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley for free in exchange for a review.

This is the third and final installment for this series. Everything gets resolved in a good fashion, though in a way I was a bit surprised about. Morgan has done a wonderful job creating a world(s?) that all combine the way it seems three have in this story. Would love to see possible future side-stories that are from this storyline world.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

[livingtech_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Won't say too much about this other than that I loved it. Loved the conclusion especially which is the part I want to but won't say too much about. Morgan is a master, and while I'd like my sci-if a little more explicit, this did not disappoint.