• The Dark Defiles

  • A Land Fit for Heroes, Book 3
  • By: Richard K. Morgan
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 24 hrs
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (609 ratings)

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The Dark Defiles  By  cover art

The Dark Defiles

By: Richard K. Morgan
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Publisher's summary

Ringil Eskiath, a reluctant hero viewed as a corrupt degenerate by the very people who demand his help, has traveled far in search of the Illwrack Changeling, a deathless human sorcerer-warrior raised by the bloodthirsty Aldrain, former rulers of the world. Separated from his companions - Egar the Dragonbane and Archeth - Ringil risks his soul to master a deadly magic that alone can challenge the might of the Changeling. While Archeth and the Dragonbane embark on a trail of blood and tears that ends up exposing long-buried secrets, Ringil finds himself tested as never before, with his life and all existence hanging in the balance.

©2014 Richard Morgan (P)2014 Tantor

What listeners say about The Dark Defiles

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

…..NC-17 Sword and Sorcery…..

Richard Morgan’s third entry into the fantasy genre again downplays the explicit scenes that were so prominent in the first book. I am trying to be discrete here. It is evident that there has been a conscious decision to be a little less in-your-face on such gratuitous scenes at the end of this series. Here the events of the trilogy are allowed to unfold without too much of the rainbow desensitization techniques he employed so copiously in the first installment—and for this I am grateful. What we are left with is a quite mundane sword-and-sorcery novel. The three main characters are back again and live up to their nicknames in every sense. It is fun to see them in action. And nobody does action better than Morgan.

At the end of the day I think that I failed to fully engage with this series because of the aforementioned salacious elements and so have not really much cared what happens to the characters. There is a dearth of redeeming social value here. As a result I just let the audio play out and tried to follow the plot, which at times was difficult because the action seems focused more on the grubby details of mercenary life than it does on the grander story arc with the fate of the world at stake. This is not, therefore, an epic fantasy by any means. The unfolding Duenda war feels like little more than a manufactured crisis to allow the characters to misbehave. Alfred Hitchcock would call this the MacGuffin—the thing the characters in the story care about who facilitate the action that the audience cares about. The characters want to save the world and we in the audience want to witness them hacking and slashing their way to victory. So, while this series may have broken ground in introducing the genre to a sympathetic portrayal of an openly gay main character, it is pretty standard Sword and Sorcery fare otherwise. Knowing the dizzying heights that Richard Morgan is capable of hitting in his Science Fiction novels, this is a bit of a letdown.

Simon Vance is a little too subdued for my tastes in his reading of this book. With such flamboyant characters the story would have been better served with a more emotional rendering in the dialog scenes. Vance is excellent in translating the words on the page into sounds in your ear. For the most part he is unobtrusive and this makes it possible for him to become the sub-vocal voice-in-your-head that every reader experiences when reading a book on your own.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not the worst...

Wanted to love this series but despite loving a few of the characters I got bored to death Midway through the last book and for whatever reason felt I still had to finish it. narration was amazing Simon Vance is probably half the reason I could get through it. Richard K. Morgan is great, don't get me wrong but besides his excellent humor and witty retorts this book just dragged for me.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A dense and sharp high epic with lots of twists

Richard maintains his sharp and edgy writing on this high epic. I took me few hours to get adjusted to the style of writing that it is dense and demands attention from the reader. Book is fast moving and hits the ground running requiring reader to be familiar with previous book well at the start. So, I recommend doing some reading (wiki page possibly) of previous books before starting this one.

Book starts with Ringil, Archeth and Egar on a journey to find the Illwark changeling. Journey takes them to various amazing places looking for the changeling where story breaks into two story lines. One follows Ringil where the other story line follows Egar and Archeth. Both are great, but Ringil's experiences are more abstract where he looks to master deadly forces for incoming conflicts. This element of the story is innovative and despite of high use of powers/magic, it remains mysterious and entertaining. During the book Ringil's character starting to remind me a lot of Elric and his sword. It has been a while since I have read the Elric saga, but I kept thinking of it.

Story line for Archeth and Egar is not simple either that their decisions are riddle with political and historical considerations. Banter between Archeth and Egar is entertaining as well along with mysterious actions of demonic helms. There arw plenty of twists in the plots which kept the book entertaining throughout.

Overall, book is very entertaining but will require concentration from reader. Like previous books in this series, it is dark edgy and sharp. Simon's narration is top notch as usual. He is able to capture the subtle tones of implications utilized by the character throughout the book. I enjoyed the book and I would highly recommend it to seasoned fantasy readers.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Leaves you wanting more

I've been a fan of the fantasy genre since my youth and have read a sizable number of fantasy books over the last 20 years. I find that Morgan writes as no other, with hard uncompromising and funny characters; each with their own huge flaws. In other words, no squeaky clean heros. In this third book the saga continues, and you are revealed some of the worlds mysteries, but you feel that there are a lot more stories to tell and even more to be revealed. I want and hope for Morgan to feel the same way about the world and the characters he has created for our, and hopefully his, enjoyment

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Confusing writing at times, overall great series

At times the book is difficult to follow, context is missing and some chapters leave you wondering what just happened. The narration was ok, the series is good enough it could benefit greatly from a more produced recording with different actors, music, sound effects, voice enhancements of some of the other worldy characters etc.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A fitting conclusion to a 1 of a kind series.

This series really reaches out and grabs you by the cojones. Ringill is a perfect agent of chaos or is he?

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Post-modern fantasy with all the complexity and irreverence you could hope for

Morgan takes all of the fantasy tropes and turns them upside down with a meta-narrative that blends seamlessly with an organic plot and compelling characters. The world and mythology that he has built has room for endless stories. There is enough social commentary, bold, unconventional relationships and moral ambiguity to make anyone who is tired of simple good vs evil hero stories jump for joy. Not for the queasy nor the judgmental, this series forges new territory for the genre and is a breath of fresh air. The prose is top notch, mature, ironic and lovely to experience. Dialogue is natural and often just plain funny. The narrator is also excellent, clearly differentiating characters through accent and tone while subtly embellishing the story with an actor’s magic.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The best and most satisfying conclusion to a fantasy series!

Morgan’s characters are what draw you into this world; It takes some patience by the reader in the second book as the myriad strands are teased out and drawn back together; it is all worth it, in diamonds, clubs, hearts and spades in this concluding novel. A fantastic and fitting ending to a truly wonderfully envisioned and brilliant saga. Narrator is amazing and it is worth a second and third listen.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing Finale

Vance changed the voices for a few characters but overall amazing performance, great story. Long live the Dragon Banes and Kiriath warrior!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A fantastic end to the saga

The Dark Defiles is the pinnacle of the saga of Ringil, Egar and Arceth. Our heroes find themselves on unsteady ground in the far north as they battle their demons - some tangible others not so much - in search of a powerful enemy. Vance delivers on point narration and excelles in drawing you in so much, you forget that he is doing all the voices. A must-listen for any fantasy fan and a cannot-miss for any Richard Morgan fan. This is pure epic story telling that will leave you pondering and guessing for days after the final word has been uttered. Pure epic.

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