Book Review: Black Steel by Steve Perry

Book Review: Black Steel by Steve Perry


The Matador Books all By Steve Perry

This is a series of books all interrelated in plot, setting, characters, and themes. They are in order of printing, The Man Who Never Missed, Matadora, The Machiavelli Interface, The 97th Step, The Albino Knife, Black Steel, Brother Death, and The Musashi Flex. They form an intense over reaching whole, telling the story of the rise and fall of a near dictatorship and the democracy that replaces it from the perspective of the trained killers that orchestrate the majority of the overthrow.

So Black Steel follows The Albino Knife, about one year after the end of that novel, and concerns its self with Sleel, the ultimately self-assured Matador from the first trilogy. This is the second stand alone novel set after the main series of novels, and in my opinion, it perhaps Steve Perry’s strongest novel written.

After the end of The Albino Knife, Sleel seems to have taken several small contracts, and at the start of Black Steel, he is contacted by Jersey Reason, the ex-thief us readers met in The Albino Knife. Seems Mr. Reason is being attacked by sword wielding types and wishes to employ Sleel in his capacity as a Matador, one of the preeminent bodyguards in the setting of these novels.

What follows on from this is the Journey of The Shaman, from life, to death, to rebirth, to a new life, embracing a new way of looking at the world and the greater view of creation, as well as encountering and taking on the aspect of his totem.

During this journey Sleel attempts to reconnect with his parents, major details about his life prior to the novels are revealed, showing depth to the character that never has come out in prior novels save in one or two snippets recognizable after the fact. He demonstrates a sense of caring and determination that is near suprahuman, much as all the Matadors do throughout the novels, and is gravely injured.

During his convalescence he comes into his second life, his rebirth, when he holds a sword in his hand for the first time. Here is where the novel takes off and heads into great territory. Up to this point Sleel has been almost a throwaway character, with very programmed and stereotypical reactions. Once his rebirth comes about he becomes much more than words on the page, but becomes an actual character that can be cared about, and that transformation brings empathy to the character and his plight and nascent love for the sister of Mayli Wu, a dead Matador from the first three novels. With a blade at his side, he calls in his extended Matador family to rescue his new love from an egotistical swordsman that kidnapped her for personal reasons.

The ending is pure Steve Perry Matador writing, fast paced, clipped, to the point and the good guys run all over the bad guys, just how it is supposed to be in these books.
This is perhaps the best novel Mr Perry has written to date. Of the Matador novels it is by far the best one in this reviewers opinion, mostly due to the evolution of the main character and while the outcome is never in doubt, still growth is achieved.


Notes on the series in general:
The rest of the novels expand a different character from the initial three novels. Pen is showcased in The 97th Step, Sleel in Black Steel, Bork in Brother Death, and the group as a whole in The Albino Knife. The different novels all flesh out the wonderful setting. The various planets are all rich in depth and the action is intense. Each plot item moves the metastory as a whole along.

This is one of the best Cyberpunk/Near Ribofunk series produced. The elements of Viral technology, information usage, computer interrelationships, and how technology impacts on the common folks all bring to life a galaxy oppressed struggling for a better life with no hope except that suddenly provided by Khadaji and his followers.

As a Science Fiction, Cyberpunk genre series it is highly recommended. These books are full of characters, fights, eastern beliefs, situations and a cohesive societal structure that is eminently plausible. While not the stylistically perfect novels, such as Dune by Frank Herbert or the Amber Novels by Roger Zelazny, the Matador Series books have the power to hold and draw the reader deeper into their world. Once there the reader will cheer their successes and mourn their losses.


The chronological order of the series is:
The Musashi Flex
The 97th Step
The Man Who Never Missed
Matadora
The Machiavelli Interface
The Albino Knife
Black Steel
Brother Death


The novel Omega Cage by Steve Perry and is set in the same universe and while not a part of the Matador series, it bears a relation to it. It falls as the second novel, preceding The 97th Step, in terms of the chronology. The book The Mushashi Flex showcases the origins of the fighting style Sumito as well as the Brotherhood of the Shroud.

Link:
Steve Perry’s Blogsite
http://themanwhonevermissed.blogspot.com/