Faded Steel Heat is the ninth novel of the Garrett, P.I. series by Glen Cook. It is a Fantastic Noir series set in a High Fantasy world. Garrett is a private investigator, former Marine, and Knight in Sour Armor working to solve a variety of cases with all the witches as well as other creatures about him.
The city of TunFaire is wracked with Fantastic Racism as the veterans of the Cantard War return to a city that has already filled up all of their old job with nonhumans. A hate group called the Call has risen among the city's humans and are growing with each passing day.
Garrett's interest in the current events is less concern and more annoyance that it is making his life more difficult. He's then forcibly recruited by Colonel Block and Deal Relway to infiltrate the Call against his will.
What is already a complicated plot soon becomes even more so with plots by old enemies, the beautiful daughter of Chodo Contague, and a group of shapechangers who have infiltrated the ranks of the Call.
Followed by Angry Lead Skies.
Faded Steel Heat contains the following tropes:
- Affably Evil: Marengo is a polite, cheerful, and honorable man who just happens to be the leader of a violent hate group.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: The Call are a hate group of humans that want to drive out or kill all of the nonhumans in TunFaire. Playmate even comments on the fact that they have arm bands.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Marengo North English is a fantastically wealthy aristocrat and leader of the Call. He seems completely unaware how many humans are disgusted by his Fantastic Racism and believes most secretly share his values. Garrett comments on the fact the Call has mostly served as a chance for people to line their pockets with his money.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Call and Marengo North English are bankrupt, the Call is weakened because its members don't trust each other anymore, and the peace of the city is (temporarily) restored. Plus, Crask and Sadler are defeated for good.
- Broken Pedestal: The Dead Man has this toward Glory Mooncalled when he discovers the latter has degenerated into becoming just another schemer.
- Bullying a Dragon: The Call seems to assume that the nonhumans of TunFaire will roll over and die. Instead, when the massacre is planned, they meet a bunch of well-prepared and well-armed citizens eager to kick their ass.
- Casanova Wannabe: Marengo North English is lured into a trap by assassins who pretend that Belinda Contague wants to have a romantic rendezvous with him. Garrett, who actually has had them, is utterly bemused by this belief.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Belinda has no truck with the Call and its racism.
- Fantastic Racism: The primary point of the novel is there a conflict between the nonhumans of the city and the returning human veterans. The Call is the hate group that is the primary focus of this rage and one that Garrett is forced to join as The Mole.
- Gambit Pileup: This book has competing interests and scheming by the Call, the Outfit, the secret police, Black Dragon Valsung, the Brotherhood of Wolves, Reliance, a Hill sorcerer, Tama Montezuma and Glory Mooncalled. Not to mention Garrett's agenda to protect the Weiders, the Dead Man's plan to meet one of the above schemers, Singe's emerging desire for independence, and a half-dozen others hoping to score some profit and/or free beer.
- Gravity Screw: Morley makes a crack at the Dead Man's expense, and the Loghyr sticks him to the ceiling as a chastisement. Being Morley, he takes it in stride.
- Kill and Replace: The habits of the shapechangers in order to get closer to their goals of wealth and power.
- The Mole:
- Genord.
- Garrett sets out to infiltrate the humans-first racists. They never trust him enough to tell him anything intentionally, but he does manage to expose some shapeshifters among them and thus undermine their conspiracies by making them too paranoid to trust each other.
- Noble Bigot: Lt. Nagit. Marengo North English tries to be this, but falls short on the "Noble" part in the clinch.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Belinda wants nothing to do with the Call due to the fact that it disrupts the many nonhumans in her employ and businesses.
- Properly Paranoid: The revelation that their own ranks were infiltrated by shapeshifters breaks up the racialists' conspiracies, as they no longer trust even one another.
- The Queenpin: Belinda Contague becomes this by “Faded Steel Heat”.
- Returning War Vet: Every adult human male in Karenta has been this trope, and TunFaire gets inundated with them after the Cantard War ends. The Call and lesser free-corps of are made up of these guys. So is the entire staff (save Cook) of General Stantnor's estate.
- They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Lt. Nagit's introduction. It's "Lieutenant" or "Mr. Nagit" to you, Garrett, not "Ed".
- Urine Trouble: The Goddamn Parrot starts to poop on the Dead Man, and gets flung telekinetically across the room for his trouble.
- You Remind Me of X: Garrett is given the late Tad Weider's old clothes by Max. People who knew Tad find Garrett's resemblance to the fallen Weider son a bit unnerving, when seeing him dressed that way.
