Banks, Iain M.

Average customer rating:

Far from formulaic
wheels within wheels...
THE warm & fuzzy blanket
Enjoyable story, would read more by this author
Not very epic

The Algebraist
Iain M. Banks
Manufacturer: Night Shade Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Space Opera | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1597800449

Book Description

It is 4034 AD. Humanity has made it to the stars. Fassin Taak, a Slow Seer at the Court of the Nasqueron Dwellers, will be fortunate if he makes it to the end of the year. The Nasqueron Dwellers inhabit a gas giant on the outskirts of the galaxy, in a system awaiting its wormhole connection to the rest of civilization. In the meantime, they are dismissed as decadents living in a state of highly developed barbarism, hoarding data without order, hunting their own young and fighting pointless formal wars. Seconded to a military-religious order he's barely heard of - part of the baroque hierarchy of the Mercatoria, the latest galactic hegemony - Fassin Taak has to travel again amongst the Dwellers. He is in search of a secret hidden for half a billion years. But with each day that passes a war draws closer - a war that threatens to overwhelm everything and everyone he's ever known.

Customer Reviews:

Far from formulaic.......2007-06-17

The Algebraist isn't an easy book to summarize. It isn't even an easy book to read, though science fiction lovers will find it worth the time and effort. It is arguably great, but it is also undeniably big, set against a background so enormous in both size and history and sheer alien-ness that it makes Dune look like a one-act play.

It's 4034 AD, and with barely two millennia of space-faring behind it, humanity is a relative newcomer to the baroque galactic meta-civilization. The culture of the Dwellers, who inhabit 99% of the gas giants in the galaxy, is billions of years old. Fassin Taak, the novel's protagonist, is unexpectedly seconded to the position of Complector, in charge of millions of planets and trillions of beings.

Not surprisingly, much of the first half of The Algebraist is devoted to introducing the large cast, an eclectic range of subplots, and the political, cultural and scientific background to the war that is brewing between the Dwellers and the Mercatoria, the latest galactic hegemony. The driving force behind the war is the Archimandrite Luseferous, cynically apostate priest of the Starveling Cult, effective ruler of one hundred and seventeen stellar systems, and a diamond-toothed psychopathic sadist with a fertile imagination. His fleet makes a pre-emptive strike on the Dweller-inhabited gas giant Nasqueron, ostensibly to make the galaxy safer from terrorists, but really because his intelligence people suspect there is something of value there.

Taak, who lives on a moon orbiting Nasqueron, is ordered to travel into the planet's turbulent atmosphere and make contact with the Dwellers, who may or may not have a Planetary Protector (Deniable), but have yet to develop a decent hangover cure. They certainly have ten billion years of brief minor wars and an algorithm for determining the elegance of a particular battle, which they use as their equivalent of a Supreme Court. They are also rumoured to possess - or to have forgotten - the secret mathematical formula for faster-than-light travel without the use of the known wormholes.

Taak goes looking for the legendary algebraic formula, and learns that the universe is not only stranger than he imagined, but much more dangerous. He admits at one point to suffering from `swim' - "when your head kind of seems to swim because you suddenly think, "Hey, I'm a human being but I'm twenty thousand light years from home and we're all living in the midst of mad aliens and super-weapons and the whole bizarre insane swirl of galactic history and politics!" - and readers may have the same problem. Banks has been industriously and almost insanely inventive when it comes to alien cultures and galactic history, and some of this is reflected in the book's language. As befits the book's sheer scope, he occasionally uses sentences of Kafkaesque length and complexity. At the other extreme, he can lapse into the vowel-less text of SMS-style messaging for whole pages. His narrators, by their own admission, also tend to digress unless forcibly stopped. There is, however, much less technobabble in The Algebraist than in many hard sf novels. Despite the title, you won't need to remember your high school algebra to read it, nor very much science.

While the first half of The Algebraist moves rather slowly, it explodes into full space operatic mode by about page 300, and after that I found it difficult to put down. It's a refreshingly long way from John W. Campbell's dictum that humans should always be shown as masters of the universe - it's much more in the tradition of Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker, with just a hint of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This is wonderful, mind-expanding far-future big-picture science fiction: space opera at its baroque best.

wheels within wheels..........2007-05-10

On a recent trip I picked up a copy of The Algebraist and I must admit to developing a sneaking appreciation of Mr. Banks. I'd previously tried one of his books that made me reticent... but The Algebraist won me over.

The positive side of Banks's work is his fondness, nay, monomania for scenery (and the devouring of the same). Here we get gothic crashed space vessels, Raj-like imperial capitols, a community of aliens living in the clouds of a Jupiter-sized planet, space battles of the Olde School. Enough that some are calling this "space opera". This is his strong suit: in my other experience with Banks ("Condiser Phlebas") he blows up an entire "ringworld", just because he can! No one really does big scenery like Banks.

We also get a plot that seems simplistic on the surface while allowing the time and space (600 pages) to find deeper things going on---without the overhead bludgeoning we often get. The end is as fascinating for what it does and doesn't say.

Sounds nifty, eh? The downsides here are that Banks is too fascinated with his plaything and too fond of whimsy by half. The Dweller aliens are all comic relief--pantomime horses really. We are told, rather than see, the aeons old subtleness that animates them and the humor defeats their developing any real gravitas.

Still, that's not entirely fair. Banks gives us an epic, well told, with things you've genuinely Never Seen Before---something we rarely get in this age of cookie-cutter trilogies. Highly recommended.

THE warm & fuzzy blanket.......2007-04-28

Reading the depth of Banks' writing is an experience in itself. The Algebraist is such a good read that I would daydream about the story when awake and dream of it when asleep. My life was taken over by the scale of the plot, the implications of the outcomes and even the epic-ness of sub-plots! Page one hooked me and reeled me all the way through to the end. Hook, line & sinker. Upon finishing the book, I was saddened that it was all over so I went out and bought the rest of the Banks' sci-fi collection at the 2nd hand book store.

Remote and direct delving - fantastic idea!
Slow & fast species - novel idea!
Seers - terribly interesting!
Dweller technology - mind warping!
the Failed Assassin - entertainingly cruel!
Luseferous - favorite villain ever!

Enjoyable story, would read more by this author.......2007-03-01

This story was enjoyable science-fiction, and was the first book by this author I have read. Following primarily the activities on one character, Fennin Taak (sp?) as he is inadvertently dragged into the thick of a very nasty interstellar crisis. The story involves politics in a local and interstellar/multi-tiered level as a backdrop, and does follow a couple of other secondary characters, most of whom seem to be lacking some development for the role they play at some parts in the story. There is a very limited space combat content in the book.

The major plot of the book is the quest to get a specific piece of vital information from an ancient alien species which might alter the course of an impending invasion, among other large things.

Fennin spends much of the book involved with an alien species inhabiting gas giants known as the Dwellers. With life spans of no known limit (currently in billions of years), this species comes across as somewhat sarcastic/whimsical, and something of a human child in some cases. From one encounter to the next I felt the Dwellers and others, including the travelcaptain, were far too human-like in motives and actions, but I may be spoiled by reading stories with aliens written by Alastair Reynolds recently (those aliens are ALIEN - you don't have a clue what they even want/think for the most part).

The main antagonist, the rather aptly named Luseferous, is something of a comic-book bad guy. I am not sure of what the point of having such a cartoonish character play this role was, but there you are. This character could have been used to do a number of things or exposition in the story rather than the 1-dimensional character we are given.

All in all this is an enjoyable book despite my above comments. I will read other books by this author.

Not very epic.......2006-12-31

I just completed reading The Algebraist and found it to be decent yarn, but hardly worth the title of being a "space opera" Banks' style of writing is light prose at best; a few fancy words strewn in to give the story a more intellectual feel to it. The aliens in the story are not very alien; they are more often comedic than serious and strange beings. When the main character finally meets the remote and mysterious Dwellers, he encounters not a deep, ancient race (as Banks constantly likes to remind the reader), but instead a shallow, child-like species. Not really what I had imagined after many pages of build up regarding a race billions of years old.

The plot itself was very shallow. System is cut off from rest of galaxy. Rumor of a secret technology. A search for said technology. Invaders get in over their heads. Everyone is happy. Except the dear reader, who is left with a sense of longing for more depth.

This is a book that could have either been shortened to a decent story at half its current length or could have been a very good, truly epic multi-book series, not unlike Dune or Foundation. Instead, it falls flat half-way in between.

Average customer rating:

warm & fuzzy
Not bad
A hidden gem
An Amalgamation of All The Great Aspects of Sci-Fi Up Until 1987, 497 Pages, Publ 1987, 3-1/2 Stars
Deeply thoughtful study of folly, hope, and what we sacrifice in the name of worship

Consider Phlebas
Iain M. Banks
Manufacturer: Orbit
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1857231384

Customer Reviews:

warm & fuzzy.......2007-04-24

Oh, bless Iain M. Banks for his space operas, such as Consider Phlebas and The Algebraist. These novels are everything I want in a novel. The characters are fantastic (no doubt), the situations are epic (indeed), the humor is light at times and dark on others (I concur) and finally the plot is mesmerizing (hear, hear). When reading a Banks' space opera, it feels like I'm wrapped in a warm & fuzzy blanket.

Not bad.......2007-01-19

This is gritty, hard-boiled science fiction. Not the happier, fluffier sci-fi/fantasy I tend to prefer. It was dense with imagery and not for the faint of heart. It chronicles a more realistic view of warfare, where there may not be any truly `good guys' and there are things even moderately good people have to do to survive that are not pleasant. And not everything turns out for the best.

The story was a little slow moving at times, and there was far more description than I liked, but the plot was strong. The action sequences were compelling, and the characters, while not precisely likable, were intriguing. It was a slog at times getting through it, yet at others, the pages flew.

I'd say that a hard-core sci-fi fan would probably enjoy it.

A hidden gem.......2006-12-15

Two civilizations are at war: the Idirans and the Culture. Horza, a shapechanger, serves as an agent for the Idirans. His next assignment is to retrieve a device created by the Culture called The Mind which has crashed landed and hidden itself on a desolate planet. How will Horza complete his mission, considering the planet is a frozen wasteland? Consider Phlebas is a hidden gem of space opera.

Iain M. Banks knows how to write the fast-paced action scene. One episode has Horza and a crew of mismatched mercenaries raiding a huge, dead spaceship floating around an object that resembles Larry Niven's Ringworld; during the raid, the ship crashes into a giant iceberg and the crew tries to escape with their world crashing around them. In another chapter, Horza flies a small spaceship through a larger ship's docking station; the result is a rip-roaring "car chase" scene that makes the reader want to duck his head.

Consider Phlebas contains a few things the reader might question. One, Horza is a likable character, but morally ambiguous. He kills innocent people without remorse. Two, the book contains a few chapters about a character named Fal 'Neegstra which interrupt the story and add nothing to the plot. Third, The last page of the book suggests that the story may not have even happened, but that is up to interpretation. If you read this book, read it for the guilty pleasure attained in loving space opera.

Overall, people who enjoyed Simmons's Hyperion or Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep will enjoy Bank's Consider Phlebas.

An Amalgamation of All The Great Aspects of Sci-Fi Up Until 1987, 497 Pages, Publ 1987, 3-1/2 Stars.......2006-08-28

Reading the prologue of this book is like enjoying steaming hot delicious fresh lobster dripping in dipped butter, surrounded by a thick layer of luxurious, creamy ice cream, with that surrounded by a layer of delicious dark chocolate. This novel's prologue, and that of James Hogan's Code of the Lifemaker, are probably the two most ecstasy endorphin producing prologue's I may ever have read. However, as in the case of eating something delicious, there's some measure of guilt afterwards. The prologue is everything the Science Fiction Writer's of America (SFWA) have been warning for decades. They even sponsor the derogatory phrase `space opera' for this type of science fiction. The word `opera' used in conjunction with any other term usually doesn't evoke any positive visions. Does anyone think positively of `soap operas'? When I read the term `space opera' I think of some large, massively built woman, wearing some viking hat with horns singing Battle of the Valkries in a piercing voice, although perhaps instead, to keep it in a sci-fi vein, with a horseshoe-crab-like forehead singing a Klingon Death Song ending in "Ka-Plah!". (Although the SFWA somehow despises the term `sci-fi' which to me rhymes with hi-fi which means high-fidelity which brings visions of $20,000 stereo speakers taller than you are tweaked by a team of experts connected to a multi-thousand dollar amplifier, so go figure.) Members of the SFWA have been worried about this type of space adventure/space war type of novel detracting from what they consider cutting-edge SF, such as magical amulets, colored auras, female middle-age angst, faery handbags, lesbianism (no joke!), etc.

So, OK, after the sheer enjoyment after reading the prologue, I started out with giving this book 4 stars, not wanting to give it too high a rating too soon, dropped it a 1/2 star during the middle of the novel and then another 1/2 star towards the end. One problem is that the book is too long, the episodes too drawn out. The other is that it's too derivative. Being derivative isn't necessarily bad, it's difficult to write something new and unique, often it's taking a theme and making something new out of it. But in this books case it feels derivative. I read aspects of a multitude of past science fiction books and movies here, such as EE Smith's Lensman series, Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination, Larry Niven's Ringworld, Asimov's Foundation series, the original Star Wars, the movie Alien, and others. This though I suppose could be considered a strength for newer readers of science fiction; that one can read this book and get caught up to date (publ date, 1987 in this case) to science fiction without having to read or watch other science fiction books or movies. The book also lacks a certain amount of sophistication. Although it's a straight-forward book, so that it would, with the rich combination of science fiction themes, make this a good book for readers in their late teens.

This book was recommended to me by someone who considered this the greatest science fiction book written, even better than Orson Scott Card's Enders Game. I think many readers of science fiction would argue that, considering that Enders Game swept both the Nebula and Hugo awards for the year of its publication. Not only did Consider Phelbas not win any of those awards, it wasn't even nominated as a finalist for either of them. Now from 1987 onward, this doesn't mean much for the Nebula considering what the SFWA have given the award to, however for the Hugo award, which are voted on by the fans, these awards tend to be bestowed to really great science fiction including those novels that would be considered `fun', which Consider Phelbas could certainly be categorized as.

I increased my final rating by 1/2 star by recognizing that the final hero of the story may appeal to certain readers that don't always see this type of hero in science fiction.

The main protagonist of the story is certainly nebulous when it comes to morality. There are certain situations that he's placed into that are not directly his fault, such as arriving on a pirate ship into a `me-vs.-him' situation. A definition of love could be described as a feeling for someone that you would be willing to die for them. However, would you be willing to die for someone you're not in love in, or even someone that's not a scientific genius, a great artist, president, or some other high-level official? How about dying for someone you don't even know? Would you be willing now to kill, in order not be killed... literally with a gun pointed to your head? Could you live with it... because if you can't, you won't. So there's some ambiguity of one's actions, including the protagonists, in such a situation. However, as the story progresses, the main protagonist shows a continuous disregard for sentient beings.

To some reviewers it was difficult to understand the motivation of the main protagonist, Horza. Like a previous reviewer suggested, the main protagonist picking one of the two sides at war is like someone joining the Communists in order to fight the Nazis. Or one could say joining the Nazis to fight the Communists. Now if you have a different emotion reaction to these two statements, considering there are library shelves filled with the atrocities committed by Communists; filled with tortures committed by the Communists, tortures to the eyes, to reproductive organs, with `interrogation' rooms with gullies for the rivulets of blood, so as not to cause an inconvenient trip hazard to the `workers', with triangular shaped knives that would cause wounds that won't heal so to keep the torturers from taking additional time from their busy schedules to have to re-stab their victims. That the Communists, as well as the Nazis, maybe didn't cause deaths in the Megamillions as in the novel, but did butcher people in the Deca-millions. Now if an organization brutally murders people in the DECA-millions and all you get is a shrug, a blasé tone of voice, and a "ech, whatcha gonna do", then you know something is seriously screwed up. So it's *easy* then to understand how Horza is able to justify his positions, and then it becomes easy to understand how Horza picks his side.

Deeply thoughtful study of folly, hope, and what we sacrifice in the name of worship.......2006-01-20

This ultimately heartbreaking study of obsession amid the madness of war nearly had me in tears for long minutes after finishing it. Its story of purpose not masked as delusion, but hiding it, of crushed hopes, of love sacrificed not in the name of anything worthy but in the name of nothing worth caring about, has powerful lessons, particularly in these days in which we all seem divided against ourselves. And if the characters aren't entirely three-dimensional, their striving is, and their losses almost unbearable.

As you might guess, this is not a typical sci-fi operatic adventure, but instead a revelation, as Iain Banks has given us in all his novels, of our myopia, our ability to mislead ourselves, even as we struggle to attain what we believe is good. If every novel comports to teach us...something, about what it is to be human, what it is to be on this earth for such a short while, then the lesson that Consider Phlebas, whose title is drawn from the fourth canto of The Waste Land, might want to teach us, probably lies in these chilling words drawn from the novel: Death is here.

It lies all around us and awaits each of us, even you, reading these words.

It is a lesson worth remembering, worth contemplating, and if absorbed in all its intricacies, would change every one of our lives.

Average customer rating:

title lives up to the plot, and then some!
My favorite Iain M. Banks novel
Best of the Best
Must Read
A Contrarian View - Winning the Battle, Losing the War

Use of Weapons
Iain M. Banks
Manufacturer: Orbit
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 185723135X

Customer Reviews:

title lives up to the plot, and then some!.......2007-05-09

The title of the book lives up to the plot of the story - war. When one combines the genious of Iain M Banks, sci-fi and war one will get a hellava good story. Zakalwe is the character who fights more than just one war, but many different wars of different planets. The uses of strategy, weapons and soldiers are all presented in an aggresive, readable and enjoyable manner. The drone, Skaffen-Amtiskaw (as in many of Banks' books) are witty and off-the-wall.

The chapters in the book are divided between two counter-chronological timelines. Once this is understood, the readability of the book increases.

All in all, another darn fine sci-fi by Banks.

My favorite Iain M. Banks novel.......2007-03-05

Use of weapons is mind-boggling.

I have read all of Banks's science fiction, and I like this one the best. I won't reveal any details of the plot, but I will say that it has lots of great action, hard-core sci-fi, and a very well-told story. You will not be dissapointed.

Best of the Best.......2007-01-10

I am a huge Iain Banks fanatic. I even order his new books from Amazon-uk and pay shipping if I just can't wait for publication in the US, which can take anywhere from 6 mos. - 2 years.
I have read all his books, and this is his best. The story is beyond exciting and drags you along with no breath until you finish it. The ideas and characters are violent and heartbreaking at the same time. I do not wish to get into plot as I do not wish to spoil this excellent book for anyone.
Whether you have ever read any of his books or not, READ THIS ONE.

Must Read.......2007-01-05

This is in my top 5 SF books ever, period.
Anyone who doesn't think this is Banks' best book has not understood it.
This book takes the premise from 'Complicity' and examines it from about 3 times as many angles. Buy this book, read this book, and then, please, really THINK about this book - it expanded my mind by linking together threads about morality, mortality, kantian ethics, and authority.
It can also be read as a simple space opera, and it's not a bad read on that level either.

A Contrarian View - Winning the Battle, Losing the War.......2006-07-23

Reader reviews of "Use of Weapons" are overwhelmingly positive, even though many highlight the major flaw in the book - the ending.

At the core of "Use of Weapons" is a mystery: What drives the protagonist Cheradenine Zakalwe? What are the "horrors in his past" hinted at by the jacket blurb?

To resolve the mystery, Banks employs two parallel plot lines moving roughly chronologicaly in opposite directions. Banks executes this plotting device very well. In pulling the plotting off, Banks wins the battle. We are engaged and intrigued.

Yet, for a mystery to suceed the reader must be guessing throughout at the resolution. More importantly, at the conclusion, the reader's eyes must be openned to all the hints seen along the way and should recognize how the writer has led us down the primrose path to this conclusion.

In this Banks fails utterly. The "surprise" ending is just that: Completely unexpected and prepared for. The war is lost.

Having said this, one possibility remains. Banks's Culture novels are said to be stand-alone works capable of being read independently. If this is not the case and the Culture novels are more closely linked then the ending of "Use of Weapons" becomes an important statement on the Culture. For with this ending we can only conclude that the Culture as rather incompetent and morally bankrupt.

Average customer rating:

not as epic as other Banks novels
Potentially great book (ride, ideas, characters) reduced to very good by plot
A mind game of a book
feersum intellect
jacket summary

Feersum Endjinn
Iain M Banks
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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Look Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The State Of The Art
The Algebraist
Excession
Use of Weapons
Consider Phlebas

ASIN: 0553374591
Release Date: 1995-06-01

Amazon.com

In a future where the ancients have long since departed Earth for the stars, those left behind live complacent lives filled with technological marvels they no longer understand. Then a cosmic threat known as the Encroachment begins a devastating ice age on Earth, and it sets in motion a series of events that will bring together a cast of original characters who must struggle through war, political intrigues and age-old mysteries to save the world. (B 4worned, 1 oph Banx' carrokters theenx en funetic inglish, which makes for some tough reading but also some innovative prose.)

Book Description

Count Alandre Sessine VII has already died seven times. He has only one life left - one last chance to catch his killer. His only clues point to a conspiracy beyond his own murder. For a catastrophe is fast approaching the earth from which there is no escape - until a loophole through apocalypse is discovered. And a chosen few will do anything to keep it a secret. Someone has betrayed Sessine, killed him before he could uncover the truth. Now he has three days before his funeral to live the way men used to live: restricted to one life where one mistake could be his last. Suddenly he finds himself an outlaw, a fugitive, a desperado. And his only hope of survival is finding others like himself. Others who hold a piece of the puzzle to an enigmatic weapon of salvation and chaos...

Customer Reviews:

not as epic as other Banks novels.......2007-04-28

There is one phrase I usually assosiate with the novels of Iain M. Banks - "space opera." There is one word which assossiates with the same novels - "epic." While Feersum Endjinn was a gripping read the entire way through, it lacked both the epic-ness (that feeling of great importance) and a sufficient amount of opera-ness (that feeling of beauty in detail).

The characters in this novel don't seem as well as developed as they do is his other novels (Algebraist, Consider Phlebas). The idea of the Encrochment upon the earth, the castle/tower of future earth and the Crypt are all decent ideas. However, the novel reads more like a fantasy than it does a sci-fi book; I was thankful when science and techology were interwoven.

When it comes down to it, a Banks sci-fi book is solid good reading. "thi weeard spelin ist so hart 2 reed so it didt afekt mi raetin"

Potentially great book (ride, ideas, characters) reduced to very good by plot.......2007-02-06

Well, this guy has six incredible ideas before breakfast. Having enjoyed several of his books now (including a couple from his non-SF `M'-less alter-ego) I'm not quite as easy to surprise (for example, his technique of outrageously incongruous scale - spaceships the size of continents; windows several kilometres high etc. - doesn't make me goggle so much anymore). So it's all the more impressive that given my high expectations and prior experience he still rarely disappoints. It's also cool that he isn't limited to books centring on the `culture' - much as that excellent concept is robust enough to underpin plenty of books. The `culture' could have been a part of Feersum's universe, but Banks largely goes somewhere else here.

How on earth did he get away with all those chapters of `phonetic' writing? At first I thought, "OK, sure, I get your point: Bascule thinks laterally.... I presume you're going to revert to conventional spelling any time now." And for a little while I was like, "That's enough now, this isn't novel or quirky anymore, it's getting annoying." But after a while I was surprised by how fluent I'd become in reading it. Moreover, even though I would have dismissed this method as a cheap stylistic trick, it really does give Bascule a distinct voice. Not only visually, but in allowing someone to sound like the artful dodger in the deep deep future. Alone the phonetic thing would soon reverse its appeal, but this is Banks, and he can write. Bascule - cockney urchin meeting dry Tom Sawyer - is a triumph of charm.

Typically we have adrenalin charged passages of frying pan to fire action (I don't think I've had less chance to draw breath in any book than the opening of Consider Phlebus), which at one point is like watching a video on fast forward (Sessine's - hmmm, what's the plural for `demise'). Moreover I just like the way Banks writes. He can evoke a mood, lace conversations with humour, present an idea with sting, paint a character... Banks' original ideas would have been enough to establish him as an SF writer, but - unlike some others in this field - he can cross over to novels as well because he doesn't need galactic level sensationalism to make him a good read (but here you get that as well). Banks soon had me in, and pretty much held me.

Listen to me - gushing like a schoolgirl. Well, fair enough - there is a lot of mediocre stuff out there, and this is refreshingly good. The strengths are greater than the weaknesses, but there are weaknesses. The ideas are great, and likewise the narrative, but at some point the crypt becomes an excuse for sloppy and indulgent plotting. There are similarities to the Matrix concept (cf. Neuromancer et. al.) of inhabiting virtual realities, and philosophising about whether computer based existence is any more or less authentic. Matrix 1 was wonderfully cohesive - the realisation that the `reality' was constructed enhanced a tight, incisive plot. Matrix Reloaded, however, was a dog's breakfast. Unfortunately the further I got into Feersum, the more it felt like Reloaded. Nice idea that, for example, the heroes can have an alternate self working in a different time-scheme to protect and aid their `base-reality' selves - but why don't the far greater resourced villains have the same thing? And why do these alternate selves - who appear to be as developed as the originals, devote their lives to utter service? Surely they'd be more like a twin who of course wants their own life. Why? Because it feels good - but it doesn't make sense within its own conventions.

Similarly the Asura is a two-edged device. Introducing a god into a story can be fantastic, but it can also remove any suspense: "Hey, how can we get out of this dilemma? I know, I'm a god - zap: there is no problem." Makes for resolution, but takes away much interest. The way writers often get around this is by having the god gradually struggling to be aware of their powers - it works in Matrix 1, gets by in The Fifth Element, and runs along OK for a while in Feersum. I love the way Banks details the precise way Asura defeats various psychological attacks, rather than simply having her deck them Rambo style. He does work a lot harder to give Asura a history rather than just having her appear. But by the time she can just zap the entire government, bound and gagged, miraculously into a room I'm unclear on why they might still be running from them. Any rabbit can be inexplicably pulled out of a hat. The whole odyssey in the unexplored regions of the Crypt had a nice mood, but made no sense at all.

The ride is well and truly enough with Banks. The rich ideas could just about be enough - but imagine if he had have put them all together in a satisfying cohesive structure! It's not a total random mess like a lot of books, and it's got a lot going for it, but for me it takes it from great to very good. Hey, I'll take very good.

A mind game of a book.......2006-02-26

This is a superb book. Much of the book is taken up with the thoughts of the main character and his thoughts are presented in phonetic fashion, which means it might be difficult for some readers if they can't latch onto the accent.

The structure of the story plays games with the reader's mind and once one gets to the end of the book one is left rethinking the whole story.

This book very clever and very rewarding.

feersum intellect.......2006-01-29

great study of neurolinguistics set in sf story with good action, plot etc.

jacket summary.......2006-01-15

from the back cover of the August 1996 Bantam paperback edition

Count Alandre Sessine VII has already died seven times. He has only one life left - and one last chance to catch his killer. His only clues point to a conspiracy beyond his own murder for a catastrophe is fast approaching Earth. And a chosen few will do anything to keep it a secret.

Sessine has three days before his funeral to live the way men used to live: restricted to one life where any mistake could be his last. Suddenly he finds himself a fugitive whose only hope of survival is finding others like himself. Others who hold the pieces to the puzzle of a weapon of salvation and chaos...

Average customer rating:

so, who IS the player ?
Original and dark cousin of "Ender's Game"
More Than One Player
Banks plays a winning hand
Banks Finds His Voice

The Player of Games (The Culture)
Iain M. Banks
Manufacturer: Orbit
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Consider Phlebas
Use of Weapons
The State Of The Art
Excession
Look to Windward

ASIN: 1857231465

Amazon.com

In The Player of Games, Iain M. Banks presents a distant future that could almost be called the end of history. Humanity has filled the galaxy, and thanks to ultra-high technology everyone has everything they want, no one gets sick, and no one dies. It's a playground society of sports, stellar cruises, parties, and festivals. Jernau Gurgeh, a famed master game player, is looking for something more and finds it when he's invited to a game tournament at a small alien empire. Abruptly Banks veers into different territory. The Empire of Azad is exotic, sensual, and vibrant. It has space battle cruisers, a glowing court--all the stuff of good old science fiction--which appears old-fashioned in contrast to Gurgeh's home. At first it's a relief, but further exploration reveals the empire to be depraved and terrifically unjust. Its defects are gross exaggerations of our own, yet they indict us all the same. Clearly Banks is interested in the idea of a future where everyone can be mature and happy. Yet it's interesting to note that in order to give us this compelling adventure story, he has to return to a more traditional setting. Thoughtful science fiction readers will appreciate the cultural comparisons, and fans of big ideas and action will also be rewarded. --Brooks Peck

Customer Reviews:

so, who IS the player ?.......2007-01-06

Oh, A great book ... just who is the player of Games? Gurgeh, Iain Banks or someone else ?

The last 100 pages are a brilliantly crafted tumble towards increasing tension, and the outcome was not telegraphed at all. Simply brilliant.

.....and then, when you think everything is over, in the last page and a half ..... a completely new twist to the whole story.

This is a culture novel, but would stand alone perfectly as an introduction to Iain M Banks, to the Culture ... even to anyone not interested in space opera type science fiction ..... it is just a damn good read

Original and dark cousin of "Ender's Game".......2006-09-11

This book was my introduction to Culture novels, by Iain Banks. For those unfamiliar with the series, I'd describe it as a heavy sociological and medium-hard science fiction novel, based in the utopian "Culture" civilization.

As far as "Culture" goes, I did not feel lost, even though this is the second book in the series. There were no references that I wasn't able to understand, and it gave a very good feel for what the Culture was and what it represented. I had been told that order doesn't matter in the series, and from this one data point, I am inclined to agree.

The book itself is a more adult-oriented and darker version of Ender's Game, insomuch as it is a blurring between the lines of game and reality. It's not as fun as Ender's Game, but it's certainly as good.

The quality of writing is excellent...Banks' writing voice is mature and intelligent. His descriptions of highly abstract concepts are well done, allowing the reader to be interested in the progress of games that are beyond comprehension.

I wasn't really shocked by any of the novel's twists, but neither did I plod along waiting for the book to reveal what I already knew.

Overall, well worth the time and money I spent on it.

More Than One Player.......2006-07-20

The Culture is a galaxy-wide civilization, so far advanced that it has solved most problems that afflict humanity. The great concerns of our time are all resolved. No longer planet-bound, no longer concerned with meeting needs; the Culture is a utopian, decadent paradise. A mix of wildly evolved humans and super-intelligent machines, including intelligent spaceships, it is very nearly all-powerful and omniscient.

But there are still parts of the galaxy, or at least parts of the Magellanic Clouds, where the Culture has not yet gained influence. Those parts of the Galaxy are the business of Contact, the part of the very loose government of the Culture that deals with alien civilizations. And in the difficult cases, Special Circumstances steps in to solve the problem. "Special Circumstances," like most names in Banks' books, is a euphemism: "Special Circumstances" isn't bound by the legal, moral or cultural constraints that bind the rest of the Culture.

Gurgeh, the protagonist, is recruited, perhaps blackmailed, by Special Circumstances to help Contact with an awkwardly difficult alien culture. The Azadians present a space-faring civilization, less advanced than the Culture but still powerful, whose entire ethos is based on The Game. Social position, military rank, governmental power, wealth; all of Azad is based on one's performance in The Game. Gurgeh is one of the Culture's best games players. Special Circumstances sends Gurgeh to Azad to compete in The Game.

At one level, Banks is writing about the effect of an advanced culture on a less advanced one. At another, he is having fun with a traditional space opera culture that is in contact with his more subtle and sophisticated one. At another, he is poking fun at traditional SF authors. Because as the story progresses, the underbelly of Azad is revealed to be disgusting and horrific; in some ways, the Culture's efforts to undermine Azad are morally justified.

But most of what Contact tells Gurgeh is a lie. He himself is an unknowing pawn in another game. When is it right to cheat? What is cheating? As ever, Banks asks the questions but doesn't really answer them, making you ask yourself instead, "Am I asking the right question?"

Banks' Culture is ironic and self-mocking. The intelligent ship that takes Gurgeh to Azad is the size of an asteroid but calls itself "Little Rascal." The equally vast ship that takes him back is named "So Much for Subtlety." But the Culture is deadly, too, as evidenced in _Consider Phlebas_, set a few hundred years earlier than _Player of Games_. The Culture is peaceful and principled; that doesn't mean non-violent or honest.

This is a very good book by a very good author. Banks never tells the same story twice, and in _Player of Games_ he sets a new benchmark for intelligent science fiction. Highly recommended.

Banks plays a winning hand.......2005-08-18

A truly awesome effort here. Banks builds a whole empire on the premise of an all-encompassing strategy game, and then sets it in contrast to the Culture, his private universe milieu. It's finally beginning to dawn on me that Banks may not be writing all these Culture novels to showcase utopia so much as to explore its shortcomings. He seems ambivalent at times to the overall goodness of the Culture, choosing to show mostly the dark edges where it comes up against other civilizations. In this case, he goes a long way into the seductiveness of the anti-utopia before revealing its brutality and making the Culture look good again. Along the way, he gets deep into his main character's personality and passion, and concocts a gripping, exciting tale to boot. Excellent work.

Banks Finds His Voice.......2005-05-23

Iain M. Banks hits his stride in "The Player of Games", the second book to take place in the Culture universe. After a solid, if slightly erratic debut with "Consider Phlebas", Banks tightens his focus here and really seems to find his voice as a writer.

We follow the main character, Jernau Gurgeh, as he demonstrates his prowess as the pre-eminent game-player in the Culture, a human interstellar society where there is no pain, suffering, poverty, strife or even currency. And people aren't restricted to living on planets, either; huge, expandable "orbitals" provide more than enough room for everyone to have their own vast estate.

Gurgeh is offered the chance to test his gamesmanship against a more primitive alien society, using their game, on their planet. Is this just an exhibition, or does the Culture have a bigger scheme in mind?

Banks' writing is tight, witty, and imaginative, even poetic at times. But he is not afraid to describe graphic violence, so the faint of heart be warned: torture, mutilation, and other dirty deeds are on display here.

Although Banks doesn't write "hard" science fiction, I did not feel cheated. We get well thought-out treatments of language, bio-engineering, and artificial intelligence. In fact, he successfully deals with one of my pet peeves in SF writing: the effect of heavier gravity on a visiting human.

Banks' humor is an acquired taste, but once you've acquired it, you're hooked. This book was a fun, engaging read.

Average customer rating:

expectations unmet, but still satisfied
Revenge can be sweet or Lethal
jacket summary
Great Fun
Oh Joy once more!

Look to Windward
Iain M. Banks
Manufacturer: Star Trek
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0743421914

Book Description

The Twin Novae battle had been one of the last of the Idiran war, and one of the most horrific: desperate to avert their inevitable defeat, the Idirans had induced not one but two suns to explode, snuffing out worlds and biospheres teeming with sentient life. They were attacks of incredible proportion -- gigadeathcrimes. But the war ended, and life went on.

Now, eight hundred years later, light from the first explosion is about to reach the Masaq' Orbital, home to the Culture's most adventurous and decadent souls. There it will fall upon Masaq's 50 billion inhabitants, gathered to commemorate the deaths of the innocent and to reflect, if only for a moment, on what some call the Culture's own complicity in the terrible event.

Also journeying to Masaq' is Major Quilan, an emissary from the war-ravaged world of Chel. In the aftermath of the conflict that split his world apart, most believe he has come to Masaq' to bring home Chel's most brilliant star and self-exiled dissident, the honored Composer Ziller.

Ziller claims he will do anything to avoid a meeting with Major Quilan, who he suspects has come to murder him. But the Major's true assignment will have far greater consequences than the death of a mere political dissident, as part of a conspiracy more ambitious than even he can know -- a mission his superiors have buried so deeply in his mind that even he cannot remember it.

Hailed by SFX magazine as "an excellent hopping-on point if you've never read a Banks SF novel before," Look to Windward is an awe-inspiring immersion into the wildly original, vividly realized civilization that Banks calls the Culture.

Customer Reviews:

expectations unmet, but still satisfied.......2007-06-20

When expecting a Banks' sci-fi book, expect only excellence.
When expecting a Banks' "Culture" book, expect seven things:
1) war, weapons, death and destruction
2) glanding different sensations to alter reality
3) drones with smart mouths, attitudes and a cunning wit
4) knife missiles slicing through baddie targets
5) quirky aliens in and out of the Culture
6) dark, grim gory scenes that will leave you cringing
7) minds and their space vessels

With this latest installment in Banks' Culture books, how does it rank with the above expectations?
1) Not much war takes place in this book, but it does mention two past wars (Culture vs. Chelgrian & Culture vs. Idirian). Possible death is bountiful in a few of the chapters and actual death is far and few between... until the very satisfactory last few pages.
2) Glanding is occasionally come across, but just in one or two sections.
3) There is a drone as a main character on the Orbital of Masaq', but it seems too sophisticated so cop an attitude and spit out some wit.
4) knife missiles are mentioned twice, but, sadly, no one dies
5) The Chelgrian species is explored pretty well, more so than a lot of other aliens in Banks' novels. The single Homomdan species was barley touched upon. Perhaps this could be further explored in the future.
6) just one part of Look to Windward made me cringe a bit, and that part was only a page or two long.
7) minds are a central theme, focusing on the mind of the Hub of the Orbital Masaq'. Look to Windward really explores the Hub's mind in detail and all things a Hub is capable of. Silly names for space vessels will not leave you disappointed (especially the 'quote a Culture Ship' game between two characters).

Reviewing the list above, the entire novel fell short of my expectations, but that doesn't leave Look to Windward hanging out to dry. This book is more exploratory in the "human endurance" of a Chelgrian and the "emotions and thoughts" of a Hub Mind. Hard Sci-fi is also throw in the mix for a delightful (but a bit lacking) sci-fi novel from Banks.

Revenge can be sweet or Lethal.......2006-05-14

Eight hundred years ago, during the war between the Culture and the Idiran's the current Hub of Masaq' Orbital was part of a force that destroyed two stars (The Twin Novae Battle) and ended a war. The Chelgrians have just signed an armistice that ended their Caste War (which was instigated by the Culture) in which over 5 billion souls perished. Quildan, lost his love and half his body during this war. Ziller, the greatest composer on Chel, has gone into self-exile on the Culture Orbital Masaq'.

The two Chelgrians are on a collision, which will culminate in a genocidal act of suicide, when Ziller's symphony to honor the light from Twin Novae reaching Masaq. What and how the act will be accomplished is unknown but the secret has been discovered by the xeno-anthropologist Uagen Zlepe who is studying a Behemothaur halfway across the galaxy. Can he get back to Culture space in time.

Banks has created an amazing universe, populated by exotic creatures and worlds. Reading the narrative is almost as much fun as trying to figure out who everyone is and what part they will play in coming battle.

jacket summary.......2006-01-15

from the back cover of the November 2002 Pocket Books paperback edition
cover art by Jerry Vanderstelt
Eight hundred years after the most horrific battle of the Idiran war, light from its catastrophic, world-destroying detonations is about to reach the Masaq' Orbital, home to the far-flung Culture's most adventurous and decadent souls. There it will fall upon Masaq's 50 billion inhabitants, gathered to commemorate the deaths of the innocent and to reflect, if only for a moment, on what some call the Culture's own complicity in the terrible event.

Also journeying to Masaq' is Major Quilan, an emissary from the war-ravaged world of Chel. In the aftermath of the conflict that split his world apart, most believe he has come to Masaq' to bring home Chel's most brilliant star, the self-exiled celebrity Composer Ziller.

Ziller suspects Quilan has come to murder him, but the major's true assignment will have far greater consequences than the death of a mere political dissident. He is part of a conspiracy more ambitious than he can know - a mission his superiors have buried so deeply in his mind that even he cannot remember it.

Great Fun.......2006-01-03

I have read some of Banks' other novels and enjoyed them as well, particularly Player of Games, Inversions, and Use of Weapons. I read Banks Science Fiction because he is obviously a brilliant guy who has a lot of fun with the genre. The thing is, there's a lot of smart folks writing science fiction, but they often write flat characters or flat worlds or both. Banks is literate and interesting and he has something to say. I am not a die hard science fiction fan, but when I do read it, I look for something that will provide a sense of wonder and leave me thinking for days after. Banks accomplishes this as does Robert Charles Wilson (especially Blind Lake). Look to Windward is as good a place as any to start with Banks. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Oh Joy once more!.......2004-04-22

Mysterious, subtle and thoughtful. Less of a mindless space adventure story with juvenile one dimensional space morons(i.e. Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction behemoth) than a crime fiction novel of sorts that moves with wit and finess, inexorably towards its ultimate conclusion.

Quilan is a Chel. A member of a nation moving out of the shadow of a sudden and violent civil war. It's relationship with the vast Culture civilisation is ambiguous. Quilan is sent as an emissary to a Culture orbital to meet with a famous Chel exile. As we move through the book the past of the central character is slowly peeled away as both he and the reader come to understand the implications fo his terrible mission.Muhahahaha!

This is one of those rare novels that reminds one of how truly satisfying it is to read, wrapped in blankets or draped across a sofa with a coffee in easy reach. The repartee between the Culture figures is almost Vancian (as in Jack Vance)in its quick indulgent interplay. There is little of Bank's (at times maligned) penchant for descriptive violence. Rather mystery blends deliciously with succulent characterization in this truly worthy addition to Bank's Culture series. I growled at times at pointless scences reading through 'Consider Phlebas'(esp the eater scene on a Caribbean-esque beach - Nice book title though!)Such superfluity has been truly expunged in this tight novel. Here I whoopped and chuckled with joy and delight as I read, locking myself in the bathroom so that I might finish it undisturbed by my family. It is perhaps Bank's finest work; Subtle in ways many people seem not to have picked up on. Ho ho.

Book Description

The first ever collection of Iain Banks' short fiction, this volume includes the acclaimed novella, The State of the Art. This is a striking addition to the growing body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. The other stories in the collection range from science fiction to horror, dark-coated fantasy to morality tale. All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks' staggering talent.

Customer Reviews:

"Cleaning Up" is quite the work!.......2007-04-26

Humor & sci-fi wrapped up in a nice little package. Banks works wonders in this regard. Here are my top 5 (of 8) favorites.
5) "Piece" is a look at gritty life outside of the Culture.
4) "Descendant" isn't sci-fi, but a moving and intelligent story.
3) "Odd Attatchment" is about an astronaut and his, sometimes, humorous relation ship with his AI spacesuit.
2) "The State of the Art" is highly original.
1) "Cleaning Up" is weird (my dad says). I say it's head-shaking, tongue-biting, tear-rolling, seen-in-public-laughing-by-yourself sci-fi/humor at its finest. Ever.

Not as advertised.......2006-07-14

I just received my copy of the paperbook verson of this book from the book depository ltd and it does NOT contain the lengthy essay "A Few Notes on the Culture" which was the main reason that I bought the book in the first place. I am very disappointed!

Bank's Scores Again.......2006-01-15

While I am mostly a fan of Ian Banks, the clever and often controversial fiction writer, I haven't really been able to settle into his science fiction until now. A well written collection of early short stories, The State of the Art, is compelling, provocative, and thought provoking. Banks' ability to fuse wit and science is impressive and approriate for today's modern world. Banks scores again!

R.S. Hill

Great sampling of his brilliance.......2003-03-19

There are a few versions of this floating around. The one pictured on top of this page is the one I'll be talking about and is a collection of short fiction. There's at least one other published earlier that only contains the title story. "The State of the Art" is probably what this book is best known for, it's over a hundred pages long and thus dominates by far all of the other stories in the volume. It's also by far the best, probably because the length allows Banks to really run with his ideas and themes. Basically his ultra-advanced Culture runs into Earth circa 1977 and decides to hang around and observe for a bit. This allows Banks to indulge in quite a bit of social commentary in the form of "aliens telling us what we do wrong" but he keeps it balanced,... some of the Culture think Earth is a great place and there are more than a few arguments that the Culture itself is stifling and stagnant (not that these are new arguments to anyone who has read the other Culture novels), all in all it feels like a complete novel as opposed to a novella, and just about everything works. The book is worth it just for that story. Fortunately the others are all pretty decent, most are pretty short and thus don't have as much impact either because they're just downright weird (the one with the sentinent tree or whatever was just odd) or experimental (the last story especially, I suspect I missed a wagon-load of comments on British society) but most of the others, such as the other Culture story or the guy stuck in the astronaut suit work just right and show the depth and extent of Banks' vision. He's not concerned with working in just SF or just genre fiction or "just" anything, his stories run the gamut and are unmistakeably his, in whatever genre or strange mix thereof. These new to Banks would be wise to sample this and see what he's capable of before moving onto the (hard as it is to believe) vastly better novels. I wish I could say he's underrated, but it wouldn't be true.

State of the Art? More like work of art........2001-08-09

ok, so this book was one of the first i read after the bridge, inversions and feersum endjinn. I naturally prefer iain m banks' SF novels as they are so detailed and although this is a short story it has a very big emotional impact(or it did for me personally). It is (in brief) about aliens (the culture) deciding whether to land on earth and what effect it may have if it chooses to. Its main focus is how the mentally inferior human race would handle it if aliens did settle on the planet. I found it quite upsetting to read from a point of view which looks at earth as more of a disease than a blessing and it is disturbing to reaslise how detructive people can be. It brings all this to light and as you progress through the story you realise that the aliens perception of humans being blind to change and thinking they are the only race out there is accurate, which is fairly shocking to read. This book is accurate in its description of the human species and soon the story being told becomes almost irrelevant as this novel really gets into your mind. It is short and, as they say, straight to the point. Brace yourself for some subtle but emotional reading!

Average customer rating:

A fun read of intrigue
Subtle Sci Fi/Fantasy
jacket summary
Up to his standards but pay attention!
More from the Master

Inversions
Iain M. Banks
Manufacturer: Orbit
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1857237633

Book Description

Iain M. Banks, the international bestselling author of The Player of Games and Consider Phlebas, is a true original, a literary visionary whose brilliant speculative fiction has transported us into worlds of unbounded imagination. Now, in his acclaimed new novel, Banks presents an engrossing portrait of an alien world, and of two very different people bound by a startling and mysterious secret.

On a backward world with six moons, an alert spy reports on the doings of one Dr. Vosill, who has mysteriously become the personal physician to the king despite being a foreigner and, even more unthinkably, a woman. Vosill has more enemies than she first realizes. But then she also has more remedies in hand than those who wish her ill can ever guess.

Elsewhere, in another palace across the mountains, a man named DeWar serves as chief bodyguard to the Protector General of Tassasen, a profession he describes as the business of "assassinating assassins." DeWar, too, has his enemies, but his foes strike more swiftly, and his means of combating them are more direct.

No one trusts the doctor, and the bodyguard trusts no one, but is there a hidden commonality linking their disparate histories? Spiraling around a central core of mystery, deceit, love, and betrayal. Inversions is a dazzling work of science fiction from a versatile and imaginative author writing at the height of his remarkable powers.

Customer Reviews:

A fun read of intrigue.......2006-11-18

This is the first Ian M. Banks novel I read. I am confused why it is considered "SF"- the setting is supposedly on another planet with three moons and two suns (I think), but there's no "science". The setting is in a medieval like time in terms of technology and culture, and the story is about court intrigue and human-made suffering. After reading several of the amazon reviews here I feel maybe I missed something by not having read previous Banks novels, but still I enjoyed this book on its own. Other than the complications of the court intrigue, it is a very light read. I think it works best on the level of allegory as suggested by the stories within stories form. I was most interested in the "Doctor" character, particularly in the details which show her humanity and her sense of dignity. The sudden unexplained event which involves her toward the end of the novel works because of the depth of her character, and suggests a metaphysical level that is almost believable- Banks is clever enough to give the reader room to intuit its significance, while avoiding a deux ex machina ending by tying up the less subtle plot elements. Not a great book, but an entertaining read which convinces me to look at more of his novels.

Subtle Sci Fi/Fantasy.......2006-05-07

A distant planet has reached the stage of what we call the renaissance. People are still ruled by Kings, torture is still considered a way to find the truth, the superiority of those of noble birth from the peasant is taken as given, and while guns do exist they more often do harm to the shooter than the target. But among the barbarity there are signs of progress, power is in places being transferred from the absolute monarchy to local authorities and the science of medicine is slowly becoming less crude and (slightly) more effective.

In this world in connected but separated countries are two mysterious characters who have managed to manoeuvre themselves close to the ruler, one as a Bodyguard the other as the Kings physician. Both have enemies in the court but both seem capable of super human feats when required.

Like all Iain Banks books this one is not light reading, it requires concentration and even now having read it twice I am sure there are subtleties I have missed - but that's how good writing should be, i.e. multi-layered. My recommendation for reading this book is to initially read it as your first Iain M Banks culture book and then read it again after few other of his titles (such as Consider Phelbas, Use of Weapons etc). The first reading may be a bit mystifying at times but the second tome around it will all become clear and you are likely to become a Ian Banks fan.

His books are subtle and complex, full of intrigue, hidden links and imaginative ideas. If your taste is for a quasi Lord of the Rings sword and sorcery epic then you may be disappointed but if you prefer your sci fi with a bit of mystery and not to formula then this is for you.

jacket summary.......2006-01-15

from the back cover of the May 2001 Pocket Books paperback edition

On a disordered world - In Haspidus, Dr. Vosill serves as the personal physician to the king, an incredible achievement for a foreigner and - even more unthinkably - a woman. Sharp-tongued, independent, and full of dangerous ideas, Vosill has more enemies at court than even she suspects. But she also has more remedies at hand than those who wish her ill could possibly imagine.

In a critical time - Across the mountains, a man named DeWar serves as chief bodyguard to the Protector General of Tassasen, a profession he describes as the business of "assassinating assassins." In a troubled new country ravaged by revolution, DeWar, too, has enemies - but his methods of combating them are more direct.

One person's presence - As these new nations struggle to rise up from the ruins of a fallen empire, Vossil and DeWar have each caught the ear of those in power. Although they seem to act as loyal servants to their chosen countries, their true agendas are as elusive as their mysterious, and possibly common, past.

Up to his standards but pay attention!.......2005-11-09

I think when it comes down to it, we say that we like when authors don't spell everything out and leave gaps for the reader to puzzle out, but in the end we're lazy and would prefer that someone just tell us what's going on. Iain Banks, of course, doesn't care what we want, so he goes and tells us a story that appears to be about one thing and is really about something else, except it's hard to tell because the story is being told by narrators who aren't in on the whole thing. Or if they are, they're lying about it. This time out, Banks is telling two stories here set on the same world. One involves Vossil, a doctor from a foreign land who is assigned to be the king's personal physician, and the other features DeWar, who is the personal bodyguard to a man who would rule a slice of land. The two stories alternate and barely connect, and the main characters never meet (at least in the context of the tale) but as you read it's clear that there are connections present that just aren't obvious. The doctor's story is narrated by her assistant, a person who is himself lying to her in that he's really a spy for one of the king's men. DeWar's story is more a third-person narration, but there's more going on than it seems. More than anything else, this book seems at first glance to be the most conventional of all his books, even the ones that he writes as the M-less Iain Banks. The wacky antics of the Culture and the wild flights of dark imagination that are the hallmarks of his SF writing don't really seem to be present here, replaced with a more fantasy based plot, with people in castles and horses and whatnot plotting to kill each other without making it seem like they are. It's a genuine feudal society here, and there's no place for spaceships and ray guns and people switching gender at the drop of a hat. And yet, if you've read other Culture novels it's clear that there is something else going on, in some of the oddities about the doctor and the bodyguard, in a scattered incident that shouldn't make sense under any context. Is the story DeWar tells the kid just a story, or he is giving everything away? Are all the things that happen in the story just accidents or coincidence, or is there some kind of plan behind them all? Banks doesn't ask these questions, preferring to let his narrators speak for him and he reminds us that once again, even though someone is telling us the story, he's under no obligation to tell us the truth. He forces us to read and read again and reconsider what we think we know, constantly reassessing what we've already been told with new information and seeing if the conclusions we draw are any different. Everything that happens in the story seems to happen for a purpose, I get the sense that the outcome of the tale, of both tales, has proven someone wrong and proven someone else right. But who and why was there conflict in the first place? The story isn't satisifying if you want a neat ending with everything explained and part of me did want a little more explanation, if only to see if the things I had speculated on were actually correct. But Banks puts us right in the perspective of the narrators and the people of this backwards world, giving us the same starting points as them. They're clueless as to what's going on and maybe we aren't as clueless but it's not too far off. It's a marvel of subtle writing and shows that even when he's not telling us anything, he's revealing more than we realize. While the structure isn't as outwardly bizarre or convoluted as some of his other novels, this one requires just as much thought to finally unwrap all the wrinkles. Whether people will think it's worth such effort is entirely their call. Entertaining when read separate from his oeuvre but taking on a new perspective when looked at against what he's already written, this one is probably for the experienced Banks readers. But even so, if it's only one of his books you can find, it's still worth a look.