Surface Detail

Description

It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters.

It begins with a murder.

And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself.

Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.

Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far-reaching - is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality.

It started in the realm of the Real and that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilizations, but at the center of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether.


SURFACE DETAIL is Iain M. Banks' new Culture novel, a breathtaking achievement from a writer whose body of work is without parallel in the modern history of science fiction.

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Against a Dark Background

Product Details

• ISBN13: 9780316036375
• Form: New
• Notes: BUY WITH Self-reliance, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and serve to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Description

Sharrow was once the leader of a personality-attuned combat team in one of the sporadic little commercial wars in the civilization based around the planet Golter. Now she is hunted by the Huhsz, a religious cult which believes that she is the last obstacle before the faith's apotheosis, and her only hope of escape is to find the last of the apocalyptically powerful Lazy Guns before the Huhsz find her.

Her journey through the exotic Golterian system is a destructive and savage odyssey into her past, and that of her family and of the system itself.

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Customer Reviews

The Kindle edition's formatting
There are plenty of reviews covering the story and storytelling. What I'd like to address is the Kindle edition's formatting.

It has two glaring issues; one slightly annoying, the other quite annoying.

1) Hyphens abound. It's as if words that were hyphened to be split between lines in the paper edition has retained their hyphens in the Kindle edition. This means you get hyphens in the middle of the page, in words that otherwise should not have one. Not a big deal, but it does distract.

2) No blank line between paragraphs. This can be quite confusing, as you sometimes end up reading several seemingly completely out of context sentences, before realizing you're actually reading a flashback now. Without the blank line to alert you to the context shift, it can be hard to catch. You can go from a love-making scene to a war zone, wondering what kind of kink just entered their bedroom when the text switches from sweaty bodies to the smell of blood and burning.

In areas of the book where there's a lot of jumping back and forth, sometimes several times in just a page or two, it becomes a bit of a chore to read.

2010-05-04 (Norway) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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Doomed and delighted simultaneously!
I am in the process of rereading all of Banks' scifi books, in the order in which they were published. AADB stands out among them as a story that feels reorganized somehow, as if the author wrote this once and then changed the order of the chapters or added inserts (there are quite a few flashbacks that take some getting used to). This book does not flow as smoothly as his other books do. The focal character has detailed history that needs to be brought into the tale in order for us to understand how things unwind. And, as usual, Banks give you copious detail of surroundings in almost every grand scene and if it is your habit to skip the prose between dialogue and action scenes you will miss many points that reflect upon and contribute to the characters and their attitudes and actions. So yes, as has been said in other reviews, parts of this book are slower reading.
But the book has Banks' signature richness in space-opera story that informs while it entertains. And his characters are very 3-dimensional, we can see them in our minds eye and imagine their clothings and the sound of their voices. And always Banks has a point that he is driving towards, with faster and greater action at the end, so you can't put it down.
This author must consume a goodly amount of Grange and Single-Malt to come up with all the fantastic ideas about future technology and culture that he does. And his sense of humor is very abundant in this his darkest SF outing.

2010-04-27 | jcburke1 (Boston, MA USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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Against a Dark Background
Originally published in 1993, //Against A Dark Background// by Iain M. Banks was extremely difficult to find in the United States for many years, until becoming available in this new edition. Unlike most of Banks' science fiction books, it stands alone and is not part of his "Culture" series.||The book is set on the isolated world of Golter in the far future. The main character, a minor aristocrat and former soldier named Sharrow, finds herself hunted by a religious sect that wants her dead and must reunite with her old military comrades to hunt down the only thing that can save her from them- the Lazy Gun, an ancient product of lost technology and a weapon of horrifying power.

//Against a Dark Background// is an excellent book for any science fiction fan. The plot is interesting, gradually revealing more about both Sharrow and her world. Golter and its environs provides a strange and fascinating setting, and the book has a very powerful atmosphere of darkness and foreboding. It's great to see this book available in America once again.

Reviewed by John Markley

2010-01-11 | Sacramento Book Review (Sacramento, CA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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One Of The Best From One Of The Best
Despite the questionable ending, this is one of the best novels from one of sci-fi's best novelists.

2009-12-10 (Los Angeles, CA United States) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Long. Boring. Dark. Vaguely incestuous.
Subject line says it all, really.

WHAT A TRUDDDDDDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fot the first 90% of the book it's a bit of a pursuit. In the last 10%, after the fjords, well, it's a bit predictable, except that cousin shows up. Then it gets to feeling incestuous.

90% boring and predictable. Not redeemed by the rest.


My God! I wasted hours of my life on this! Aaaarrrrrggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!11Eleventy!!!!!!!!!!1


I really did not enjoy this book.

2009-10-14 | Winebibber. Java/JEE Developer. (Atlanta, GA USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 2

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Use of Weapons

Product Details

• Notes: BUY WITH Coolness, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and military talents to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
• ISBN13: 9780316030571
• Inure: New

Description

The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action.

The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.

The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a lost cause. But not even its machine could see the horrors in his past.

Ferociously intelligent, both witty and horrific, USE OF WEAPONS is a masterpiece of science fiction.

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Customer Reviews

Deep and thought-provoking
Honestly, I loved this book but it was only the second book I've read by Iain M. Banks. The first was The Algebraist which I loved *so* very much that I'm not sure that this book can measure up. However, it has most certainly encouraged me to read more of the Culture series (though I've yet to determine the proper order) and I look forward to enjoying more of his work. A great and engaging read.

2010-06-30 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Unbelievable and Unforgettable
Enough has been said about this book, but briefly: All books, not just sci-fi novels, should aspire to the level of scale, intelligence, and introspection that Banks displays in Use of Weapons. The story stayed with me for a long time after I finished it. It is truly wonderful.

2010-06-27 (New York) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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As the Galaxy Turns
USE OF WEAPONS (1990 - reprinted 2008) is a "Space Opera" far-future SciFi novel, that is part of the Bank's "Culture" series.

I found the book to be exceedingly dull... it reminded me of watching TV Soap Operas - which I simply don't have any use for either. I couldn't care less about the characters, nor the story.

The story and style of writing reminds me of Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy" series from the 1950's, but updated to be more "sexually racy" for the 1990's audience. Asimov was breaking new ground in the 50's... but this novel adds nothing new, technology-wise.

2010-06-18 (San Diego, CA United States) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 1

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extremely dark fiction.
this has to be the most unrelentingly GRIM novel i have ever read. its an entertaining read, dont get me wrong, but man is it bleak. no ray of sunshine anywhere in this book, no character to like, no situation with a positive outcome, just pages and pages of endless downers.

also, i wont spoil anything here, but you can see the ending coming from hundreds of pages away. many of the reviews here have praised the ending because it was such a shock or revelation... all i can say is, you must not read much. or watch many movies. or consume much fiction in any format. the ending was not only not a surprise, but it wasnt even particularly satisfying. i suppose if i really HADNT known what was going to happen by a quarter way into the book it would make re-evaluating the book in light of the "revelation" somewhat satisfying... but come on. theres one and only one reason for using the kind of narrative structure employed in this book, and thats to set up this kind of ending. this was an especially unsubtle ham-handed implementation to boot. how anyone was surprised by the ending boggles the mind.

even so, i still give the book three stars. its a well written engaging book, worth reading... just hopelessly grim and not half as clever as it aspires to be.

2010-04-23 (DFW Area) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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An accomplishment
Not quite a space soap opera, but I found this installment of Iain M. Banks' sci-fi novels to be the most 'melodramatic' one that I've read. It doesn't take anything away from the quality of the story and the fascinating immersive parallel universe, but I feel this book could have done without the sci-fi element and still be a haunting and perplexing novel. The gadgetry and exoticism will still make fans of the genre giggle like little girls, and considering that, it makes it an even greater accomplishment. Beautiful, violent.

2010-03-31 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Transition

Product Details

• Adapt: New
• ISBN13: 9780316071987
• Notes: BUY WITH Self-confidence, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and aid to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Description

There is a world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse. Such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light. But does it need the Concern: an all-powerful organization with a malevolent presiding genius, pervasive influence and numberless invisible operatives in possession of extraordinary powers?

Among those operatives are Temudjin Oh, of mysterious Mongolian origins, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice under snow; Adrian Cubbish, a restlessly greedy City trader; and a nameless, faceless state-sponsored torturer known only as the Philosopher, who moves between time zones with sinister ease. Then there are those who question the Concern: the bandit queen Mrs. Mulverhill, roaming the worlds recruiting rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, under sedation and feigning madness in a forgotten hospital ward, in hiding from a dirty past.

There is a world that needs help; but whether it needs the Concern is a different matter.

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Customer Reviews

If Nothing Else:
Transitions alone justifies Banks' entire career, with this one bit of wisdom so artfully conveyed.

A nation that condones torture does not deserve to survive.

As a citizen of the United States of America going back many generations I sup on rue, a bitter supper indeed, but I cannot deny Banks' transition of my awareness. No, I must instead express my gratitude for the enlightenment delivered, even if it is delivered across the face with the side of a large shovel:

*spits out mud and teeth* Thank you Iain!

2010-07-30 (Richmond, CA USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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A Different Kind of SF
A different book in the intersection between SF, fantasy, and action. There is no structure, until you perceive the structure emerging from the narrative. There are multiple points of view and narrative voices, that are all connected in some manner you can only guess at until the end.

Unlike many of Mr. Banks' other SF works, this novel defies easy description. I would say it's a difficult journey, requiring patience and perseverence to reach the end. But the end is so worth the journey!

Iain M. Banks is one of the best authors working in speculative fiction today and, if this is not his best SF novel, it is still better than 99% of what's being published by other authors.

2010-06-21 | Rock Accountant (Orange County, CA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Insidiously exquisite, ultimately essential
I've always loved Iain M. Banks' science fiction novels, especially his "Culture" books with their huge sentient spaceships and breathtaking worlds. The Player of Games is a particular favourite. And Ive also enjoyed what I think of as his various experiments: The Algebraist, and Matter.

This isn't a "Culture" book. There are worlds - or at least a multiverse - but no spaceships. Bits of it are about the present. The characters are all recognizably human (there are no aliens or sentient machines), which doesn't say as much as you might think. But it's unmistakably by Iain M. Banks.

I've never been able to get into Iain Banks stark and gritty fiction, like The Wasp Factory or Whit. "Dark", "twisted" novels are just fine, up to a point, but I've always found that Banks goes just past that point. Friends tell me I ought to try The Crow Road, which is supposedly dark, twisted, and funny. Maybe.

This isn't dark. It's twisted, in many ways. The characters are all recognizable to the modern eye, which doesn't say as much as you might think. But it's unmistakably by Iain Banks.

At least one reviewer said that he(?) couldn't be bothered with this, and gave up after about 100 pages. In my case, I started it on a plane, got distracted, and tentatively decided that I would wait until I got home from my present business trip to finish it. But after a couple of days I found that I couldn't stay away. It was as though the skein of this odd book had got snagged on a hangnail, and I couldn't shake it off. (Ugh. Try another mixed metaphor.) I found myself reading it (on my iPad, using the Kindle reader) at every opportunity I got. Over breakfast. In between meetings. In my favourite cocktail bar here in Shenzhen.

Part of me wants to proclaim that it's the best thing I've read in years. Other bits of me are still confused. I think that this is a very commendable thing. More books should have these effects.

I think that will suffice. I recommend it to the curious and the flexible among you.

2010-05-13 | Geoff, that is (Palo Alto, CA USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Striking, hard and well worth it
It's a long way from the Time Patrol, in the same way that the Culture is a long way from Have Space Suit Will Travel. That is precisely what is consistently enjoyable from Banks. I am really pleased with the way he managed to write something completely original...again. There is so much bad sci-fi, it is nice to puzzle over stuff like this. He doesn't just remix old tropes in a postmodern mishmash; he writes new stuff.

2010-05-09 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Never really takes off
I found this to be somewhat of a dissapointment, which is unusual when I read novels by Iain Banks.

I think the idea perhaps is a bit big to squeeze into a 400 page tome, and come to think of it, infinite universe's might be too big an idea for 4000. No sooner had you caught a glimpse of a potentially fascinating world, where you wonder what might have occured leading to the scene you arrive in, and you are gone again.

However, the writing is as skillfully crafted as ever, and that will always keep me coming back.

Worth a read, and you may love it. We're all different after all.

2010-05-06 | rio1557 (UK) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 3

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Consider Phlebas

Product Details

• Requisite: New
• ISBN13: 9780316005388
• Notes: BUY WITH Trust, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and maintenance to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Description

"Dazzlingly original." -- Daily Mail
"Gripping, touching and funny." -- TLS

The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.

Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.

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Customer Reviews

The Blockbuster Syndrome
Several of the negative reviewers have remarked that "nothing happens" in this book. Actually, although I can understand why they feel this way, the fact is that this book is about nothing more than "things happening." However, it feels subjectively as though nothing is happening because the characters have no depth. Horza is a lab-rat responding to stimuli. Is he actually a person with thoughts and feelings? Nothing above the most superficial. The author himself is focused on nothing but the externals: impressive technologies, fight scenes, war, social concepts, and torture. At the end, it seems as though "nothing has happened" because no actual person seems to have deeply experienced anything or learned from anything. Banks' writing style, mechanically speaking, is not bad, but his vision is completely superficial. It reminds me of the current trend for big, garish, special-effects blockbuster movies to take over the cineplexes and crowd out anything thoughtful. Will science fiction writing suffer the same idiotic fate? I hope not!

2010-07-28 (Wenatchee, WA United States) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 1

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I'm not used to hard SF, so...
...I'm not sure how valid my points are about the sf in this book, but from a layperson's perspective, I found them fascinating. The gargantuan scope of Banks's universe is gripping and vast, where the scale of everything from an idea to a galaxy is handled with masterful control. Although some concepts are a bit dated, for the most part even the wildest ideas are exhilarating in the truest sense of 'space opera.'

What doesn't work as well is the actual story, or, rather, the pseudo-parallel stories of Horza and his gang and the strange female character Fal 'Ngeestra who seems to be guiding and/or controlling Horza's fate. Horza's mission, tied up in a brutal war between an alien species and 'the Culture,' or, evolved mankind, is simple enough, but the course of action he takes (or is forced to take) is meandering at best. The story is the most fun when Banks describes some impossible space scenario, wrought with gunfire and fighting; it loses considerable steam when things get metaphysical or slow down thanks to somewhat boring plot elements.

2010-06-01 | I Can Has Cheezburger? (Los Angeles, California) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 3

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Not good
This book was a fairly large disappointment. It's overly long, the plot rambles, there is no character development--the author seems to kill off most of the people in the book in a rather haphazard fashion--and when I finished the book I just didn't understand what had been accomplished in the book. There were a couple of imaginative scenes, but overall this book was pretty boring.

2010-04-17 (Washington) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 2

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An epic introduction to the "Culture"
Out of his first three Culture novels, "Consider Phlebas" is the most sweeping and adventurous epic. It takes you to incredible worlds, you'll meet a great cast of characters, and there is plenty of action, romance, gore, escapism, humor, and technological overload to keep you reading non-stop. The end left me genuinely emotional, but fear not, this was only an introduction.

2010-03-31 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Too many Torture Scenes
I was excited about getting this book. But the first Chapter is a detailed description of someone being tortured and killed by being drowned in human feces and urine. It gets worse from there. The plot seems to be linked together by repeated torture, alien ritual killings, etc. If I wanted needless violence, I'd watch a movie instead of reading. What will I do with this book now? I can't finish it and wouldn't even give it to someone I hated. Disappointing. The book is just too repulsive to be enjoyed.

2010-03-08 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 1

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Matter

Product Details

• Make ready: New
• ISBN13: 9780316005371
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Description

In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one man it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.

Only the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilizations throughout the greater galaxy.

Concealing her new identity - and her particular set of abilities - might be a dangerous strategy, however. In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter.

MATTER is a novel of dazzling wit and serious purpose. An extraordinary feat of storytelling and breathtaking invention on a grand scale, it is a tour de force from a writer who has turned science fiction on its head.

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Customer Reviews

Good book
"Matter" is a good book, but it's jam-packed with fluff and the ending was unsatisfying. I enjoyed it until then, when I felt somewhat let down.

2010-07-20 (Rainham, Kent United Kingdom) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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What does it "MATTER"
The first of many books from Mr. Banks that has given me the gift of the CULTURE . Others have tried to entice me to the various works of space operas and failed to deliver . Mr. Banks is a highly aware being using the platform of an AI dependent society to write about. To follow the stories to their out come some times becomes humbling . Matter evolved like no other read . Wanted more as I am finding with all of the CULTURE books . The various things Mr.Banks envisions parallels the development of today into what may become tomorrow. The weaponry is just on the edge as well as the AI's with personalities . Amazing bit of work do not stop Mr. Banks you have done your job as if I had experienced the knife missiles go by and maybe some day they will. We are close to a real replicator so why not a GSV or a group such as special circumstances Obviously Mr. Banks realizes the doors are open . Read MATTER because you will see that it does MATTER and you will find yourself going back over it once more . Throw out the computer,TV and read this book there is nothing that brings the culture out in you like this. Thank you Mr. Banks Waiting for another book to arrive USE OF WEAPONS AH

2010-05-06 | zakalwe (orbital Figmented) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Huh? Is it fantasy? Is it Scifi? No, its FantiFi. Its also tedious.
One to avoid in my opinion.
I have never read this author before and will not try again. I had to give this up
after about a hundred pages.
The writting is not particularly good and the book is more about the authors fascination with his little galaxy than he is of telling a good story.
Once I figured out the main story was taking place inside a large structure I couldn't escape the feeling they were all in a giant warehouse instead of a real world. I also couldn't escape the ridiculousness of this primitive people living in a box with advanced aliens watching them and the whole time they know highly advance beings are a few feet away watching them and they can even go live with the advanced species if they wanted but their whole experience is still real and necessary. It all felt like a silly unecessary game after that.
The descriptions are terrible. At one point we are introduced to an alien that is shaped like a Bush but can contort itself to twenty feet and mimic a face to make humans comfortable. I never could figure out what this thing was supposed to look like. This was true of most the species and the entire world. I could not visualize it as real. It was as though the author wasn't really sure himself what things look like.
I am a huge fan of Fantasy and SciFi and I know what a good story looks like. This didn't cut it for me. I wanted to like it but started to get frustrated and finally disgusted at how little I cared about the world, the people, the plot, any of it.

2010-03-03 | I Read Backwards (Western US. By mount Nebo.) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 1

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Pretty Dope Stuff here...
This was the first Iain Banks book I ever read. Although I got the Kindle version, I only stumbled upon the book because the actual hardcopy Cover illustration caught my eye near some kiosk in some city. Nonetheless I enjoyed the book as it is both entertaining conceptually and dialogue, without erring on the side of 'seriousness or proselytizing'. In fact, the book does not take itself seriously and therein lies the enjoyment in it. I read it straight for a few days and even recommended it to a few people who deliver harsh critiques of sci-fi.

If you have several choice pieces to read, yet you choose to finish a certain book before moving on, that must mean the book is at least decent, this is one of them.

If you like massive world epics with a fair amount of characters, and outcomes and events that are not necessarily run of the mill, you might find it here.

2010-02-26 | Smash (In your backyard...) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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The Greatest of the Culture books so far
I'm lucky, I didn't even know about the Iain M. Banks Sci-Fi books until late in 2009. After discovering them, I've read all of his Culture novels in a row from Consider Phlebas to Matter over the course of a few months. With that perspective in mind, I believe Matter is the apex of the Culture books.

Culture fans will love this book. Inversions haters will get more of what they hated. Combined, it's a great book. You will get your Culture fix from this one, trust me.

2010-02-07 | book maven the unoriginal | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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