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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Transition

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

Open to self-interpretation; expose your own reality
Most of Iain Banks' science fiction is straight forward story telling to the highest caliber while his fiction tends to be open to interpretation. Transition has many elements which would classify it as science fiction to most authors but for an Iain Banks novel, this is certainly one of his works of fiction.

The fiction of the science isn't of typical Banksian interstellar romps, hyper-terrestrial habitats or xeno-sociology delving. Transition fixes its sites on the science of the infinitude of parallel worlds, the transversing of these said worlds realities and confronting the tugging, nagging, irksome issue of solipsism and its allusion to a unique illusionary reality. So, if I had my say on the issue, I would say the book should be under the name of Iain Banks (like in England) rather than Iain M. Banks.

Tackling the topic of solipsism is a major feat as the metaphysics behind the philosophy can be dauntingly deep. It's not to be taken lightly nor can it be thoroughly explored due to its expanse of implications and true meaning to the individual. A number of other authors (science fiction authors, of course) have attempted to question reality within the pages of their novels and the general outcome has usually been enlightening (Egan's Quarantine, LeGuin's Lathe of Heaven, Bear's Queen of Angels and White's The Dream Millennium, to name a few). Banks, too, does a stellar job of engaging the mind while swimming in the depths of the plot's tapestry.

This tapestry (I find other words lacking in context, conceptualization) is cross-woven with interlinking stories of the characters, sometimes even merging back with itself, like an Ouroboros. And like the snake eating its own tail, these oddly paralleled lifelines consume themselves is a dazzling display of who's-who, what's-what and the ultimate question of what-does-it-all-mean.

However, I found the gratuitous sex a bit of a turn off. I've never encountered so many sex scenes in a Banks novel before (this being my 14th to date). Some of the passages depict a scene of subordination, character flaw, deception or good old fashioned lust. Banks touches all of these aspects of human sexuality... so I give him props for taking the stereotypical `sci-fi sex scene' beyond the loathsome grit and woman objectifying.

In the end, literally, I felt the conclusion to be open to interpretation, as I've stated above. Whose solipsist view is the entire story actually through (I can see two or three arguments)? Which realty was in fact the original reality? And is this reality the reality of the last stated reality... and so on. The reality issues are endless, much like infinitude of parallel worlds Banks has chosen to enthusiastically depict in a grandiose manner in this deeply interwoven tapestry.

You can't go wrong with a Banks novel. Ever.

2010-08-30 | 2theD (Ban Chang, Rayong, Thailand) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Iain Banks meets Iain M. Banks
It was a convention. Iain Banks wrote serious literature. Iain M Banks wrote deceptively light science fiction. The same author, one initial apart in parallel universes.

Except the science fiction wasn't as light as it seemed. There was always a twist and a sting, subtexts that, with some work, you could parse out.

In Transition the two Iains have converged. It's out with an M in the author name, but that feels like a trick. This isn't a fun read at all. This is a demanding book; in places it's damned unpleasant. I skipped over some of those.

It takes work to figure out. I think to get it all I'd need to read it again. I do recommend at least rereading the first chapter after the last.

There's despair in the book. Madame D'Ortolan bears a more than passing resemblance to Dick Cheney. There's a passing character who tortures '24 style' to find the 'ticking bomb', then sentences himself to hard time in prison. Terrorism, torture and empty greed drive the book.

There's also some hope, or at least ambiguity.

Strong book, but not easy. I wonder if, going forward, all the books of literature and science fiction literature will be by the unitary Iain M. Banks.

2010-08-22 | John G Faughnan (www.faughnan.com) (St. Paul, MN USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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A twisted narrative tour of parallel worlds
Wow! How do you review a book like this? It is an intricate tapestry of threads, each presenting a different point of view, woven together to present a powerful image of a reality in which an infinite variety of different worlds not only can exist, but do, and where specially trained operatives can travel or "transition" between them with the help of a special drug. These operatives serve a highly secretive organization called the "Concern", working to improve the courses of history among the many worlds. In theory, of course. In practice, things aren't quite so clear, as the reader discovers.

The frequent changes in point of view and seemingly unrelated narrative arcs make this novel a bit confusing to read, especially since certain of the narratives don't appear to be laid out in a strictly chronological order. However, the complexity of the vision of the parallel worlds, with the corresponding opportunities for social and political commentary, help maintain interest as the reader delves deeper into this "reality" and the story unfolds. In the end, a number of threads are left dangling, leaving the reader to reach his or her own conclusions about what may or may not have happened.

2010-08-16 | ResQgeek (Alexandria, VA USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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transition
Call it what you will, Transition is another delightful book from Banks. Beautiful use of language, witty and droll. Complicated Yes; Worthwhile definitely; Confusing, of course, it is a Banks book after all. I still have not discovered within my understanding the importance of the "Patient". I suspect he is one of the primary characters on another earth. He is in hiding and is pursued but beyond that ??? Any one who has seriously contemplated the nature of infinity and probability will immediately grasp the concept of the many-worlds, multiverse, parallel universes etc. Great and interesting characters to care about or fear and dread are all here. I will re read, as I ofter do with Bank s novels hoping to glean more from his rich and complex plots and characters. Writing this I see he has published another "Culture" novel which I will immediately order.

2010-08-15 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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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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Matter

Product Details

• Influence: USED - Very Good
• ISBN13: 9780316005371
• Notes: BUY WITH Aplomb, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and help to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

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

how does "too long" end up "rushed" anyway?
I'm not gonna go deep into this, as everyone else already summarized things better than me

I would just like to say that for something easily classified as "this book is too damn long!"... how does an ending come off so rushed?? Did the editor suddenly grab the phone and yell, "hey, we only have 3 blank pages left in here, wrap it up!!"

Also, "treacherous murder" plot and everyone involved around that was easily the best part of the book. Too bad it was also pulled short with "rocks fall, everyone dies!" type of finale

2010-08-13 | figment of a diseased imagination (Mass) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 2

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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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Consider Phlebas

Product Details

• Working order: New
• ISBN13: 9780316005388
• Notes: BUY WITH Self-confidence, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and advantage 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

Could Have Been Better
Consider Phlebas is a tough one to review. On one hand I love Banks' voice, his big ideas and up until the end this book moves at a good clip. On the other hand I found the plotting to be random and a bit contrived. I'll weigh the pros and cons in a second -

There is a war of galactic scale going on between the mega-utopian Culture and the super-religious Idiran. A sentient mechanical device called a Mind has taken refuge on a planet called Schar's World after an Idiran/Culture conflict. Horza, a mercenary who can change his physical appearance (a Changer) is employed by the Idiran to retrieve the Mind before the Culture snag it back for themselves. This isn't so easy, soon Horza finds himself unlucky as he goes from one screwed up situation to the next.

There's a lot to like here. The scope of the war is massive, I found Horza to be mostly likeable (though not quite as developed as he could have been). Iain does a great job painting the scenes. I love some of the ideas he implemented, even if some of them aren't his own.

On the flip-side I have substantial gripes. First, this novel is little more than a few massive digressions surrounded by the thin underlying plot. The crazy adventures Horza finds himself on have almost nothing to do with the underlying story. The version of this book I have is 468 pages long and I bet only 130 pages are dedicated to the underlying plot. Unfortunately it turns out that the few pages that are dedicated to the plot just aren't all that good.

I found the ending to be quite lacking. I'm not going to spoil it here, but Banks attempts to pull off an emotional ending and really it just falls flat. Banks will use contrived plot devices to attempt a whiz-bang ending (a convenient pregnancy to try and pull at emotions later on, for instance) but really it just doesn't work here, there's just not enough going as far as character development, or emotional investment to pull an ending like this off and make it memorable. Unfortunately when we finally get to the real meat at the end of this novel is when the book slogs a bit. In the end the book spins off into multiple threads showing the POV of the conflict from all angles, which is great, *but* he spends too much time trying to create tension. Unfortunately the 130 (or so) pages could have been whittled down to 50 or less without much loss.

So, Consider Phlebas isn't exactly a dud. The trademark Banks prose is there, the big ideas are there, we get a good dose of Culture history and such, but in the end (literally) it falls a bit flat. Check it out if you already love Banks, if you have never read a Culture book then start with Player of Games and come back to this one later on.

2010-08-24 (Colorado, USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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To Make A Short Story Long
I read and enjoyed Use of Weapons a few months ago, so I thought I'd start The Culture series from the beginning. I like long reads, but I was taken aback by how much Banks learned about storytelling between Consider Phlebas and Use of Weapons. Both are long, but Use of Weapons is a real long story while Consider Phlebas is a kind of space opera shaggy dog story--a short story that goes on interminably. It bored the pants off me, though not enough to make me stop reading it. NONE of the characters are memorable, and the storyline is old hat. Nevertheless, the Iridans are interesting, and the set-up of The Culture is useful if I'm going to forge ahead in the hope I'll find another entry in the series to match Use of Weapons in mood and intellect. I've already decided not to read all the entries, and not in order. I'll read descriptions and reviews to try to figure out which Culture novel to read next. There doesn't seem to be any order to them, and I'm already on to the possibility that Banks's growth as a writer weight my choices toward the latter entries.

Eric Hammel
Author of Love and Grace

2010-08-15 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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Shoddy book with a ending that does not match the rest of the book.
The author of the book seemed to value the enviroment the story took place in more than exposing the motivations and beliefs of the charactors. He jammed most of the charactors introspection into cramped little bursts of exposition which made it feel like they where tacked on later to help the reader stay with the story more than anything else. The ending of the book at about the last one hundred pages felt like he was writing in a total different style than he had wrote the rest of the book in. It felt like the ending was changed last minute or rewrote to better suit the authors idea of how a story should end. Overall the book just seemed to be a series of events the charactors just happend to be a part of with a sadsack ending just for the sake of it.

2010-08-05 (Tennessee) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 2

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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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Against a Dark Background

Product Details

• ISBN13: 9780316036375
• Prerequisite: New
• Notes: BUY WITH Belief, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and care 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

Against a Dark Background
Lady Sharrow is a former antiquities thief and pilot that is being pursued by a religious sect called the Huhsz that believe that only with the death of Sharrow will their messiah be born. Sharrow decides to go on a journey to seek the eighth and final Lazy Gun which she believes will help her survive the Huhsz pursuit and end their vendetta against her. Sharrow was part of a team that disassembled the seventh Lazy Gun which caused a nuclear explosion of apocalyptic proportions and killed many residents of the city she was in. Now infamous for the event, Sharrow seems to only be loved by her small band of friends that pursues the Lazy Gun with her.

I wanted to like this book. The cover and binding were beautiful. I got sucked into the "judging a book by its cover" yet again with different results this time. While I didn't hate Against a Dark Background, the book fell short of its expectations for me. It's entirely possible that I shouldn't have chosen this book as my first Iain M. Banks read because his Culture series is his most famous and respected to date. I will be honest and say that the cover of this book popped out at me at the bookstore and this is why I chose it. I may also be unfairly judging the book because I remember trying to choose to read this book or Dan Simmons' Hyperion when it was my turn to select a book for my real life book club. I chose Hyperion, and it was fantastic which may have led to me having unrealistic expectations for this novel.

Let me say that I knew nothing about Banks' writing other than he is a respected science fiction author. This book was chosen for the July Book of the Month in my Fantasy/Science Fiction Book of the Month group on Shelfari. Without the discussion in the group I would likely have chosen to not review this book at all. It took me five weeks to read and when I finished I realized that large chunks of the plot had already disappeared from my memory.

There were things that were enjoyable in the book. Once I realized that the book had very British humor in it, I started to enjoy it much more. There was some wonderful banter between the characters which had me chuckling more than a few times--the dialogue was quite witty! Some of the situations were hysterical as well and were reminiscent of Firefly and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Most science fiction fans will look at my last sentence and say, "How was this book not fantastic when you mention that awesome TV show and book in the same sentence?!" For me, I wasn't able to connect with any of the characters except for the android Feril who I loved. There was an aloofness about most of the characters, and they all seemed to driven in very unemotional ways. I will say that their behavior lent to VERY good discussion in my Shelfari group. The two other people who were familiar with Banks' work said that he often writes characters like this. Their motivations don't necessarily give the reader any emotional connection to them or even emotional connections with each other. The theme is focused on individuality rather than collectively as a group. While talking about this with the other members of the group, I actually began to find the book more interesting and thought much more about it after learning this. It even fit in with the title of the book (which I will not spoil for you, but there is a subtle meaning in it which I missed but someone else in the group picked up on).

Did the discussion make it better for me? Absolutely. I thought the discussion was really meaningful so I definitely recommend this book for a book club. However, I wouldn't call it an enjoyable read. I think it challenges the reader in ways most books do not and will not. I think overall that is a good thing--we as readers sometimes need to challenge our thought process and philosophies while reading.

I would say that if given the chance to start over though, I would probably choose to read the Culture books first. I will give the first in that series, Consider Phlebas a try and see if I enjoy it more. If not, maybe Mr. Banks' work isn't for me. I do think there is an audience for his books though. His writing is fantastic and thoughtful, but I think for my personal tastes I have to be able to connect with the characters in a meaningful way. It doesn't matter whether I love them or hate them, I just have to care about them enough to have an emotional response which didn't really happen while I was reading this book. **Note: This is actually part of why I think the book is worthwhile to read. I think it was meant to evoke a lack of emotional response to the characters which is VERY challenging!

2010-08-19 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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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: 5 | 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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Look to Windward

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.

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Customer Reviews

THE CULTURE"S VAST HISTORY
Another fantastic story of the how the CULTURE'S continued meddling in other worlds development creates a different outcome of the races history and proof no matter how good a guide it is like anyone else mistakes do happen but at what price for all. After being thrown to the lions share of what the CULTURE is by reading MATTER I realized that Mr. Banks portrays this group as a society of Artificial Intelligent dependent race with its secret groups with in groups Special Circumstances for example then Contact. When you finish one book it creates a hunger for more each one so obscure form the other it never seems to be closed and on the shelf. Once more an author becomes a visionary creating science fiction that is becoming science fact. Look very carefully out side your window as to what countries or country parallels the principles of meddling with change ,technology ,medicine,space,truly recognize that what he is writing about is now. Before long expect a General Service Vehicle to arrive here soon . Read them all and demand more because his books are an experience of the MIND just like the AI's that each story is enhanced with .Funny when you finish reading them once and there is no more you start all over craving the details that slipped by the first read.

2010-04-29 | zakalwe (orbital Figmented) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Banks's best
In Look to Windward, Banks has his masterpiece. It tells a story of revenge, heartbreak, forgiveness, war and loss. A much more subdued novel than others in the Culture series, without the breakneck action scenes of Consider Phlebas or the outright strangeness of Excession, Look to Windward's strength is in Banks's characters, all of whom succeed in stirring deep emotion within the reader. From the apparently serene Mind of Masaq' Hub to the tormented Major Quilan to the haughty but deeply insecure Ziller to the gently sardonic Kabe, all of the protagonists are well done. The book has some pacing issues, as all of Banks's works seem to, and there's an entire subplot that should have been cut altogether--it's cool, but it ultimately affects the main plot not in the least, and doesn't help the already off pacing at all--but the book does such a good job invoking emotion with its beauty and brutality that these can be largely ignored. It's not perfect, but it's definitely his best.

2010-04-18 (Washington, USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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A meditative thriller
A novel in which the themes of revenge and the consequences of violence are intimately interwined. One has sympathy for both sides, which makes this a book onw does not simply read and move on from, but one that puts the complexity of the situation directly in front of you, shows you all the players (both their good and bad sides), and doesn't hide that the "bad guys" are not all bad, and that the "good guys" are not all good. The climactic scene is both inevitable and one you wish wouldn't happen. In a way, it's a technothriller, but in another it's a deep meditation. A complex book, and one that will affect you deeply.

2010-04-03 | Joe McMahon (California, USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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The Pleasures of Utopia
The trouble with utopias is that perfection gets a bit dull. Unless you're talking about Iain M Banks's "Culture" novels, which get scarily close to perfection without ever losing their charm.

The Culture is Star Trek's Federation stood on its head, anarchic where the Enterprise is hierarchical, post-human instead of stodgily 20th century, interventionist where Kirk's gang (in theory at least) stick to an intergalactic Peace of Westphalia and keep their hands to themselves.

As any American today can tell you, intervening in the affairs of others doesn't always end well. As "Look to Windward" opens, the Culture is wiping egg off its collective face after an attempt to eliminate social inequality in a people called the Chelgrians has instead ignited a bloody caste war. Not coincidentally, the Culture is also marking the 800th anniversary of a battle in their last serious war, which caused the destruction of two suns and a few billion souls.

Death is very much on the mind of Chelgrian emissary Quilan, still mourning the death of his wife in the war the Culture started. He has been dispatched to the Culture world of Masaq', ostensibly to talk a dissident artist into returning with him. However, he has secret orders, so deeply buried in his mind that even he doesn't know what they are.

Masaq' is an Orbital, an artificial world shaped like a gigantic, rotating bracelet in space, millions of kilometers in diameter. As such, it offers its inhabitants nearly limitless space. Technological advances, meanwhile, have banished illness, disease, poverty and starvation.

The plot with Quilan and the dissident composer is only the rim of the story, provided impetus by the hub and the heart, which is looking at how humanity would live in such a utopia. And just as importantly, how we might choose to die.

Mr Banks's Culture novels are never less than full-bore malarial fevers of imagination, and "Look to Windward" does not disappoint. The book's primary pleasure is the chance to sink into Mr Banks's hallucinatory universe and let the ideas and images wash over you: city-sized living zeppelins, sailing cable cars, a fortress perched atop basalt stacks.

How would we live in utopia? Picture your worst extrovert, party-boy stereotype, dialled up to 1,000. His Culture citizens are hedonistic, selfish and hilariously shallow--high points include a diner unsure whether what's on his plate is food or an alien, and a rafter on a lava stream who is unable to distinguish between base and virtual reality. But Mr Banks shows us the flip side, as well, in their guilt for past mistakes and the way they face life's final end.

Readers looking for something as kinetic as Mr Banks's first Culture novel, "Consider Phlebas", will be sorely disappointed. Like the Masaq' Orbital, "Look to Windward" is in no hurry to get you anywhere, but invites you to take a spin and admire the view. A pretty view it is, nicely leavened with both light and shadow, proof that utopias don't have to be boring.

2010-03-21 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Solid book, HORRIBLE KINDLE EDITION
First, let me say I'm a fan of Ian Banks' Culture novels. Look to Windward is solid and enjoyable, if not quite the pinnacle of Culture books. Others are better reviewers than I, so I'll leave it at that.

What I really want to focus on is the inexcusably bad editing of the Kindle edition. Be warned that if you purchase the electronic edition of this book, you'll grit your teeth every time you encounter one of the DOZENS of typos in the text. I don't consider myself a perfectionist. I've encountered the occasional typo or two in printed books and not been upset. But this book quite literally as 10 times as many typos as any other book I've ever read, and I have read many hundreds of books.

Whoever was responsible for the Kindle edition of this book should be ashamed of themselves.

2010-02-09 (Round Rock) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 4

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