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.

---

Matter

Product Details

• Adapt: USED - Very Good
• ISBN13: 9780316005371
• Notes: BUY WITH Belief, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and post 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.

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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.

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

Against a Dark Background

Product Details

• Notes: BUY WITH Boldness, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and checking to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
• ISBN13: 9780316036375
• Accustom: New

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.

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

The State Of The Art

Product Details

• ISBN13: 9781597800747
• Notes: BUY WITH Coolness, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and mending to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
• Accustom: New

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

A Great Collection.
It's a great collection. Maybe some of the stories are alittle artsy and hard to access, and the novella State of the Art is less a plot driven edge of your seat adventure, and more the musings and meditations on humanity, interventionism, determinism, and aliens (and it's pretty predictable, really). But, even still, I do love it, and plan on rereading it again and again.

2010-01-12 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

---

Good, but a little scattered.
I guess that's to be expected in a group of short stories written over many years as Banks fleshed out his Culture. Some interesting short stories, but you can also see how his writing got more sophisticated as time went on. A good read if you want to get some more Culture--Banks' essay at the end is especially intriguing as it gives insight into Banks understanding of his creation-- but not as page-turning as his true Culture novels.

2009-09-17 (Denver, CO) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

---

Good collection of short stories
This is a short story collection and might be an interesting gateway for those accustomed to Iain M. Bank's Culture novels but interested in moving beyond them to the author's other stories.

Most of the Culture stories are intentionally somewhat timeless, with no reference to the 'real world' but one featured work is set in the 1970s on Earth and is an interesting link to the Culture from the real world. The story sets the other works in time, and sets the wide-reaching stories of the utopian Culture apart from the earlier science-fiction works of Asimov, Heinlein, and others.

A few stories are a bit opaque and difficult to get into, but most are very good.

2009-09-11 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

---

Entertaining collection of stories, but be sure of the edition you have...
There are at least two editions of this book around (I've got two in front of me as I write this), and there is a significant difference in addition to the cover art. The two editions I have are The State Of The Art (Night Shade Books) and The State of the Art (Orbit UK edition). The reviews posted on Amazon are the same for both editions, causing some confusion.

The Orbit edition has the following eight short stories:

- Road of Skulls
- A Gift from the Culture
- Odd Attachment
- Descendant
- Cleaning Up
- Piece
- The State of the Art
- Scratch

The Night Shade edition has these same stories plus an extra 21 pages of a "non-fiction" chapter titled "A Few Notes on the Culture." These notes are written in the form of a letter from author Iain M Banks to the reader, ending with "Anyway, that's more than enough of me pontificating. With best wishes for the future, Iain M Banks (Sun-Earther Iain El-Bonko Banks of North Queensferry)."

If you are a Culture fan, you'll want the Night Shade Books edition.

If you just want to read an interesting collection of (mostly) sci-fi stories, you can read either! "Odd Attachment" has a unique spin on the "she loves me, she loves me not" petal-pulling exercise. I also liked "Descendant", about the relationship between a man and an intelligent space suit. "The State of the Art" was almost 100 pages, and is about a Culture Contact team visiting Earth in 1977.

This is a book written for fans of both Iain M Banks and the Culture!

2009-06-28 (Honolulu, HI USA) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 4

---

A strong collection.
The State of the Art is Iain M. Banks first, and to date only, short story collection. It was originally published in 1991 and features both genre and mainstream fiction, as well as three stories set in his signature Culture setting.

The collection opens with 'Road of Skulls', a sort of jaunty little SF-fantasy tale with a Douglas Adams-esque comic conclusion. It's fun but very slight and very short. 'A Gift from the Culture', about a Culture citizen living undercover on a recently-Contacted world, is better but a bit odd. It's not a story by itself but feels like the opening chapter to a longer novel which ends in a rather pointless and abrupt manner. Interesting, and perhaps meant to convince us that Culture citizens aren't flawless, but still not the best story I've read.

'Odd Attachment' is dark and very funny, bringing a certain Monty Python and the Holy Grail scene to mind. This film is possibly a Banks touchstone, as he both appeared in the movie (he's one of the extras in the final scene) and referenced the rabbit scene in The Wasp Factory as well. 'Descendant', the second Culture story, is a story of survival and the bond between a man and his sentient spacesuit. A macabre and most effective story.

'Cleaning Up' is brilliant, a very funny SF novel about what happens to Earth when an alien spaceship accidentally dumps a load of rejected consumer products on the planet. From the evidence presented here (not to mention the humorous streaks in his other books), Banks could do a great SF comedy, and I'm surprised he's never tried to do it at novel length. 'Piece' is more sobering, a mainstream story reflecting on terrorism and the arguments of science versus faith and God versus evolution. A very thoughtful and prescient story with a gut-punch twist ending. 'Scratch' is very weird, a stream-of-consciousness oddity which is barely readable. Not really sure what Banks was aiming for there.

Fully half the book is taken up by the title novella. The premise of this story is very simple. The Culture's General Contact Unit Arbitrary arrives in orbit around the third planet of a remote, yellow star in the closing months of the year 1976 by the local calendar and spends the next fourteen months or so surveying the world to see if it is ready for official Contact. Much of the book is taken up by the attempts of the central character Diziet Sma to convince the Arbitrary's Mind - and thus the wider Culture - that Earth should be Contacted to prevent its inevitable slide into nuclear armageddon, whilst the Culture is more inclined to leave the planet as it is as a 'control experiment' to show the dangers faced by a nascent spacefaring civilisation. There isn't a huge amount of drama or personal jeopardy in the story, but the intellectual arguments between the two and the other characters' reactions to the situation are all handled intelligently and in a fascinating manner. The story also acts as an effective prequel to the third proper Culture novel, Use of Weapons.

The State of the Art (****) shows a broad range of Banks' writing skills and is well worth tracking down. The book is available from Orbit in the UK and Night Shade in the USA.

2009-04-07 | Werthead (Colchester, Essex United Kingdom) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

---

Use of Weapons

Product Details

• ISBN13: 9780316030571
• Persuade: USED - Very Good
• Notes: BUY WITH Faith, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and utilization to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

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.

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---