Kevin's Watch

It's good, trust me

Now here's a book to put on the list The Algebraist

Yeah it's solid, and been out for about a year in the UK.[/quote]

It hasn't been published over here yet. Amazon is only offering it through used book sellers.

It hasn't been published over here yet. Amazon is only offering it through used book sellers.

Where are you at?

U.S. It lists a U.K. publisher.

U.S. It lists a U.K. publisher.

You can order it from Nighshade Books, who released it in the U.S. in September. iI's probably a better quality edition anyway (they usually are)

Thanks. I'll look into it.

I have it on order from the science fiction book club. So you might be able to get a copy through them.

Iain M Banks is fantastic. I especially liked Use of Weapons - the big dramatic event right before the end is one of the few that ever left me literally breathless.

Spiral Jackobs wrote:Iain M Banks is fantastic. I especially liked Use of Weapons - the big dramatic event right before the end is one of the few that ever left me literally breathless.

The Chairmaker . . . .

I stumbled across Banks in an obscure little corner of a friend's library, picked up Consider Phlebas and was immediately hooked. I like the blend of hardcore science fiction and almost-fantasy that Banks manges to conjure up from whatever source his inspiration springs from.

I haven't read the Culture novels in order, and I think I've missed one, but Look to Windward and Consider Phlebas made a big impression on me, as I recall. I've just borrowed Feersum Endjin, and I'm looking forward to starting it today.

His imagination is quite unfettered; he seems able to roam the space of the possible without ever getting hobbled by the existing, and coupled with good, taut storytelling... well, I'm just surprised he's not better known, that's all.

The Algebraist is great. Simply great. Bank's handling of an ancient alien race living in gas giants is wonderful. And he may have his funniest character ever: Y'sul.

Y'Sul reminded me a lot of another character, Cullis, who featured briefly at the beginning of Use of Weapons. I think both characters are based on the kind of ex-Empire British officers and officials left dotted around various former colonies, and Banks writes them very well.

Cullis: "Medic! Zakalwe, I'm hit!"
Zakalwe: "That's wine you cretin."

Probably my favourite bit of the Algebraist is:

Spoiler

When Luseferous tries to force the Dwellers to cooperate by spacing one prisoner every minute until they comply, and the Dweller emissary just says "I hope you don't run out of people."

He does have a sick mind though. Apart from the Chairmaker mentioned above, take for example the things the bad guy in The Algebraist does to his prisoners.

One of my favourite Banks scenes is from the end of Consider Phlebas:

Spoiler

When that huge underground train is coming through the tunnel, pushing the air in front of it until it becomes a gale, and bursting into the cavern.

Spiral Jacobs wrote:He does have a sick mind though.

Phwi Song. The chapter about the Eaters, in Consider Phlebas was very uncomfortable to read.

There's a pretty cool essay on the "history" of the Culture here: nuwen.net/culture.html
Which I was coincidentally reading last night.
And also one here homepages.compuserve.de/Mostral/artikel/marain.html on Marain, the fictional language they use. I just like it when authors put a real amount of thought into their story that barely appears in the books themselves. It does make it feel more realistic when you then read them.

He does have some pretty gruesome scenes, I'll agree. But... oh, he write them brilliantly

I also thought the Solipsist mercenaries in Against A Dark Background were a touch of genius. He's great at putting just enough humour into things to keep them from getting dragged down, while staying serious at the same time.

The Somberlain wrote:I also thought the Solipsist mercenaries in Against A Dark Background were a touch of genius.

My absolute favourites. Psychadelic camouflage. Fantastic.

--A

The Somberlain wrote: I just like it when authors put a real amount of thought into their story that barely appears in the books themselves. It does make it feel more realistic when you then read them.

My sentiments, exactly!

Loremaster wrote:Phwi Song. The chapter about the Eaters, in Consider Phlebas was very uncomfortable to read.

That was pretty horrible, brought home just how tough Horza was though. Consider Phlebas really shook me as a reader, not because of the graphic sequences

Spoiler

but rather the way Banks massacres most of the cast in a shockingly short space of time. Even Yalson, of whom we've grown quite fond, is reduced to a smear on the tunnel floor within the space of a single, short paragraph. The lack of preamble or sentiment made the end of the book seem that much more brutal and real.

The article on Marain is very interesting and seems to support the idea that it is the perfect language. In The Player of Games, Banks' repeatedly touches on the inability of the Azad to pronounce Gurgeh's name, usually saying 'Gurgee' instead. Then, towards the end of the book he informs us that 'Gurgay' is incorrect too (which is how I'd been pronouncing it) because Marain had a degree of phonetic subtlety that most 'organic' languages lacked. This is made all the more believable by the ability to rotate the symbols of Marain to represent alternate phonetic vocalisations, and I think alse serves as a dig by Banks at the many English speakers who think their language is so wonderful.

Nav wrote:That was pretty horrible, brought home just how tough Horza was though. Consider Phlebas really shook me as a reader, not because of the graphic sequences

Spoiler

but rather the way Banks massacres most of the cast in a

Banks seems to understand this, with that interesting final section on the cost of the Idiran-Culture war. Would have been a nice link into Use of Weapons, given that book's theme.