Kevin's Watch

Posted: **Mon Jun 10, 2013 6:03 am**

A sad day for Sci-Fi.

Rest in peace. And thanks for the great books.

--A

Posted: **Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:19 am**

As I said in the general thread, I'm reading Consider Phlebas. On page 207 of 429 in the Nook format. Honestly, it's just annoying so far. There's so much that could be happening, and should be. The premise of the book, for example. A Mind manages to crash-land on a Planet of the Dead. Minds in general, what this particular one did, and the planet all seem to be a big deal. Horza is hired to try to go get it. But half through the book, and that's nowhere near what's going on. Everything possiblek but that is happening.
-The ship he's on gets attacked.
-Horza gets away, but is captured by pirates.
-He has to kill one of them to earn a place with them.
-They attack a temple, but get their butts kicked.
-They try to loot a Megaship on an Orbital, but the Megaship crashes into a flying iceberg, among other problems.
-He survives the Megaship, but ends up on an island with NASTY folks.
-He gets away, and goes looking for the leader of the pirates, who is going to a card game.
-The pirate has to quit the game, and Horza spends many pages trying to find, follow, and subdue him.

I mean, sheesh!!! Can we get to the actual premise of the book in the second half??

Posted: **Mon Oct 28, 2013 5:11 am**

The Culture is a big place...lots happens.

--A

Posted: **Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:10 am**

Right?!?

Posted: **Mon Oct 28, 2013 1:14 pm**

Yeah, Fist, it's a big place, it's your first visit, enjoy the tour. Sheesh!!! Are you becoming a grumpy old man?! I read this when I was still teen and thought it was brilliant: the megaships, the Orbital, the Eaters, the Players on the Eve of Destruction. C'monnnn!!!

And there so much more to come in all the other excellent Culture novels: The Player of Games, Use of Weapons, Excession. It'll never be new again, give it the time it deserves.

u.

Posted: **Mon Oct 28, 2013 5:41 pm**

I'll be 50 in December, so yeah.

But damn... There's AI, airships four km long, spaceships to dwarf them, space stations to dwarf the spaceships, energies and technologies beyond description... And I get Bugs Bunny in a cauldron with Yosemite Sam making rabbit stew.

But the Orbital just blew up, and they're on their way. Looking for some good stuff now!!

Posted: **Mon Oct 28, 2013 7:41 pm**

I think you will enjoy the Affront.

Posted: **Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:49 am**

I love the ship minds myself.

--A

Posted: **Thu Feb 22, 2018 5:41 am**

HOLY SHIT!!! FREAKING AMAZON IS MAKING A SERIES OF THE CULTURE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted: **Thu Feb 22, 2018 5:45 am**

Hmmmm.

Could be good. A season per book? Would love to see The Player Of Games.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/amazon-is-turni ... 1823205900

--A

Posted: **Fri Jun 22, 2018 8:03 am**

Oooh looks very cool

Posted: **Wed Mar 17, 2021 5:00 pm**

I can't believe it's been more than 7 years since he died!
Also, this is old news too but the dream has died:
Cancelled

In other news.. This forum is still here! Soo happy. I was only ever an infrequent visitor but nice to have a good old-fashioned forum to visit that hasn't been deserted for Slack or Discord.

Posted: **Thu Mar 18, 2021 9:06 am**

Nice to see you around Vasko. Visit more.

(We have a Discord too.

)

Pity about the series, but they would have ruined it anyway so...

--A

Posted: **Thu Mar 25, 2021 10:47 pm**

Seeing Iain M. Banks' name pop up reminds me that I've had Surface Detail on my kindle for a long time now and I've never gotten around to reading it.

Posted: **Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:17 am**

Yeah, I have it sitting on my shelf as the last of his books I'll ever read..
Been there for aages.. Almost don't want to do it

Posted: **Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:41 am**

It was pretty good actually, but The Hydrogen Sonata was the last IIRC.

--A

Posted: **Tue Apr 06, 2021 5:33 pm**

You can all keep him.

I've never been more disappointed in a book that I finished than that one of his that I read.

Posted: **Mon Apr 12, 2021 11:32 am**

Which one?

--A

Posted: **Mon Apr 12, 2021 12:43 pm**

The first book of his that I read was Excession, and I thought that it was really very good. Since then, I have read some others, and I have come to think I stumbled upon his best book first. So I am not surprised at Fists comment - he really is hit-or-miss. (And I think it was Consider Phebas that he read ... I didn't find that to be stellar either.)

Posted: **Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:01 am**

wayfriend wrote:The first book of his that I read was Excession, and I thought that it was really very good. Since then, I have read some others, and I have come to think I stumbled upon his best book first. So I am not surprised at Fists comment - he really is hit-or-miss. (And I think it was Consider Phebas that he read ... I didn't find that to be stellar either.)

I've read a few of his Culture books over the past 18 months or so and would agree that they are quite hit-or-miss.

The ideas and concepts are generally solid-to-inspired, but the execution can be sloppy.

I just finished Use of Weapons recently and it had plenty to recommend it, but the prose itself was often awkward and showed signs of needing further polishing.

I did read that Banks and his agent had an agreement that he would release one book per year - I wonder if this kind of self-imposed schedule saw quality control relegated to a secondary consideration at times ..