Look to Windward Book Reviews

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Too much yak. This is my first Bank’s novel. There’s way too much dialogue between characters I didn’t care about being oh-so-clever. What a slog. Bailed after 700 + pages.

Well I wish I could be more positive on this one.. I really like this writer. But found this book a bit tedious. It maybe I just in the headspace allowing for the endless, sometimes meaningless dialogue that seemed to occur here. It just seemed like it really could have been more involved with a point. Ending was a disappointment for me as well. Again, could have just been me. I kept thinking I should like it more. Most of his other works I thoroughly enjoyed with only one or maybe two exceptions that I didn’t enjoy as much. My wife said she loved it though. And she’s a solid referral. So see for yourself. I could never say don’t try one of his books. Like some foods. People either like him or not. An acquired taste. I usually do.

Good Solid Culture Novel. Given that the novel touches on the subject of the Sublime, this one's got some nice twists, turns, and treachery, an engagingly snarky protagonist and an interesting storyline. It's also got an absolutely ludicrous price for an electronic edition of a book that was released over a decade ago that suggests some sort of scary licensing mess (the same one that keeps "Excession" on paper?) and I'd advise just waiting until IMB gets the rights thing cleared up and this appears at a price comparable to other books he wrote in this timeframe.

What is human?. This is the heart of the culture books. All of the concepts banks raised (the sublimed, the Culture's well-meaning but sometimes heavy handed interventions into the affairs of others, and most importantly the mutual relationship between human and machine that epitomizes the Culture) are present in this book. Because it takes place almost wholly within the Culture, the reader gets a better view of orbital life. These factors allow Banks to ask the question that is the central thesis of the Culture series: what does it mean to be human? In a hedonistic society with no structural needs, what makes people get out of bed in the morning? In some cases it's adventure, however real or artificial it might be. In others, it is the prospect of knowing something beyond the ken of even the great Minds that order life in the massively human orbitals and GSVs. By humanizing the orbital through its avatar, the protagonist through his gradually expanding memories, and the antagonist through his seeking for the purpose in life, Banks leads us on a grand tour post-scarcity society, one that allows the reader to identify separately with the fetishes of memory, unencumbered joy, and dutiful responsibility in order to examine his/her own life.

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