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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not sure why, but this was my least favourite of the first three Culture novels. Something about it didn't grab me in the same way, and the plot seemed to meander. Perhaps I need to read it again next year.
With the "Use of Weapons" Iain M. Banks has largely created an enjoyable sci-fi romp that is easy reading. Unfortunately, compared to "Player of Games", this addition to the Culture series is largely forgettable. The context is derivative, really only one character is memorable, and the idea of a single god-like hero is dull. While the structure of the novel is unique and adds some elements of surprise, "Use of Weapons" is a largely forgettable book.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This took much longer than any other Iain Banks book I've read. I did like it but the crazy interwoven chapters threw me a bit - took me to the very end to figure out how this book is set up. Very smart, almost a bit too smart for me. I liked the characters, and the details - Banks always does this well. I think it would have been better to read this in far less sittings, rather than stringing it out over many weeks and months like I did.
What if the postscarcity, pansexual, pacifist, genderfluid space socialists also needed a CIA to interfere with other, less evolved planets?
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
I reached 73% and realised that i was really ok with not finding out what happened to the bland and uninteresting protagonist and his conflict at the end. The prose is too bloated, self-referential, and meandering. Half the time im trying to guess what flashbacks are actually flashing back to, if at all. Much like Phlebas, there is no cogent direction here, and no real interest excited in the reader to want to find out either.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a read. Go in blind and read till the last page.