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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Use of Weapons is a wonderful ride, with great characters and setting and that awesome feeling of "cool" that you get from Banks' novels. On the other hand, I just can't give it five stars because I'm not totally sure what actually happened in the book. That's definitely partly on me because of the disjointed six-month period it took me to the read Weapons but I can't help but feel that the story was a little overly complicated, and its conclusion seemed a little disjointed from the rest of the plot. I'd still highly recommend the book to anyone who's looking for a great space opera to read.
This completes my project of (re)reading all of this series over the past year. Previously, I thought this was the best one, but it's so heavily dependent on a couple plot twists that it doesn't stand out as much on a reread.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was the worst thing an adventure novel can be, boring. Despite the fact that overall I had a good time with the primary plot of the novel, the shift from plot to flashback every chapter, while an interesting narrative choice, slaughtered the pacing to where it got to the point that I'd be tempted to skim the flashbacks to try and get back to the primary plot. If the flashbacks had been more closely tied into the main plot in any way maybe this woul have changed, but ultimately there were whole chapters of the novel that could have been entirely thrown out without changing the narrative even slightly. In comparison to the other 2 culture novels (consider phlebas and player of games) this one felt almost sloppy, with the Sma tie ins (and even whole first person chapters) being largely abandoned by the second half of the novel. Ultimately this 400 page slugfest could have been a tight 250 to 300 with a satisfying twist at the end and that's frustrating to see the bones of a good book get overpowered by a narrative gimmick.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Use of Weapons" by Iain Banks is a loopy trip. It also is a literary read, disguised as a science fiction story. The novel is even possibly a masterpiece! Of course, that means a lot of readers will hate it. A smaller group won't be able to figure out how the hell the book can even be understood at all because it goes forward on a timeline every other chapter, while going backwards in time in the other chapters. Also, it is kind of a biography of a soldier of Fortune, someone who is morally compromised by his job with the Culture. ('Use of Weapons' is book three in a series about the Culture Universe - although each book can be read as a standalone, I would start here: [b:Consider Phlebas|8935689|Consider Phlebas (Culture #1)|Iain M. Banks|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327951890l/8935689._SY75_.jpg|14366])
I get it. I do. I am a self-teaching, third-rate literature-major wannabe myself. Librarians and the library have been my tutors. I had to go back and re-skim what I had read after finishing the book. It definitely makes sense, except it is hard to grok because of the book's structure. Especially if one reads straight through only once. Plus, it is a layered literary near-masterpiece, in my humble opinion.
I loved it. Bite me. Brain candy makes me hot.
Ok ok. I'm in my late sixties, so maybe very warm is a better word choice because of the amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Think Rupert Giles, only low-rent. And a dry-stick ex-secretary. With a hidden goth soul.
Since the cover blurb is actually accurate for once, instead of blathering on in my usual TLDR fashion, I am copying the publisher's text:
"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 burnt-out case. 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.
I get it. I do. I am a self-teaching, third-rate literature-major wannabe myself. Librarians and the library have been my tutors. I had to go back and re-skim what I had read after finishing the book. It definitely makes sense, except it is hard to grok because of the book's structure. Especially if one reads straight through only once. Plus, it is a layered literary near-masterpiece, in my humble opinion.
I loved it. Bite me. Brain candy makes me hot.
Ok ok. I'm in my late sixties, so maybe very warm is a better word choice because of the amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Think Rupert Giles, only low-rent. And a dry-stick ex-secretary. With a hidden goth soul.
Since the cover blurb is actually accurate for once, instead of blathering on in my usual TLDR fashion, I am copying the publisher's text:
"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 burnt-out case. 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.
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one was wild. I really enjoy the way Banks portrays the Culture as a real actual utopia where people can live unequivocally free and wonderful lives, and which opposes injustice in the broader world in a pretty reasonable way, except that there is a dark core of manipulation and ruthlessness under it all. Twist endings don't really do much for me but I had fun anyway.
