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muddywookiee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
croaker's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The loss of a half a star is due to a bit of a pacing issue and my personal dislike of one of the narrative structures of the book.
The book is a masterpiece. It will live rent free in my head forever.
Banks is such an amazing writer. Even when the pacing was bad or the narrative structure was annoying I was enthralled by the way he was writing it all.
The Culture is one of the best settings ever created for the SF genre. It is endlessly fascinating.
The book is a masterpiece. It will live rent free in my head forever.
Banks is such an amazing writer. Even when the pacing was bad or the narrative structure was annoying I was enthralled by the way he was writing it all.
The Culture is one of the best settings ever created for the SF genre. It is endlessly fascinating.
mwplante's review
4.0
Use of Weapons is another example of Banks in (horrifying) top form! The struture of this book stands out as well, in a body of work studded with similarly experimental layouts.
celtdrgn's review
3.0
Interesting story structure. I figured out the big plot twist a while before the author actually revealed it, but not too far in advance. Not the best Culture book so far, but still interesting.
andrew_j_r's review
3.0
The whole structure of this books is rather odd. Every other chapter tells a progressing story, whilst the others are numbered in reverse, presumably counting down to something, but also not telling the in any kind of order. Both feature our main character, Zakalwe.
I think I appreciated the odd structure once I got to the end of the book, but I did spend a lot of time when I was reading it wishing I was back in the "current" chapters rather than the flashbacks.
In the end it is rather profound, the final chapter being the icing on the cake. The Culture has never before been presented as a good or bad thing, it merely is. This book does not exactly change that, but it does ask a rather general question about how we treat people in war and if the end justifies the means. This seems to hint that it does not.
So all in all an entertaining read.
I think I appreciated the odd structure once I got to the end of the book, but I did spend a lot of time when I was reading it wishing I was back in the "current" chapters rather than the flashbacks.
In the end it is rather profound, the final chapter being the icing on the cake. The Culture has never before been presented as a good or bad thing, it merely is. This book does not exactly change that, but it does ask a rather general question about how we treat people in war and if the end justifies the means. This seems to hint that it does not.
So all in all an entertaining read.
zmull's review
4.0
Most of the earlier Banks novels are out-of-print in the US. I wanted to read them at some point, but I wasn't sure how to make that happen without paying steep overseas shipping rates. Fox told me about inter-library loans, so while I was deep in Look to Windward, I put in requests for two of the OOP Culture books, thinking that it would take a few weeks to get them. Nope, they showed up in no time. So, I've had to plow through both to get them back before they're due. (No renewels on loan books.)
A lot of the Banks sites on the internet list Use of Weapons as both his best Culture novel and as Banks' personal favorite of the bunch. Of course, most of them seem to have quit updating in 2000, therefore leaving out a number of later books. For me, this one doesn't hold a candle to Look to Windward. There are some neat style elements. Each alternating chapter focuses on two different story threads, one moving forward in time, the other moving backward. Windward had a similar fractured narrative, but wasn't as structured with it. In Weapons, the structure (and necessities of the plot) make every backward chapter feel like a short story shoehorned into the main novel.
Use of Weapons is mostly about war and a search for redemption in war's aftermath. Windward's character were all mourning and in pain, but it was handled with a more deft touch. Weapons hero is screwed up, but in a melodramatic way.
A usual sign of a good SF book is whether or not you would recommend it to a non-SF reader. Use of Weapons doesn't pass that test.
A lot of the Banks sites on the internet list Use of Weapons as both his best Culture novel and as Banks' personal favorite of the bunch. Of course, most of them seem to have quit updating in 2000, therefore leaving out a number of later books. For me, this one doesn't hold a candle to Look to Windward. There are some neat style elements. Each alternating chapter focuses on two different story threads, one moving forward in time, the other moving backward. Windward had a similar fractured narrative, but wasn't as structured with it. In Weapons, the structure (and necessities of the plot) make every backward chapter feel like a short story shoehorned into the main novel.
Use of Weapons is mostly about war and a search for redemption in war's aftermath. Windward's character were all mourning and in pain, but it was handled with a more deft touch. Weapons hero is screwed up, but in a melodramatic way.
A usual sign of a good SF book is whether or not you would recommend it to a non-SF reader. Use of Weapons doesn't pass that test.
kevlar's review against another edition
5.0
While The Player of Games is a rioutous adventure and my favourite to just pick up for a real start to finish story of imagination and excitement, Use of Weapons is a gut punching war story that you can only return to on occasion.
It's dual narrative sets up the book for it's conclusion, but the journey to get there piques interest and shows Iain Bank's mixing of adventure, philosophy, language and character progression all wrapped in his glorious flawed utopia. When it hits, it just sticks in your head forevermore.
Re-reads unveil just how planned ingenious the book is, the breadcrumbs dropped throughout might be entirely passable on first read, or stick out as a repeated theme, but once you know the conclusion, it's incredibly satisfying to what you can together from the hidden hints.
It's dual narrative sets up the book for it's conclusion, but the journey to get there piques interest and shows Iain Bank's mixing of adventure, philosophy, language and character progression all wrapped in his glorious flawed utopia. When it hits, it just sticks in your head forevermore.
Re-reads unveil just how planned ingenious the book is, the breadcrumbs dropped throughout might be entirely passable on first read, or stick out as a repeated theme, but once you know the conclusion, it's incredibly satisfying to what you can together from the hidden hints.
simotomaton's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
billymac1962's review
2.0
I am very happy to have finished this book.
I was very excited going into this: It's been a while since I've read
some science fiction, and you never know what sort of innovative ideas are in store when you read Iain Banks.
The excitement was well met early on. Banks kept me engaged with by alternating between two storylines, one moving forward, and the other backwards. Unfortunately, by about halfway through the novel I was beginning to tire of the story. But I was determined to keep plowing through because I knew there had to be a worthwhile payoff at the end.
Well, there was a payoff, but, as one of my Goodreads friends put it, the book was much too long for the story being told.
I have found Banks to be more miss than hit for me in the science fiction realm. With the exception of [b:The Player of Games|18630|The Player of Games|Iain M. Banks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166984450s/18630.jpg|1494157], I found the other two to be rather boring, actually, and a relief to be moving on from them. Those were Consider Phlebas and Feersum Endjinn. Great ideas for sure, but the hook just doesn't seem to have the staying power for more than a couple of hundred pages.
That's too bad, because I really love the concept of the Culture universe, and there are scenes from Use of Weapons that were pretty great. Especially during the backwards storyline of Zakalwe. This novel would make a fantastic movie.
But for some reason, Banks lost his grip on me again. Oh, well.
I'm still glad I read it, and will definitely read more Banks, but I will delve more into his fiction work rather than SF for now. So, disappointingly, Use of Weapons was merely an OK read for me: 2 stars.
I was very excited going into this: It's been a while since I've read
some science fiction, and you never know what sort of innovative ideas are in store when you read Iain Banks.
The excitement was well met early on. Banks kept me engaged with by alternating between two storylines, one moving forward, and the other backwards. Unfortunately, by about halfway through the novel I was beginning to tire of the story. But I was determined to keep plowing through because I knew there had to be a worthwhile payoff at the end.
Well, there was a payoff, but, as one of my Goodreads friends put it, the book was much too long for the story being told.
I have found Banks to be more miss than hit for me in the science fiction realm. With the exception of [b:The Player of Games|18630|The Player of Games|Iain M. Banks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166984450s/18630.jpg|1494157], I found the other two to be rather boring, actually, and a relief to be moving on from them. Those were Consider Phlebas and Feersum Endjinn. Great ideas for sure, but the hook just doesn't seem to have the staying power for more than a couple of hundred pages.
That's too bad, because I really love the concept of the Culture universe, and there are scenes from Use of Weapons that were pretty great. Especially during the backwards storyline of Zakalwe. This novel would make a fantastic movie.
But for some reason, Banks lost his grip on me again. Oh, well.
I'm still glad I read it, and will definitely read more Banks, but I will delve more into his fiction work rather than SF for now. So, disappointingly, Use of Weapons was merely an OK read for me: 2 stars.
owook's review against another edition
4.0
Memento format?
This is one of those books, where after you finish reading it, you want to go back and read it again with this new perspective. Without the last 10% of the story at times you wonder where the story is going the other 90%.
This is one of those books, where after you finish reading it, you want to go back and read it again with this new perspective. Without the last 10% of the story at times you wonder where the story is going the other 90%.