Reviews

Matter by Iain M. Banks

rmohns's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

fell4's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Not the best introduction to the series but pics my interest enough to read the rest of the series. 

sashas_books's review against another edition

4.0

Let's have a confession first. This is my first Culture novel ever, and my very first book by Iain M. Banks. Why is that, you may ask? Well, x years ago I happened to pick up one of his books (can't remember which one) at a bookstore. I read a couple of pages, did not understand anything and put it back in disgust. Since then I had the words "this is not my kind of author and I'm not reading anything by him ever" imprinted in my brain. Now I don't know what said brain was thinking.

Thank you, book club!

- This is great space opera: I loved the scope, the ideas, the very weird aliens (I wish there was a chance to see more of them though).
- The characters were terrific.
- I enjoyed the writing style, the dialogues were especially masterfully done.

I just had a couple of minor complaints:
- There was a certain quality to the writing that made the reading rather slow, I kept getting distracted.
- When it comes to plot, it felt like there was too much build-up and too little resolution.

Anyway, I am very happy I got over my prejudices. I am now ready to read more Culture books :-)

murfman's review against another edition

4.0

This one was full of contradictions for me. I thought of it kind of a mix between Inversions and something like Feersum Injun or Use of Weapons. I loved Anaplian's side of things, and really enjoyed the development of Ferbrin, her brother, and his slave/assistant/porter Holse. (These reminded me of other Culture SC novels like Use of Weapons.) However, I didn't really care for Oramen's tale, which is odd because I loved Inversions and this was the part most like that. Either way the story has two separate endings. The first is the typical Banks ending, maybe more so than most, it just stopped. No resolution, nothing. Then the book had glossaries, and appendixes, and after that the Epilouge. Thanks the Minds for the Epilouge! This ending was one of his best and shows the final resolution of the Hausk family, through inference of Holse. This ending was an absolutely amazing ending and made the book all the better.

samrpjross's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

mickbordet's review against another edition

5.0

The only thing I would have added to this book was another chapter between the last and the epilogue, as the wonderful build-up to the final outcome feels slightly under-served by the ending. Not that it's a bad ending, but I'd just have liked a bit more of it. The book is crammed with ideas, many of which pass by in a page or two where other authors might have built a whole book around them. It's also quite refreshing to have so many big questions that are not really tied directly to the plot left unanswered, leaving the reader to wonder about them. There's a lot to think about after reading this.

capellan's review against another edition

3.0

It was interesting to read this book soon after Joe Abercrombie's Half a King, because both start with similar setups - the dishonorable death of a warrior king and the quest of his most definitely not a warrior son to avenge him - but they go in very, very, very different directions thereafter. Abercrombie's book is much more direct and personal in scale, while Banks, as usual, uses a much more elaborate structure, with a galaxy-ranging scale with a mass of dense setting-building. I've been a fan of Banks's work for nigh on 30 years, now, and I continue to love how willing he was to take structural and narrative risks, but I think this is one of those times where he let his predilections get away from him. Much like Stonemouth, which came out a few years later, this is a book with too much setup and too little conclusion. I enjoyed it as I was reading it, because Banks could write, but the whole is rather less than the sum of its parts, I feel.

vonscience's review against another edition

3.0

As the fifth Culture book I've read, this was the most disappointing and slow. Even the Player of Games, which had much less 'action', seemed more fast paced.

kellanemc's review against another edition

3.0

Such is the audacity of Banks' world building, and the power of writing, that you almost fail to notice that this 600 page tome fails as an act of story telling.

akaptur's review against another edition

4.0

Banks has built a really interesting & complex world. The characters & plot are not quite as strong.