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davidjme's review against another edition
2.0
Bit of a disappointment after the sterling Use of Weapons. Most of the narratives here (including the titular story, which spans half the volume) either come across as shocking for the sake of shock or else overly preachy.
raven_morgan's review against another edition
4.0
"Descendent" now has the honour of being one of the best short stories that I have ever read.
grid's review against another edition
3.0
I think I enjoyed a few of the stories in this collection such that I would rate them a 4 or so, but the namesake of the book, which was by far the longest, was definitely only a 3 for me. It had moments that were interesting, and seeing the culture so brazenly clash with the earth of our time (more or less) was fascinating, but overall it was rather dull. I also didn’t agree with the culture’s ultimate decision to watch the earth without interfering. Maybe wishful thinking on my part, but I would like to think a civilization as advanced as the culture would (at least!) try and intervene on behalf of all the oppressed and exploited, destitute and suffering individuals on the planet.
leannaaker's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. Love Iain Banks...didn't realize this was a collection of short stories, which is fine, but most of them were mildly enjoyable and that is all. Love his longer stuff much better! The Diziet Sma story was great. :-)
timmyb's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
fermentingbog's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
5.0
My first time reading Iain M Banks and damn what a fun read! I love a sci-fi world where idiots still exist lol. Li never going to earth or having any experience with earthlings, yet feeling entitled to captain the ship(a ship whose intelligence is god like compared to Li) because he watched, like, one episode of Star Trek was genuinely entertaining and made me laugh at multiple points. I also just love how unpretentious Banks’ writing is. It immediately grabs you with minimal set up. World building? Yeah we’ll get to that, don’t worry.
jeremy_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Weakest entry in the culture series so far I think. Was interesting to see earth make an appearance but honestly I think I liked some of the short stories more than the novella.
My favorites were cleaning up and odd attachment.
My favorites were cleaning up and odd attachment.
mschlat's review against another edition
3.0
There are nine pieces in this collection; five are them are short stories not about the Culture and tend towards the gimmicky. One piece is Banks writing about the basic assumptions of the Culture; it's a bit obtuse at times, but otherwise very informative about how his utopia works. Two pieces are short fictions about Culture ("A Gift From The Culture" and "Descendant"); both scratched my itch for these types of stories in which a dystopian situation is thrown into sharp relief, and I really liked the pair.
But the reason I'd guess most people read this book is the Culture story "The State of the Art", where a Culture ship and crew visit our 1978 Earth. It's a tale that goes about where you would expect --- there's a lot of comparing our current civilization to the Culture's, with a great deal of emphasis on the barbarism and degradation on Earth (a common Banks trope) and some question if Earth humans are in fact living more intensely than Culture folk. (A big piece of the story is a Contact operative who "goes native".)
There's more to the story than that (quite a bit more, given the story's length and Bank's interest in describing much of 1970's Western civilization), but the plot always returns to that question. And I found the discussion of the comparison so on the nose as to be distracting. I have always been comfortable with Banks' novels serving as an allegory on human behavior, but the collapsing of the allegory with the reality took away the sharpness I expect from his plotting and prose.
I read this because I wanted to read all the Culture fiction, but it's been the least interesting piece I've read so far. Still a good read (especially the two stories mentioned above), but not necessary.
But the reason I'd guess most people read this book is the Culture story "The State of the Art", where a Culture ship and crew visit our 1978 Earth. It's a tale that goes about where you would expect --- there's a lot of comparing our current civilization to the Culture's, with a great deal of emphasis on the barbarism and degradation on Earth (a common Banks trope) and some question if Earth humans are in fact living more intensely than Culture folk. (A big piece of the story is a Contact operative who "goes native".)
There's more to the story than that (quite a bit more, given the story's length and Bank's interest in describing much of 1970's Western civilization), but the plot always returns to that question. And I found the discussion of the comparison so on the nose as to be distracting. I have always been comfortable with Banks' novels serving as an allegory on human behavior, but the collapsing of the allegory with the reality took away the sharpness I expect from his plotting and prose.
I read this because I wanted to read all the Culture fiction, but it's been the least interesting piece I've read so far. Still a good read (especially the two stories mentioned above), but not necessary.