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A review by andrew_j_r
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
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.