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A review by branch_c
Excession by Iain M. Banks
4.0
This was a first time re-read, since it's the only one of Banks' books I'd given five stars rather than four and I wanted to see what it was about it that made this one different. As it turns out, not much, that I could determine; for some reason I must have been "excessively" impressed by this one. Certainly enjoyable, with many similarities to the other culture books, and I reaffirm that Banks' work is extremely fun to read, with great writing and fascinating twists that make for a wonderful experience - but then thinking about them later, the plot and intricate details become strangely forgettable!
In this case, the high point for me was probably the inclusion of the Affront, a barbarian alien race that exhibits the worst possible, but demonstrably realistic, qualities of our own kind. How the superior Culture deals with this race is one of the strands woven through this story, and its ultimately less than satisfying for me, but certainly thought-provoking. Another main thread involved the obsession of the protagonist Ship/Mind Sleeper Service with the frankly mundane actions of a couple of the human protagonists, and this was not entirely believable to me. The various Ships involved here, with their subtle communication and overlappingly conflicting motives, were honestly a bit tricky to keep track of here, but nevertheless demonstrated Banks' usual innovative style to great effect.
Anyway, reducing my rating from five to four; absolutely a solid entry in the Culture series, equally worth reading as the others, but not above and beyond them.
In this case, the high point for me was probably the inclusion of the Affront, a barbarian alien race that exhibits the worst possible, but demonstrably realistic, qualities of our own kind. How the superior Culture deals with this race is one of the strands woven through this story, and its ultimately less than satisfying for me, but certainly thought-provoking. Another main thread involved the obsession of the protagonist Ship/Mind Sleeper Service with the frankly mundane actions of a couple of the human protagonists, and this was not entirely believable to me. The various Ships involved here, with their subtle communication and overlappingly conflicting motives, were honestly a bit tricky to keep track of here, but nevertheless demonstrated Banks' usual innovative style to great effect.
Anyway, reducing my rating from five to four; absolutely a solid entry in the Culture series, equally worth reading as the others, but not above and beyond them.