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A review by sambora
Matter by Iain M. Banks
5.0
Matter, like most of the Culture novels I have read, contains within it the most powerful usage of raw imagination that I have been presented with in any format, written or otherwise.
The sheer scope and scale of the story being told and the creativity used to flesh out the space in which it is performed is unparalleled.
Matter is book number 8 in the Culture series.
Each book in the series can be read separately from each other and in almost any order, there only being very minor overlaps of presumed knowledge or references of far distant events.
That being said however, I would NOT suggest starting with this book, however highly I rate and praise it. But also know that whatever I write below won't spoil anything, should you choose to pick up any of the books.
"The stage is small but the audience is great."
This story primarily takes part on a "Shellworld" called Sursamen.
A Shellworld is a planet consisting of multiple layers. In the case of Sursamen specifically; sixteen, including the core. Some of these layers are simply vacuum, but these are still capable of housing beings suited to living in that state. Others are gaseous, contain methane oceans or are 99% full of water from top to bottom, and contain their own largely independent civilisations.
The Eighth and Ninth are the only land layers contained within the Shellworld, and that is where the majority of the story takes place, but more on that in a moment.
Each layer is held up and separated from each other by towers. Towers are also the means by which these layers are travelled between; suitable and adaptable for any form of life that has the relevant paperwork or clearance to move between the floors of the planet.
The previously mentioned core is supposedly home to the creature/being that created the Shellworld in the first place, although different societies believe different things. Access to the core is generally forbidden, so whoever/whatever may be there has become subject to myth, legend OR, as in the case of the Eighth layer - a Godhead.
The key characters that we experience this story through all belong the the Royal Family of the Eighth layer of Sursamen;
• Ferbin; the eldest Prince (who is already reluctant to take the throne) together with his servant Holse, flee for their lives having witnessed Ferbin's father, the King, being brutally murdered by one that he and his family trusted.
• Oramen; the not-yet-of-age Prince is next in line for the throne once Ferbin has fled and is presumed and believed dead. He is left mourning the loss of his father and brother, not aware that those around him have sinister and hard to predict motives.
• Djan Seriy; the princess and the eldest of the three siblings, was sent off-world 15 years before our story starts, to join the Culture - the space-faring, utopic civilisation that makes up and represents a large portion of pan-human lifeforms within the known galaxy. Djan joins a group known as Special Circumstances who assigns itself the task of managing unusual, tricky, secret, or otherwise "special" situations found throughout the galaxy. When Djan hears about the turmoil on her old home back on the Eighth, she has to decide whether to give up a rewarding job that she enjoys, her high level (and potentially dangerous) body mods and built-in tools, as well as a lifestyle that she has gotten very used to since her family sent her away.
"She wanted to tell him that it was all okay, that there was nothing really to worry about, that the universe was a terrible, utterly uncaring place and then people came along and added suffering and injustice to the mix as well and it was all so much worse than he could imagine and she knew because she had studied it and lived it, even if just a little.
You could make it better but it was a messy process and then you just had to try - you were obliged, duty-bound to try - to be sure that you did the right thing."
The literal and figurative world-building Banks employs within and around Sursamen (and throughout all his other SF works) is amazingly full and detailed.
The Eighth is a wonderful blend of fantasy and science fiction, with a behind the times and somewhat barabaric society - still ruled by a male dominated monarchy and a religion that the rest of the galaxy has already largely debunked, but one that is also drip-fed technology and knowledge belonging to those that have long since lived amongst the stars.
It creates a wonderful juxtaposition and invites comparison and reflection between our own societal differences.
The way the landscape and scenery of Ninth layer is described to us (via a few different perspectives) is some of the most provocative and picturesque imagery I've had conjured for me by SFF in a long while.
All of this, as well as the very "Banksian" philosophies, political and social stances, explorations of things like simulation theory, with space opera scale distances, witty drones, a great use of technology and the AI controlled mind ships, that act as smaller and unique habitats and worlds in and of themselves, creates a very well rounded and whole picture in my mind and I have never read or heard of anything quite like it outside of this series.
"To do nothing is always easy." Ferbin did not try to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
"To do nothing when you are so tempted to do something and entirely have the means to do so is harder. It grows easier only when you know you do nothing for the active betterment of others."
At 565 pages and despite the great conclusion, I wish Matter could have gone on for longer, because I was enjoying my time with it that much.
I have been rationing out the last few Iain M. Banks novels, only taking them with me whilst travelling and reading them far slower than I did the first few.
Knowing that there won't be any more entries into the Culture universe makes me incredibly sad, and knowing we have lost the mind that was capable of telling these marvellous stories is devastating. But, I remind myself, these stories will always always be here. These stories have been my, if somewhat irregularly spaced, escapism for almost a decade and it's always an event to be reading one.
Thoroughly enjoyable and addictive. A fantastic entry into a science fiction series that has yet to be matched.
_____________________________________
Thank you for reading my review!
Feel free to follow me or add me as a friend for more Science Fiction and Fantasy reviews, including (eventually) the last two remaining Iain M. Banks novels, Surface Detail and The Hydrogen Sonata.
I hope you all have a wonderful 2020 and read some more amazing books this year!
The sheer scope and scale of the story being told and the creativity used to flesh out the space in which it is performed is unparalleled.
Matter is book number 8 in the Culture series.
Each book in the series can be read separately from each other and in almost any order, there only being very minor overlaps of presumed knowledge or references of far distant events.
That being said however, I would NOT suggest starting with this book, however highly I rate and praise it. But also know that whatever I write below won't spoil anything, should you choose to pick up any of the books.
"The stage is small but the audience is great."
This story primarily takes part on a "Shellworld" called Sursamen.
A Shellworld is a planet consisting of multiple layers. In the case of Sursamen specifically; sixteen, including the core. Some of these layers are simply vacuum, but these are still capable of housing beings suited to living in that state. Others are gaseous, contain methane oceans or are 99% full of water from top to bottom, and contain their own largely independent civilisations.
The Eighth and Ninth are the only land layers contained within the Shellworld, and that is where the majority of the story takes place, but more on that in a moment.
Each layer is held up and separated from each other by towers. Towers are also the means by which these layers are travelled between; suitable and adaptable for any form of life that has the relevant paperwork or clearance to move between the floors of the planet.
The previously mentioned core is supposedly home to the creature/being that created the Shellworld in the first place, although different societies believe different things. Access to the core is generally forbidden, so whoever/whatever may be there has become subject to myth, legend OR, as in the case of the Eighth layer - a Godhead.
The key characters that we experience this story through all belong the the Royal Family of the Eighth layer of Sursamen;
• Ferbin; the eldest Prince (who is already reluctant to take the throne) together with his servant Holse, flee for their lives having witnessed Ferbin's father, the King, being brutally murdered by one that he and his family trusted.
• Oramen; the not-yet-of-age Prince is next in line for the throne once Ferbin has fled and is presumed and believed dead. He is left mourning the loss of his father and brother, not aware that those around him have sinister and hard to predict motives.
• Djan Seriy; the princess and the eldest of the three siblings, was sent off-world 15 years before our story starts, to join the Culture - the space-faring, utopic civilisation that makes up and represents a large portion of pan-human lifeforms within the known galaxy. Djan joins a group known as Special Circumstances who assigns itself the task of managing unusual, tricky, secret, or otherwise "special" situations found throughout the galaxy. When Djan hears about the turmoil on her old home back on the Eighth, she has to decide whether to give up a rewarding job that she enjoys, her high level (and potentially dangerous) body mods and built-in tools, as well as a lifestyle that she has gotten very used to since her family sent her away.
"She wanted to tell him that it was all okay, that there was nothing really to worry about, that the universe was a terrible, utterly uncaring place and then people came along and added suffering and injustice to the mix as well and it was all so much worse than he could imagine and she knew because she had studied it and lived it, even if just a little.
You could make it better but it was a messy process and then you just had to try - you were obliged, duty-bound to try - to be sure that you did the right thing."
The literal and figurative world-building Banks employs within and around Sursamen (and throughout all his other SF works) is amazingly full and detailed.
The Eighth is a wonderful blend of fantasy and science fiction, with a behind the times and somewhat barabaric society - still ruled by a male dominated monarchy and a religion that the rest of the galaxy has already largely debunked, but one that is also drip-fed technology and knowledge belonging to those that have long since lived amongst the stars.
It creates a wonderful juxtaposition and invites comparison and reflection between our own societal differences.
The way the landscape and scenery of Ninth layer is described to us (via a few different perspectives) is some of the most provocative and picturesque imagery I've had conjured for me by SFF in a long while.
All of this, as well as the very "Banksian" philosophies, political and social stances, explorations of things like simulation theory, with space opera scale distances, witty drones, a great use of technology and the AI controlled mind ships, that act as smaller and unique habitats and worlds in and of themselves, creates a very well rounded and whole picture in my mind and I have never read or heard of anything quite like it outside of this series.
"To do nothing is always easy." Ferbin did not try to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
"To do nothing when you are so tempted to do something and entirely have the means to do so is harder. It grows easier only when you know you do nothing for the active betterment of others."
At 565 pages and despite the great conclusion, I wish Matter could have gone on for longer, because I was enjoying my time with it that much.
I have been rationing out the last few Iain M. Banks novels, only taking them with me whilst travelling and reading them far slower than I did the first few.
Knowing that there won't be any more entries into the Culture universe makes me incredibly sad, and knowing we have lost the mind that was capable of telling these marvellous stories is devastating. But, I remind myself, these stories will always always be here. These stories have been my, if somewhat irregularly spaced, escapism for almost a decade and it's always an event to be reading one.
Thoroughly enjoyable and addictive. A fantastic entry into a science fiction series that has yet to be matched.
_____________________________________
Thank you for reading my review!
Feel free to follow me or add me as a friend for more Science Fiction and Fantasy reviews, including (eventually) the last two remaining Iain M. Banks novels, Surface Detail and The Hydrogen Sonata.
I hope you all have a wonderful 2020 and read some more amazing books this year!