Iain M Banks - Surface DetailI had been waiting for this for an age. It has been two years since his last Culture novel and not soon enough too. This book really brought back to me why I love Banks. He knows how to balance a book out nicely, always pushing the plot along with a steady pace but also giving us something to really get gripped into.
This book brought back my favourite Sci-Fi culture - The Culture. Banks has even written an essay on his ideas.
Anyway! God damn was this book good. This multi layered novel had me going from start to finish. Its main plot line revolving around Lededje a tattooed slave for one of the most powerful men in the system. She gets killed horrifically by her master and gets a second chance. The story follows her trials to get back to her former master and kill him. Running in tandem with this is the War between the Pro and Anti Hell factions. Both waging a simulated war that has lasted for three decades to decide if the simulated Hells that housed billions of dead souls should be destroyed.
Well in a nutshell this is Iain M Banks back to his former glory. His last few novels had been a bit slow and hadn't held the atmosphere that piqued my interest to Banks in the first place. This book just had everything I look for in Banks - I've grown up with this guys writing and he is definitely the paragon so many authors aspire to. His writing is gripping, funny and fraught with adventure.
He can push forward themes no other genre can handle, huge and epic ideas that couldn't possibly be implemented into fantasy or standard fiction. The Culture holds such a massive influence over its fans because it just is that good - anyone who doesn't have a clue - should.
Banks is able to weave a complex thread for his characters, bringing to the forefront of his novels the intense atmospheres aroused by the dark and often times sick themes. The skill with this is not being overly crass and being able to subtly move the tone of the book - he moves from different plot lines to give the reader a break from some darker moments. His use of scale is one of the techniques that puts him at the pinnacle. The ability to describe vast conflicts and then be able to hone in on select and important events all create a brilliant sense of epic-ness - the perspectives that Banks gives really sold this book to me.
I've got to sum this up. The ending of the book was just awesome. I didn't see it coming at all, Iain M Banks is a titan of good writing. Go read some.
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