It was a perfect black-body sphere, and it did nothing. Then it disappeared.
Now it is back."
So, when I tell you that I've been reading this since the very start of writing this blog, I want you to understand that I mean that this is a book I have been reading, off and on, for nearly 18 months. It's not overly long, and it's certainly not a bad book, by any means. But it is dense. It's a book with heft, and weight, and it's written in a way that can best be described as unfriendly, especially in terms of ship to ship dialogue, which is largely impersonal and punctuation free.
This main mind-to-mind conversations which make up so much of the plot drive and significant portions of each section are, it has to be said, confusing, in the same way that half an IM, or an email chain is unlikely to be a great way to understand geopolitics.
With multiple narrative strands taking place at the same time, and various different races and beings involved, it takes a while for anything like a coherent plot to kick in. I actually finished the second half in one sitting, so there's stuff to be waiting for, and once the various strands coalesce it quickly engages, but it can be a slog at first.
I've read a few of the Culture novels that Banks has written and this isn't the best for new reader's although it's certainly got enough there that if you're already a fan you'll enjoy it. Compared to Player of Games it's dry, but it meets the basic requirement of great sci-fi that it's utterly alien - whether in the world of the Affront, or glanding, or drones., or the Excession itself.
Also Try:
Player of Games, Iain M Banks
The Wasp Factory, Ian Banks
Shadow of the Empire, Timothy Zahn
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