Science fiction, part of the Culture series and totally accessible. The story follows four royal siblings of the Sarl (a not particularly advanced race) in their quest to not die from murdering intrigue (with dubious success) and explores the various mentor relationships that exist between the more 'advanced' races ( Read more... )

Science fiction, part of the Culture series and methinks one best approached via the first three books. Big and complex; this ties in a massively complex plot focussed on the nature of the universe, with a love affair gone bad and its 40 year consequences. I suspect you have to have a certain type of patience to read this happily as the threads ( Read more... )

Walking on Glass by Iain Banks. Complex and interesting enough to keep me reading but failed to come together enough to satisfy. Three disparate tales told that try to come together in the end. Don't let this stop you reading his other science fiction which is top notch.

The Night of Morningstar, Dead Man's Handle, A Taste For Death, Dragon’s Claw ( Read more... )

Loved it. One of the many reasons I enjoy reading his stuff is the language he uses, I had several moments where I giggled quietly to myself.

"It was generally held that seven billion years' lack of practice probably accounted for the sheer awfulness of Dweller spaceship design and building standards, though Fassin wasn't convinced that cause and ( Read more... )

Oh boy oh boy.. someone got excited about US foreign policy and wrote a fabulous science fiction novel ( Read more... )

Apologies to 
( Read more... )

Point by S about unlovable characters is well made. The main character is neither The Good Guy nor A Good Guy and other more emotionally attractive characters get far less air time, I'm thinking it's deliberate ( Read more... )

Not watching Fargo with ( Read more... )