The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks
I have always enjoyed the Culture novels. They are like a comfort blanket to me. I enjoy wrapping myself up in the whole Culture universe. This is probably why I am more tolerant than some other reviewers regarding The Hydrogen Sonata.
That having been said, I would not regard this novel as the best Culture novel, but rather an adventure with, for me, a few highlights and a few lowlights. I would also suggest that it is better read knowing something of the nature of the Culture minds and ships, i.e. read other Culture novels before taking up The Hydrogen Sonata.
Beyond this point in my review I will be mentioning points about the book that I liked or found less than satisfactory. If you haven’t already read the book you may wish to leave the rest of this review until you have done so.
I found one thing that could be considered a negative in the story. This was the philosophising and moralising by the Culture minds. Some of the discussions went on a bit too long and I felt newcomers to the Culture novels could find this a bit off-putting and could make the book seem a bit of a slog.
The things I found positive about the novel include the discussions held internally by individuals about whether their original selves or copies of themselves are the real them, and also the idea of the original being being jealous of a copy of himself. This reminded me of the excellent treatment of the same subject in Ken MacLeod’s novel, Newton’s Wake.
I also enjoyed the moralising about simulations and any entities created in the simulations. While eminent scientists, such as Roger Penrose (see The Emperor’s New Mind) believe we are unlikely to develop sentient artificial intelligence, it was still interesting to read the discussion on what should or shouldn’t be done with simulated worlds that have been created as part of an experiment.
There was also discussion on the meaning of everything and whether one could find meaning in life without a religious framework, a question that was answered in the positive.
All in all I enjoyed reading this novel and I found the philosophical and moral discussions of interest. While I didn’t find it to be the best Culture novel I did find it satisfactory and it did not damage my comfort feeling when reading one of Iain M. Banks books set in the Culture universe. Perhaps when I am reading a Culture novel I have a false sense of security that makes me feel I am being watched over by drones that will protect me from any nastiness that might surround me and that cradle me in their fields and ensure that the parameters of my immediate environment are kept at optimum levels.
Oh! I think it has suddenly gotten cold. Where did that draft come from?