Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks

[randy_byers]

It's impossible to write seriously about this novel without serious spoilers, so THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. Consider yourself warned.

Comments

[holyoutlaw]

I've read this two or three times, and find new threads in the structure every time. Your comments make me want to reread it again.

[randy_byers]

The backward thread creates a narrative undertow that makes it hard to keep that part of the story "in order," so I can imagine that it always feels like a kind of rediscovery.

I should re-read Excession too. It was the first one to focus the story on the Minds, and it's also the one that put me off the Culture novels until Banks announced that he was dying. I'm curious whether I can still see what put me off.

[holyoutlaw]

Excession is my least favorite of the Culture novels.

I may have said this as we talked about the Culture novels, but I think the first three took Banks as far as he could go in the direction of meddling with lesser cultures, leaving Excession as kind of a dead end. Inversions reset the whole series and gave Banks more freedom. After Inversion, we see more aliens and wider views of the Culture.

[randy_byers]

Don't remember hearing that riff before, but it makes good sense. Although I felt the aliens were a bit of a weakness in the later books, since they just seemed like humans with different physiognomy.