Iain M. Banks - Consider Phlebas
A little while ago my friend Sean recommended that I check out the works of the Scottish author Iain M. Banks. I noticed a large section of them in a used bookshop when I was looking for some reading material for my flight from Glasgow to Vancouver (and then to San Francisco the next day). I bought the first science-fiction book that he wrote: Consider Phlebas.The book contains some interesting elements, but in full I didn't really think it was put together all that well. Most of the main characters were well fleshed out, but there was also a few chapters about some random person on a world millions of light-years away that didn't really concern the story. I suppose it was trying to set up some background - but it just seemed like wasted space to me. Likewise, the main plot of the book was interesting, but it was filled with lengthy detours that didn't really seem to add as much as they took away.
The universe the book is set in is pretty interesting. It's a galaxy where the inhabitants are very technically accomplished. One of the main societies is "The Culture", which seems to be a communist/hedonist success story. Their means of production (using sentient machinery) is more then enough to fit the needs (and wants) of everyone - so everyone gets whatever they desire. The novel wasn't set in Culture space though, so this interesting society wasn't fully developed in this book. He has a bunch of other Culture books, and I would give Banks a second chance if I found one of them.
| Posted by dustin on March 6, 2005 with category tags of books |
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Written by dustin
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