Excession
by Iain M. Banks
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Book Reviews of Excession
Book Review: Great book, Excessively so!
Summary: 5 Stars
The first time I read the book, it left me confused. All the jumping around between characters, and the discussions between the minds can leave the uninisiated (I was 14 at the time) bewildered. After rereading the book recently, all those little sub-plots started to fall into place, and suddenly it all came together into one of the most brilliant works ever created! This book leave works like "Mortal remains", and "The Reality dysfunction" (both essentially similar to Excession)way behind! It's not quite as fast paced, but the overall reader involvement and quality is lightyears ahead of any other! It definitely rates amongst the top half of my personal top 10! Note! Not for the impatient, or those who hate to be puzzled, and unwilling to read a couple more pages in order to find the answer. It would also help to read other Culture novels before diving into Excession. You don't need them in order to understand the book, but it does help to initiate you into the Culture.Book Review: Funny. Ironic. A very fine book
Summary: 5 Stars
An unexpected return to the more straight forward structure of Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games. This makes Excession a very straight through read, while not sacrificing the quality of writing that I have come to expect from Mr Banks. The use of data-headers for the dialouge sections involving the ships' minds is clever and unusual. The headers were a bit confusing until I figured out what they were telling me, but I didn't find them to be a distraction as some other readers have. You don't have to read them, they serve to embellish the text, and create visual diversity.In some respects this book is better than the more more stylised Use of Weapons and Against A Dark Background. There aren't any dead chapters, and the prose isn't spoilt by the ill-considered flippancies, which Mr Banks can only too easily resort to. The Excession is an uncomfortable paralell with the obelisk in Clarke's 2001 though. That aside it's a brilliant read.
Watch out for Inversions.
Book Review: No Hugos for Iain? No justice!
Summary: 4 Stars
Banks is easily the best science-fiction author to be repeatedly stiffed for its major awards, which makes no sense to me considering some of the mediocrities that have been so rewarded (David Brin, Orson Scott Card). As always, pay close attention or else, because Mr. Banks never panders to his readers. His books are dense, ambiguous, and laced with irony, and Excession is no exception to that rule. This is one of his more playful books, however, especially in the wordplay between the various Culture Minds who constitute the novel's main characters. Though Banks's Culture books need not be read in any particular order, I would not recommend this as an introduction to his universe-start instead with Player of Games or Consider Phlebas (if you can find them). Excession is best read in a few sittings-say, a nice weekend at the beach. Stretching it out over a period of weeks may cause one to lose track of the nuances, which are typically plentiful and worth catching.Book Review: Another great novel from Banks
Summary: 5 Stars
There's already some good reviews here, so I'll just add a few thoughts.
First, Banks is an amazing author, and Excession is another great novel.
If you haven't read any Banks' novels and are thinking about starting, you should probably start with Consider Phlebas or Use of Weapons, or maybe Player of Games. Those books have fewer main characters, so its easier to get into.
Trust me, I'm not being patronizing by saying that. Probably the most challenging aspect of Banks' writing is the crazy amount of characters & names you have to remember. Whenever I start reading a new Banks novel I keep a pad of paper and pen handy to keep track of everyone.
Now, if you haven't read Banks, please PLEASE don't let that stop you! I know it sounds like a lot of work just to enjoy a novel, but it's seriously worth it.
If you're familiar with his books & are wondering if this one is worth it - yeah, it is.
Book Review: Hard sci-fi at it's best...
Summary: 5 Stars
It helps to enjoy this book if you're the type of person who wonders equally at the technology, the themes, the math, the characters, and the possibilities. Banks' imagination is really going full-blast here with sentient spaceships (sometimes going 'eccentric', doing their own thing) and all of the creative, fantastic inventions that inhabit his far-future world.
I will be the first to admit that it's not the easiest read at first. Get past the first 40-50 pages though, and you'll be glad you did. Charles Stross writes in a similar style, though with more contemporary wit than in The Excession, but these two authors are similar enough that if you like one, you'll probably like the other.
If you really want to dig in deep to a new, imaginative, hard sci-fi universe, then this Culture novel by Banks should satisfy. Don't expect an easy, thoughtless summer-read though.