Matter
by Iain M. Banks
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Book Reviews of Matter
Book Review: middle of the pack for Mr. Banks
Summary: 3 Stars
As usual when checking out what other people have to say, I am rather astonished to see the glowing 5 star reviews of a book like this. Especially given its place in a series of works set in the Culture universe, it makes this book have an easy basis for comparison with the author's other novels.
This book is rather pedestrian as Iain Banks goes... for instance, at one point a character voyages on a series of Culture ships, and the reader is treated to a list of ship names, and the character's reaction to them as being silly. No attempt is made to characterize them, and the net effect is one of the author mailing it in and taking the easy road. Inventing some names, throwing them at the reader, and proceeding. No attempts are made to flesh out our loved machine entities. It strikes me as lazy.
The first half of the book... almost nothing happens. We are left following three major characters each of whom is demonstrably incompetent: one of whom is adept at running away, one of whom is oblivious, and one of whom is very good at naval gazing and taking rides on space ships. None of them is intriguing or sympathetic. I found myself cheering for the major human villain, who starts out showing some dimensionality but ends up cartoony and moustache-twirling. "Take no prisoners!" the bad guy states. After indicating how the enemy soldiers should be put to death, Banks should have put in a "Muhahahahahahahaha!" to complete the image.
Where did the nuance go?
Overall it leaves me thinking... where is the story? Why do I care about these people? I really do not. After encountering this author, I immediately purchased every one of his existing books, and ever since I have bought his next book without checking a review or reading anything that would spoil the experience for me.
No more.
This book is in no way as bad as Gabardale but the author has broken the faith. The genius that is behind the Wasp Factory is just writing like one fat and content.
Banks has made the cardinal sin with this book: it's boring. Banks is my favorite author and 200 pages in I found myself putting the book down to read some Neil Asher. I should be flogged for this, but, sorry 5* reviewers this is a snoozefest. And that brings up the wonder of what a truly great novel can be rated when people give lethargy inducing work like this with 5*... maybe I am getting jaded, but this author has some truly fantastic work and I fail to see how anyone familiar with his repertoire can put this snoozer on the top of the list.
Buy the book and read it for completeness. But if you were a fan of the old Iain Banks who seems to have lost his way around Gabardale, he is still somewhere out to lunch and mailing it in.
Book Review: Stuffed full of ideas, but ultimately rushed
Summary: 4 Stars
In brief: A detail-rich blend of plot threads and world-building that will engage Banks and Culture fans, but may leave neophytes (and many fans!) wondering what happened...
'Matter' follows the fortunes of two royal brothers and a sister from a relatively backwater society in an ancient artifical 'shell-world'. Betrayal, murder-most-foul and the quest for justice/revenge/etc drive the plot and characters to an almost world-shattering conclusion. But don't blink, or you'll be into the Appendix before you've caught the ending. Oh, and stick around, the Epilogue comes _after_ the Appendix.
The investment that Banks makes in world-building suggests he's creating a whole new universe that subsequent novels will inhabit, rather than an expansion of the Culture-centric universe we already know. Indeed, Banks' Shell-world could be considered the lead character, with a rich but endless supporting cast of species and civilizations. But perhaps I'm missing the point - perhaps Banks wanted us to know that even the mighty Culture was just a drop in the Galactic ocean. All that said, I can't help but think that more room could have been made for the ending if some of the ideas (species, civilizations, politics...) could have been reined in.
The Culture (and Special Circumstances) are largely hinted at through the capabilities of the heroine, otherwise the universe of drones, ships and minds takes a back seat to more human-equivalent character-driven plotting.
'Matter' in the end, seemed to run out of space, or steam (or plasma or knife-missiles, depending on your equiv-tech). Key human, ship and drone characters are burned through with barely a mention. What happened to the antagonist, Loesp? We have to fill in the blanks, although the more vindictive amongst us would have liked more Banksian sensory-surround detail... There is an upside in terms of maintaining pace, but personally I would have liked more flesh and blood, and less bone. Sometimes us saps want to see and feel the heroic end, or delight in the pain of the fall.
If you're new to Banks and the Culture, I highly recommend trying 'Consider Phlebas' or 'Use of Weapons' first. If you're already a fan, 'Matter' is definitely worth buying, but be prepared that Banks expects you to work for your gratification at the end!
For world-building, and plot and character-development, it rates five stars. In the end, however, I gave this four stars as I think the climax and denouement are just too short, and will demand too much of all but the most dedicated reader.
Book Review: Meandering story with weakly drawn characters
Summary: 3 Stars
While I love Iain Banks' work in general, and his Culture books in particular, I can't say this is one of his better efforts. Matter is a book plagued by poor pacing, too many forgettable characters, and just a general lack of interesting things to say.
Matter is probably best understood as a study in the lives of three siblings: two brothers and their sister, all children of the king of a recently advancing medieval nation, and the older brother's manservant Holse. Their people live within a ShellWorld, a sort of onion shaped world where people live on the surface of concentric spheres. The two princes live within their post-medieval society, where knights ride great flying birds above the new steam trains, while their sister has gone off to become a Culture agent, barely connected to her distant homeland.
The story follows the four of them as they roam around through various adventures and circumstance, never quite connecting itself to any particular plot or drama throughout the first 2/3 of this fairly long book. All four of them (and some others who travel with them) just sort of meander through the story, pushed back and forth by outside events without quite knowing what's going on, until in the very last quarter of the book a story just sort of pops out of nowhere and takes over. This leads to a very abrupt and unsatisfying ending which really reads like a writer trying to meet a deadline more than anything else.
Along the way, the main characters all seem rather stereotypical and in general don't grow or learn much. Djan, the sister, is a stiff and rather featureless character, and her older brother is just irritating. Her younger brother is the best drawn of the three, as he grows up in a society just out of its medieval period, but in the end the story just doesn't seem to be about any of them -- not even Holse, who is at least affable and bright. Along the way, they all sort of aimlessly wander into a plethora of sub-plots and questions, none of which are answered satisfactorily in the end.
I hesitate to recommend this book, unless you simply have an unquenchable appetite for Culture stories, or perhaps flying knights. In Matter, you will learn more about the galaxy the Culture inhabits, and see life from the point of view of people a century or two behind us technologically but who nevertheless grow up knowing of aliens and high technology. But, in the end, the plot and the characters are weak. You're better off just reading Excession again, instead.
Book Review: Insightful view of The Culture, Contact and Special Circumstances (SC)
Summary: 5 Stars
Having just finished reading Matter I feel quite sad. Considering the variety of books that Mr. Banks writes I don't expect to see another book of The Culture for at least two years. My reading options will be a bit barren until then.
With the exception of his book Excession I consider this the best of Bank's books of The Culture. Other reviewers have give the general storyline, so I'll skip it here. The cast of characters is rich, many are from a humanoid society roughly in the equivalent of our Medieval period. This society exists inside one small level of one of the wonders of the galaxy, a Shellworld.
The primary characters are all from this society, several are members of the Royal family, a few are various loyal and treacherous aids. One was a member of the Royal family, but being a mere girl it was decided by her father the King she would be best used as a political offering to a member of the Optimae. The Optimae being the term for the highly advanced and involved civilations in the galaxy. We meet her after she has adapted to The Culture, a "world" of fantastic technology, education and freedoms.
Through her eyes we see The Culture a bit differently than I've seen in any previous work. She appreciates the advantages but also is aware of the tendency of citizens to use their long lives as interfering, do-gooding busybodies. A Culture person leaves the running of everything to the many Minds that manage their ships, orbital habitats and even planets. (Referring to a Culture Mind as an A.I., at least in their near omni-presence, would be consider very rude and insulting. Some Minds have been known to hold grudges). So no matter your species as a citizen of the Culture you could look forward to millennia of smug self-regard stretched before you.
Our original simple girl is now a highly trained, heavily enhanced and willing agent to help when special circumstances come into play. It this case her unofficial visit to honor her fallen father notices there is much more going on.
I strongly disagree with some reviews commenting that the characters are shallow. Some characters, humanoid and otherwise, are killed during the story. I felt their loss strongly.
My only complaint is we spend less time traveling through the wonders that is The Culture in this book than say Excession. But I believe Mr. Bank's decision to develop the world of "primatives" living in the Shellworld's world of marvels to be a good one.
Book Review: Still great, not perfect...
Summary: 4 Stars
Remember when you read Banks you are reading the best science fiction writing of the moment. A real writer, not a hack with a bunch of whacky ideas. But therein lies the problem. Banks has so much facility that he can write a chapter about a waterfall - and almost does - yet not advance the plot more than the distance the falls would retreat while you read it.
While Banks makes the descriptive writing seem effortless and his imagination easily dwarfs most current science fiction writers and frequently matches the best of the entire genre, his story telling is getting lost in his desire to paint pictures. He eagerly tries to open our minds to different worlds and alien species. He presents us with equally fascinating alternatives to the Culture as if dangling a carrot to his entrenched fans.
And for those fans who choose to stick with 'Matter' through the long build up, there is an ultimate reward, when, three quarters of the way through, Banks moves up two gears and the wonders start to flow. For those readers who might not be convinced that they will be ultimately entertained, there is little to engage them until then. The characters are alternately vapid or remote, the technology frustratingly hidden and the plot convoluted and not particularly interesting.
I suspect he his bored with the Culture and its 'deus ex machina' solutions. We, the deprived readers, get to drink in the Culture for a few hours every two years. He, as a writer, has to live within it all year round. Much as I have loved the Culture and the inspiring visions Iain fills us with, I would not admonish him if he chose to move on. I'm grateful for what he's given us but, as a fan, I have no right to demand a single thing more. Excession was a masterpiece, the Algebraist a jewel and I will still buy everything he writes. Despite my small disappointment, I would give this 4 and a half stars if I could.