Matter
by Iain M. Banks
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Book Reviews of Matter
Book Review: A few responses to particularly dumb criticisms of Matter
Summary: 5 Stars
Critic: Its a long book. Isn't that a bad thing.
Me: Boring is bad. Long is not. This isn't boring.
Critic: It doesn't push the boundaries of sci-fi, therefore its lame.
Me: Its interesting, creative, and intelligent. Thus by definition its pushing the boundaries of sci-fi.
Critic: But its meadering. It doesn't stay locked on the central plotline like a pitbull on bologna.
Me: Again, boring is bad, meandering isn't.
Critic: But...but...the ending! It doesn't end the way 95% of the books I've read end! That's bad!
Me: Did you take your medication this morning?
Critic: But, hold on there mister, I just didn't think it was the best book by Banks that I've ever read, therefore I was "disappointed".
Me: Are you high?
Book Review: Good but not Great
Summary: 3 Stars
Iain Banks is a brilliant author, no doubt, but Matter didn't win me over the way his other works have. As other reviewers have mentioned, the ending was a bit unsatisfying, especially after the careful buildup over the first 500 pages. The 'heroes' go through the usual story arc and change over the course of the book, the bad guys don't change, and actually lose some of their hateful steam as the book goes along.
Banks has set very high standards for himself with the creativity, sheer magnitude, and complexities of his Culture universe, and he almost gets there with Matter. If you've read other Culture novels and like them, you should probably get this, too. But if I was recommending Banks to a new reader I would send them to Excession or Consider Phlebas.
Book Review: One of Bank's better
Summary: 5 Stars
Bank's latest Culture novel, Matter, is one of the strongest in the series, together with Player of Games and Excession. The plot involves several perspectives on the Culture universe as Banks presents a whole hierarchy of civilisations, from a medieval society placed within an artificial world, to the different caretakers of the same world (and their conflicts with one another), to the supremes like Culture and the Morganwelt. We meet a lot of characters: a medieval prince fighting for his right to the throne, a SC agent on her way home, an ancient ship mind, a renegade from the culture and some really weird and dangerous aliens, to mention a few. Highly recommended.Book Review: Disappointing...
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm a huge Iain (M. or no M.) banks fan, and with an upcoming 16-hour flight I was so excited about Matter...
Flight was OK, but "Matter" is disappointing.
The plot progresses in leaps and crawls, in familiar (and beloved) Banks fashion, but the ending - usually a Banks stronghold- is harried and contrived.
It seems that Matter serves as some sort of index for the other Culture books- many gizmo's and scenes are mentioned again, but the lack of development or any real sense of urgency left me dissatisfied.
Still, I will buy whatever Iain Banks produces in the future :)
Cheers to all
Book Review: In places boring, unstructured and ultimately unsatisfying
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm a huge fan of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels but this one just lost the plot. It feels like he really wanted to write a historical thriller but was forced into crowbarring the story into a Sci-Fi novel. The worst crime of which this book is guilty is that in places it's just plain boring. Pages of pointless exposition which don't really lend themselves to the story..which in itself is really a road to nowhere anyway...the ending feels tacked on (then a big monster comes...and we kill it...the end). At this point Neil Asher's 'Polity' books are better 'Culture' books than the real ones...and that's sad!