The first two thirds of the book I found kind of boring. [author:Iain M. Banks] uses the chance to discuss life and throws some ideas at us but there is no sign of a good plot.At least the final third contains drama, character development and a good showdown so it's easy to see why the author is so highly claimed. My advise is to read the 1st chapter, skip the next 8 and have fun with the rest of the book. ( )

The first two thirds of the book I found kind of boring. [author:Iain M. Banks] uses the chance to discuss life and throws some ideas at us but there is no sign of a good plot.At least the final third contains drama, character development and a good showdown so it's easy to see why the author is so highly claimed. My advise is to read the 1st chapter, skip the next 8 and have fun with the rest of the book. ( )

The Chelgrians had partially Sublimed; about six per cent of their civilisation had quit the material universe within the course of a day. They were of all castes, they were of all varieties of religious belief from atheists to the devout of diverse cults, and they included in their number several of the sentient machines Chel had developed but never fully exploited. No discernible pattern in the partial Subilming Event could be determined.
None of this was especially unusual in itself, though for any of them to have gone at all when the Chelgrians had only been in space for a few hundred years did seem - perversely - immature in the eyes of some. Wheat had been remarkable, even alarming, was that the sublimed had then maintained links with the majority part of their civilisation which had not moved on.

Chegrian composer Ziller has been commissioned by the Masaq' Hub to write a symphony commemorating the death of two stars in the Idiran War eight centuries before, whose first performance will be timed to coincide with the light from the second of the stars going nova finally reaching Masaq' Orbital. Zillero has been living in exile on Masaq' Orbital since before the Chelgrian Caste War, which was ignited by Culture meddling leaving them feeling very guilty about what happened, but unrepentant about the need to meddle in other species' affairs. When Ziller hears that an emissary is being sent from Chel to ask him to come home, he refuses point blank to meet him, and that is about all I can tell you about the story without giving a big spoiler warning, so I'll just say that the story includes themes of guilt, bereavement, revenge, death and the afterlife, and leave it at that.

Iain M. Banks does create some fantastic alien species. Apart from the furry, five-legged, predator-descended Chelgrians, "Look to Windward" features the incredibly long-lived behemothaurs, forever travelling around the edge of the galaxy in the mysterious air spheres lit by orbiting sun-moons. But the Affront in "Excession" are still my favourites. ( )

Gentile or JewO you who turn the wheel and look to windwardConsider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.I have a weakness for anyone who quotes Eliot, particularly the Waste Land. At first I thought that this title was a bit much given that Banks had already used Consider Phlebas, which seemed to me more appropriate to the novel it graces. But it just occured to me: the people in this book are those who 'look to windward'; the entire book is an extended meditation on the message of Phlebas the Phonecian. A meditation on death, and loss, despair, remorse, I suppose, but mostly on the different kinds of relationships one can have with death. Windward is very closely linked to Phlebas, both thematically and because it is in part about the aftermath of the war. Maybe the title is supposed to signal the importance of that link, which I didn't pay much attention to at first. I should read the two books back to back some time.This is the Culture, of course, so the characters have far more relationships with death at their disposal than mere humans do, just as they have more freedom of choice with regards to just about everything else. They can Sublime (which I don't quite buy), have one or several of various kinds of uploaded personality-continuation afterlife, artificially extend their lifespans to arbitrary lengths, enter suspended animation, and probably others I've forgotten or which Banks hasn't thought of yet. But many opt to have the old-fashioned, no backup available, risky kind of relationship, and some of them go to a great deal of trouble to expose themselves to the risk of being killed, and have a horrible time while doing so. (Lava-rafting has to be the most unenjoyable sport I've ever seen described.) And then the Mind... "There are places to go, but either I would not be me when I went there, or I would remain myself and so still have my memories. By waiting for them to drop away all this time I have grown into them, and they into me. We have become each other. There is no way back I consider worth taking." Quilan said something similar,earlier in the novel, that he could not live with the knowledge of his wife's death, and would not live without it. Two different kinds of death, and loss of the self while continuing to live is judged the greater evil.

Iain Bank's sci-fi often revolves around 'The Culture', a futuristic society of awesome technological prowess.

The use of future settings and technology allows Banks to give free rein to his glorious imagination, allowing him to set the stories wherever he wants without it ever feeling like a convenient affectation.

This is another excellent book. It won't persuade people who don't think that they like Sci-fi that they do, or to try more titles, but for those of us that love this genre its a good choice.