Matter

Orbit,fall07

In this latest Culture novel we get a wider look at galactic society while looking at a long-standing fascination of Banks--war and political power. Can't say too much but I will say that Banks is exploring a number of things in the course of this seeming space-opera. In "How To Write" Richard Rhodes distinguishes fiction from all other forms of writing because he says fiction is all free association whereas in most other forms of writing one is constrained by checkable facts, like history. "Matter" is a masterpiece of free association by Banks. ( )

I’m still very new to the work of Iain Banks and Iain M. Banks having only read The Wasp Factory (1984) and Consider Phlebas (1987). The latter was my first affiliation with Banks’ sci-fi work and indeed with the Culture, the vast, technological society that thrives and endures, while others fall by the wayside. I had heard mixed reviews about Matter but I had enjoyed Consider Phlebas so was hopeful of a repeat here.

The novel is set on the multi-layered Shellworld of Sursamen. On the eighth level is the royal household of Sarl, ruled by King Hausk, who is extending his territory into the ninth level through war. At the outset, his son and heir, Ferbin, witnesses his father’s victory in the latest battle only to overhear the king’s second-in-command, tyl Losep, murder the wounded Hausk. Believing Ferbin to have been killed, tyl Losep returns to the heart of Sarl where another son, Oramen, stands between him and the throne. While Ferbin and his trusted servant Holse make their escape, Oramen prepares for his future role as king but in the meantime, the scheming tyl Losep is regent. Ferbin and Holse flee and seek out Hausk’s other child – his daughter Djan Seriy Anaplian – who left Sarl fifteen years before to join the Culture as a Special Circumstances (SC) agent. Can Ferbin find her in time and save Oramen? Or will tyl Losep seize the throne?

I found the opening to Matter to be very intriguing. Treachery amidst a royal household wouldn’t have been out of place in a fantasy world but it slots nicely into Banks’ sci-fi world too. Ferbin may be the heir to the throne of Sarl but he is weak when it comes to war and is more suited to diplomacy. Oramen is young and naive, content to allow tyl Losep to have the reins of government while he spends his hours drinking and sleeping with prostitutes. Then there is Dyan Seriy Anaplian who works for the Culture and benefits from many of their technological advancements including physical and mental enhancements. When Anaplian learns of her father’s death she initially sets out for Sarl to pay her respects but she is later asked to investigate events on the ninth level.

The novel soon switches to events on the ninth level where excavations are taking place at the Nameless City, which is mostly buried under sediment but is slowly being uncovered by the Hyeng-zhar waterfalls. Anaplian is told to investigate the Oct – another species in Sursamen – who have taken a keen interest in the excavations at the Nameless City. Oramen and tyl Losep also end up at the falls, the prince having survived some scheming and assassination attempts back home but still convinced that his father’s second in command is loyal and can be trusted! The novel builds towards a dramatic climax as tyl Losep makes final plans to kill Oramen, while Ferbin and Holse join forces with Anaplian and make with haste for the ninth level to save their brother.

Something worried me as I reached the end of Matter. It was that Ferbin and Anaplian are only reunited when it seems there isn’t a lot of the book to go. It had been an epic journey for Ferbin and Holse but the return would be very quick indeed! I had high hopes for the final conflict between the king’s children and tyl Losep but this proved to be the book’s undoing. Something is discovered during the excavation of the Nameless City and it takes the novel off in a completely new direction. It’s almost as if Banks wasn’t sure how to end the story so threw in this element at the last minute. It has the abruptness and devastation of Consider Phlebas, this being a brutal and uncompromising world, but the last few pages seemed rushed to me and I found myself very unsatisfied given how good the story had been up to that point. Banks’ sci-fi is incredibly detailed and though this book is often complicated, I didn’t find it off-putting until the ending. It was such a let-down that it has affected my overall rating of the novel. I fully intend to read more Culture novels but I hope they end better than Matter.

Matter is at times a brilliant sci-fi novel, the level of intricacy in Banks’ world is formidable but at the same time some readers may find it overwhelmingly complicated, just as I did in places. The overall story was a good one and I was really excited about seeing the king’s children get revenge against tyl Losep but the conclusion goes down a completely random path and it wasn’t a satisfying one for me sadly. ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2012/11/review-of-matter-by-iain-m-banks.html ( )

Space opera meets feudal court intrigue in the eighth installment of Banks' Culture series. The reader follows Prince Ferbin and his servant Holse (think Frodo and Sam) as they journey from their civilization's appointed level on an artificial world in search of Ferbin's sister. He seeks her assistance in avenging their father's assassination. Djan's position as a black-ops Special Circumstances agent for the Culture makes her particularly suited for the task. This sets the stage for a clash between races of the technologically advanced Culture as they manipulate more primitive societies to advance their own inscrutable ends. This novel was short-listed for the 2009 Prometheus Award and Locus Award. My rating: 6 stars out of a possible 10. ( )