It's great to have another Culture novel from Banks after so long, however I didn't really feel this was up to his usual form. The book is quite weighty and certainly took a while to get going before hitting it's stride in the last fifth culminating in a rather abrupt, and what felt like curtailed, ending.My trudge through the first half was probably effected by me dipping in and out over a few weeks before getting some dedicated time for the second half - never a good way to read a Banks, which usually benefit from a straight through reading. I also feel somewhat cheated when I buy a SF novel which has a significant plotline set in a primative culture -I want space opera! Both of these probably colured my reactions to this novel.On the positive side it's great to see that Banks still has the creativity to push out genuinely new ideas like the shellworlds of this novel. It would be too easy to just repeat past Culture tropes, but Banks keeps on throwing innovative ideas into his novels which keeps that excitement at exploring more of the Culture universe alive. Overall a must read for a Banks fan, but if you're a newcomer, start with some if his earlier works. ( )

I consider myself a great fan of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels and was surprised to be a little disappointed by this one. It is a fairly long book (nearly 600 pages). The first half plods along as a creditable work of historical adventure fiction which later morphs into a sci-fi novel that involves agents of the Culture's Special Circumstance. It is reasonably well paced - sometimes a little predictable, but with enough surprises to be a page turner. The disappointment comes in the final few chapters where we get to a shoot 'em up storyline that is ultimately a little unsatisfying. Although perseverance to the final pages does reward with a clever upbeat ending. Worth reading but not one that one savours for long after completion. Nowhere near as good as Excession. ( )

Another novel set in Banks' Culture universe, this book mostly follows three siblings. Oramen, on their fairly primitive home world, is Prince Regent, following his father's death in war. His sister Djan left many years ago and is now a culture agent. Their brother Ferbin witnesses something he shouldn't have, and sets out to seek his sister's aid. Eventually their stories end up tied back together again, but in a way that none of them expected.

As always Banks brings us rich new worlds, and alien races we hadn't encountered before, as well as some familiar aspects from other books in the universe. The plot is fairly fast moving and exciting, though some details seem almost irrelevant. And the ending is spectacular. All in all perhaps a bit too brutal in places, but enjoyable as always. ( )

Gripping... though I'm still undecided as to what I think about the ending. ( )

Another excellent Culture novel from Banks. An interesting theme of perspective echoed at various levels through the plot and characters. His usual dollop of hugely massive imagination still impresses.

Ultimately he still manage to show good triumphing over evil, even if he keeps you guessing which is which until the very end.

Great science fiction that makes you think. ( )

banks does sensawunda like no-one else I know. A war between primitive (by galactic standards) civilisations on two different levels of an onion-like Shellworld reveals an ancient sentient artefact buried for millennia. The caretakers of the world believe it is their ancestor. The Culture representatives are somewhat skeptical. A very human story set against a backdrop of enormous scale. ( )

Link to a review on my personal website. ( )

A few weird names and creatures but loved the story, so different from anything I usually read - a cracker!

Like many of his books, he builds his story slowly. He applies layer upon layer of story and character development. Eventually you reach a point where the pieces come together and the book unfolds, not unlike a nova. Part of his reason for doing this approach is that the Culture series of books don't follow a particular order. You can pick up any of them and begin reading.

As with all Culture series books by Iain M. Banks, this is no exception when it comes to his depth of characters, acerbic and clever humor, and field of play spanning amazing invention on a galactic scale.

But at the end it is a human story tying all of these threads together - one that most readers can relate. Part of the reason I enjoy books by the likes of Iain M. Banks or Neal Asher to name a few is their skill at not only creating a complex and creative future but also real human characters that form the heart of every story. This book was no exception. I enjoyed it. ( )

An interesting muse on how less-developed worlds live alongside highly developed races. How would we feel to know that there were alien(or just highly developed human) worlds and cultures out there that had more weapons, knowledge, inventions etc. Would we see them as a threat? Or would we want to leave our own (medieval in this case) world and join them? Or would we just accept it the way it was?

I can't imagine living happily on my planet with the Culture above my head exploring the universe and not wanting to be a part of it. But maybe that's because I am a sci-fi fan.

Instead of his normal excellent adventures of the Culture, exploring new social rifts, Banks has written an interesting book which touches on many different themes. I really enjoyed it, packed full of good quality sci-fi. I did find it a bit slow in the middle and then a bit too quick at the end. Great ending though, so maybe that was the way it had to be. ( )

http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2009/03... ( )

I enjoyed this one immensely, but it's not the best of Iain Banks by any means. The settings are, by and large, delicious, and if you like Banks especially for the environments in which the stories take place, you'll have a good time here. The major characters are reasonably good, too.

At first, I wanted to say that the pacing is off, but it really isn't, because Banks set out to have the pacing precisely this way; the slow creep as things set in motion, almost invisibly, the momentum building in the background until suddenly we, and the characters, realize what's going on and how far along it is, and the headlong rush, faster and faster and faster until the SMACK into the brick wall of fate at the end.

No, rather, the problem is that the first part, when things are slow, is just too boring. There were places where I was sorely tempted just to skip forward or skim-read. Worse, by the end it was obvious that it wasn't a deceptive story-thread where the normality hid important plot points later on; most of the boring bits were utterly irrelevant to the overall plot, and just served as filler. Banks has done filler before much, much better. I do think part of the problem was the low-tech setting of most of the worst parts; Banks didn't give himself the scope for any interesting flights-of-fancy to make for interesting filler, and there wasn't even enough blackly-humorous sadism to fill the time.

Oh, and it's a downer ending in a manner all too familiar to Banks readers. If you like his books, that probably won't put you off, but it's a good warning to those who aren't so keen on it.

Don't mistake me; I had a great time with this book; Banks at his best, though, can do much, much better. ( )

Very enjoyable, the tech is imaginative, the worlds at times extraordinarily drawn, the cast of characters not too large, the plot impossible to predict. A good evening read. ( )

This book will please fans of Banks' Culture series (including this reviewer). The book tells the story of Djan Seriy, born a princess of the barbarian Sarl and now a member of Special Circumstances as she returns back to her home-world to avenge her father only to find a greater threat to her people and nation. Through her journey new species are introduced to may new species and vast, expansive vistas of planet sized artifacts, space ships, etc.

The focus of this novel is less on the Culture per se and more on the relations between the other races we meet, and most especially the relations between species at higher and lower levels of technology. ( )

Not sure if I picked up a book in the middle of a series or if this is a standalone book, but whichever it is I lacked knowledge about what was going on in the first of the story. This lack of knowledge certainly made me want to go on to another book. Once I was orientated with the characters the book became interesting and hard to put down. ( )

A promising prologue has your usual sneaky Culture type doing some untraceable interfering into some low-tech warfare on a planet - or actually an environment that is part of a Shellword - a huge structure that has what seems to be multiple planets or planetary analogues, one per level. An interesting idea.

Unfortunately, 80% or so of what follows is tedious, as a plot and murders to remove a king and relatives, and give power to a man on the aforementioned world happens. He, too, has some knowledge and advantages over the local - but a survivor of this coup has a sister who much earlier was given to Special Circumstances. So the book meanders along until the last 6th or so, where suddenly the various races of technological ability and their plots and conflicts start to get interesting, then it ends.

You could chop out half this book and not miss it one bit.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2009/01... ( )

Another excellent addition to the Culture universe. Iain M Banks spins a complex interleaved plot between the special circumstances section of the high tech culture (sic) and the more prosaic feudal society of the Sarl. It follows Prince Ferbin whom has been deprived of his right to the Sarl throne by his fathers chancellor and his quest to survive and eventually reclaim his birth right whilst uncovering a danger to the entire shell world.

I found that Banks reverted to type with this book, it was a lot more accessible than the Algebraist and serves as a good introduction to the Culture universe. One of the better ¨Culture¨ novels but not quite up to the level of ¨Excession¨ or the complexity of ¨The Algebraist¨. ( )

science fiction, Culture series

This book manages to combine warring kingdoms with steam punk technology with unimaginably high tech spece opera. And it works.

Much of the book is either set in or centers around a rare alien artifact - an artificial world of inhabitable layers built upon layers called Sursamen.

Three of the main characters are the three royal children of one of the human kingdoms on (or perhaps I should say IN that world).

The older of the two princes is Ferbin, a crown prince running for his life after seeing his father (and King) being murdered by his own top aid in the middle of a war.

The younger prince, and under the power of the murderer who is his regent, is Oramen. He is in terrible, deadly danger - and he has no idea what has heppened (though his brother Ferbin has been desperately trying to get warnings to him).

The third sibling is the princess Djan. She was given away by her father years ago to the star faring Culture civilisation, and in the years since she has become an agent for the notorious Special Circumstances section. Ferbin is doing everything he can to get the higher tech aliens of Sursamen to help him reach her, so she can save both him and their younger half-brother.

However, the take over by the murderer is (unknown even to himself) only a minor plot within a much larger plot involving powerful high tech star faring races - and there is a lot more at stake than the royal family of one kingdom of one level of one shellworld.

With an interesting subtext exploring the duties of royalty and the very nature of courage, this is not the best of the Culture books - but it is still quite good and quite readable. ( )

This was my first Culture book, and it was wonderful. I like the idea of having different levels of civilization within the galaxy and liked the development of characters within distinct technological niches.

This book centers around events in a Shellworld, an artificial planet with many nested layers that give it the living space of numerous worlds. Two of the layers are inhabited by humans at about a late 19th-century level of technology. The king who has just unified one of the levels is betrayed by a trusted advisor and the heir to the throne is forced to flee in order to save his own life. The daughter of the king, who was traded off to the Culture and became a Special Circumstances agent, hears what has happened and heads back home to investigate. Meanwhile on the second human layer of the Shellworld, the erosion from a massive waterfall is exposing an ancient city and a possible treasure of artifacts within.

I would call this a mid-tier Culture novel in terms of quality, which was still enough to keep me interested in it. The early parts of the book are fairly slow and meandering, and the conclusion seems a bit rushed. I did enjoy the view into how all the civilizations in the galaxy at different levels of development interact, although most of the aliens just seem like humans with some different body parts. Although I think this book is somewhat below average for Banks, I still thought is was above average overall. ( )

A return to form. Banks manages to keep things alien without the alienation which he fell into during The Algebraist. Interesting exploration of how civilizations at different tech levels interact and how that affects the people caught in the middle. ( )

Just turned the last page and have to say that was an extraoridinarily good read. After "The Algebraist" I nearly didn't give this one a shot. Not that the other was bad, it just wasn't as good as the raves for Banks I'd been reading. "Matter" makes me think those who've said Banks is the one of the best SF writers going are spot on.

I'm having fun trying to imagine how "Matter" could be made as a movie. Even totally CGI, I'm having a hard time thinking how it could effectively be captured on a screen because you couldn't find a screen big enough to capture the vastness of setting and the retain the nuance of detail. Banks is imaginative on par with a Mieville, epic on par with Tolkien, and a philosophical goof on par with ... I dunno, maybe PKD?

The half star I didn't give is for Banks' Philosophy 101-ish ethics and morality chatter (also to be found in "The Algebraist") presented as intellectually unassailable, even by hyper-advanced cultures, that are fun but not exactly "advanced," so they mess with the suspension of disbelief a bit.

I get the sense Banks watched ST:TOS and was troubled by the use and misuse of the Prime Directive. The attitude of the Culture towards less advanced civilizations is a much more sophisticated take on Prime Directive ideology. ( )

Matter, by Iain M. Banks is definitely not one of his best books.

However, like several others it is set in the framework of the "Culture" a constantly evolving conglomeration of space fareing species and artificial intelligences including multi-kilometer long starships and orbital habitats. As in most of the other Culture books, the plot involves activities of "Special Circumstances", a semigovernmental intelligence organization whose operatives often take active roles in moderating the more agressive and anti-Cultural aspects of particular species within or aspiring to the Culture.

The initial setting for this particular story is the artificial shell-world, Sursamen - consisting of 16 concentric levels - 14 of which are potentially or actually habitable. The plot involves Prince Ferbin otz Aelsh-Hausk'r, Princess Djan Seriy Anaplian, and their younger brother, Prince Oramen lin Blisk-Hausk'r. Ferbin is Heir Apparent of the Sarl who occupy Sursamen Level 8 and are warring with the conspecific Deldeyn. Djan, was given away as a girl to the Culture, where she ended up being trained as a member of Special Circumstances and given greatly enhanced powers.

By way of background, control of the shell-world Sursamen is contested between the crab-like Oct and the Aultridia, ex parasites of the Xinthia, who may have descended from builders of the shell worlds.

The story begins with the assassination of the Sarl's Warrior King Hausk Nerieth by his principal advisor, tyl Loesp, at the end of a major battle with the Deldeyn. Ferbin was initially believed to have been killed in the battle, but survived and accidentally witnessed the killing of his father. Loesp soon discovers that Ferbin survived and sends his henchmen to find him and kill him. Ferbin meets up with his servant, Choubris Holse, and pursued by Loesp's henchmen they work their way through the shells to the surface and off into Culture space to find Djan. Meanwhile, Djan heard of her father's death and is working her way towards Sursamen, and meets Hippense Pone, an avatoid of the ship, Liveware Problem (believed but never admitted to being a member of Special Circumstances). Ferbin, Choubris, Djan and Hippense meet up and proceed back into Sursamen's levels, becoming involved with deeper activities of the contest between the Oct and Aultridia and the accidental discovery and awakening of an Iln, dedicated to wrecking shell worlds.

As someone who enjoyes the interactions and extrapolations of science, technology and people, to me this book is almost pure fantasy. Unlike Banks's other Culture books, where the interplay of highly advanced (i.e., almost magical technology) and his characters is well developed. In this book the Culture is at best a loose scaffold for a tedious sword and sorcery tale. The technological drivers/Culture aspects are poorly developed and the logical development of the plot is very weak, with many apparently important aspects left unexplained. The writing is further marred by the extremely florid language that Banks puts in the mouths of his characters. It contributes nothing to the story or characterizations, and only makes the reading particularly tedious.

On the whole I would not recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed Banks's previous books in the Culture space. I will definitely not be reading the book a second time, whereas I have read some of Banks's other books two or three times. ( )

An enjoyable read, Matter is not as good as some of his earlier Culture novels, but he remains one of the few really original British science fiction writers - especially for those who like their science fiction to shine a spotlight on our own culture. ( )