There is a world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen ...
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Mar 07, 2010
Ian
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IAN'S NEW AND IMPROVED REVIEW OF TRANSITION.
Immediately below is my original review, written 2/27/10. Farther down is my update and addendum, written 3/1/10 after I'd given this book a lot more thought.
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Apparently, every contemporary sci-fi author is now required to weigh in on the Multiverse. Perhaps it will soon be as indispensable to a sci-fi author's repertoire as a layup is to a basketball More...
Immediately below is my original review, written 2/27/10. Farther down is my update and addendum, written 3/1/10 after I'd given this book a lot more thought.
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Apparently, every contemporary sci-fi author is now required to weigh in on the Multiverse. Perhaps it will soon be as indispensable to a sci-fi author's repertoire as a layup is to a basketball More...
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Apr 27, 2011
Ian
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Is it considered an artificial padding of my GR shelves to add the audiobooks I've "read"? I loved the shit out of Transition, the actual book; you can read my review here. I loved the audiobook every bit as much. Peter Kenny is easily my favorite narrator. He does voices and accents amazingly well. (Okay, so he doesn't do an American accent very well, but kicks butt with all the European accents.) His sense of timing is wonderful, as is his situational awareness for lack of a bett
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Aug 30, 2011
Manny
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This entertaining SF thriller combines the premises of two of my favorite SF classics. In Asimov's The End of Eternity, an all-powerful group called the Eternals use time-travel to control the course of human history. Whenever something bad is about to happen, they engineer a carefully timed intervention to steer us away from it. Typically, these interventions are as inconspicuous as possible. Pohl's underrated A Plague of Pythons explores another, rather nastier idea. Suppose a device were inve
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Aug 04, 2011
I had to suspend disbelief for some time to allow for flitting where a person not just imagines themselves in someone elses shoes, but really finds themselves there. Flitting as described is usually invoked with the use of a drug controlled in one dimensions in a multiverse of possible normally distinct physical universes. The story takes a narrative form and I wondered if the main character would turn out to just be dreaming in an empathetic type of way. This helped to carry me along through th
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Oct 30, 2011
Elf
rated it: 
I don't think I can legitimately say I read Iain M. Banks' latest SF book, Transition. I think it's best to say that I subjected myself to it. Sometime past the halfway point, I snarked to someone that this book answered one of the burning questions of my lifetime: "What would happen if China Mieville wrote Nine Princes in Amber fanfic?" Having finished the book, I stand by that assessment.
Spoiler for the Zelazny snark: <spoiler>The Zelzany bit comes from the premise More...
Spoiler for the Zelazny snark: <spoiler>The Zelzany bit comes from the premise More...
Oct 20, 2011
Andrew
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It looks like Iain Banks managed to sneak a science fiction book into what is normally his general fiction brand. Transition is very different from his usual space opera written as Iain M. Banks though.
The story follows four main characters, each one working, sometimes unknowingly, for the Concern. The Concern is an enterprise consisting of people who can move between alternate Earths, and their purpose seems to be to try and alter the course of history in the Earths they can get to, More...
The story follows four main characters, each one working, sometimes unknowingly, for the Concern. The Concern is an enterprise consisting of people who can move between alternate Earths, and their purpose seems to be to try and alter the course of history in the Earths they can get to, More...
Aug 28, 2011
NerdyKid
rated it:
Iain Banks is one hell of a writer. This ambitious and profoundly complex novel, a poetic meditation on power and its abuses, notions of doing good and fighting evil, and the implications of the human tendency to solipsism, is beautifully written, entertaining and thought-provoking from beginning to end.
You’re more or less told what you’re about to read up front, although I promptly forgot. You then find yourself in a world in which a sinister organisation has discovered a way to travel b More...
You’re more or less told what you’re about to read up front, although I promptly forgot. You then find yourself in a world in which a sinister organisation has discovered a way to travel b More...
Aug 20, 2011
D
rated it:
Although Transition could be classified as science fiction, it is a departure from Banks' usual sci-fi fare, which is perhaps the reason why it has been published both Banks' sci-fi and non-sci-fi monikers. The story focuses on The Concern, a shadowy organization with a byzantine chain of command which fields operatives capable of transitioning, that is, moving between parallel universes. The motivation and history of The Concern, and the precise mechanics of transitioning are never thoroughly e
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Jul 26, 2011
Not very good. I give it two stars out of five because I did actually finish it, but I didn’t really like it much. For those of you who have not read the story elsewhere, the idea is that there is an infinite number of parallel and very similar worlds. A group of people calling themselves the “Concern” has discovered that by using a special drug, they can “flit” into other bodies in other dimensions and there adjust what will happen in other versions of Earth. The idea is that they can prevent
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Jul 05, 2011
Erik
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This is the first Banks novel I've read which was not about the Culture, not set in the far future. Still, it is science fiction, the device being interdimensionsional travel, the old branching time-line thing--all of it happening on various Earths, all of it in times more-or-less like our present. The overarching plot concerns a covert interdimensional organization, its contested leadership and their purposes. In this way it has many of the characteristics of a spy novel and may interest tho
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Jun 07, 2011
Pat
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I generally adore all of Iain Banks' non-Culture novels. Of his Culture novels the only one I've read was an early one, "Consider Phlebas", which was... eh. Ok. Interesting, but Space Opera isn't really my thing. His non- SF books, which are all published as "Iain M. Banks" instead of just Iain Banks, are freakin' brilliant, every one of them. This is one of his non-culture but still SF books, so it gets the central "M.". The basic plotline centers around the multi
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Jan 15, 2011
Alan
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The events of September 11, 2001, reverberate across many worlds, both of fact and of fiction. Informed and infused by those events, Transition could not exist without them... even though it is set primarily in parallel threads of time, ones in which 9/11 did not happen at all, or happened in horribly different ways. In our universe, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were brought down by hijacked jet planes; in others, perhaps, organized CTs (Christian Terrorists) are committing massacre
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Oct 17, 2010
Paul
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Transition is a frustrating book.
This is my second attempt at reading Iain Banks. My first attempt at reading him, Inversions, was less than satisfactory. I have never read any of the Culture novels, despite having friends who have raved endlessly about them.
Being a fan of Moorcock, and Zelazny, and well immersed in the idea of multiple universes and alternate histories, I thought I would try and give Transition a try, and see if I could unlock Iain Banks to my imagination at last. More...
This is my second attempt at reading Iain Banks. My first attempt at reading him, Inversions, was less than satisfactory. I have never read any of the Culture novels, despite having friends who have raved endlessly about them.
Being a fan of Moorcock, and Zelazny, and well immersed in the idea of multiple universes and alternate histories, I thought I would try and give Transition a try, and see if I could unlock Iain Banks to my imagination at last. More...
Sep 29, 2010
Dev
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Ok, so I should say up front that I quite liked this book. Is good. Not, maybe, Culture-novel-great, but it had more of a point than his The Buisiness, or that Scottish one that he wrote that was atmospheric but sort of ran off the rails at the end (The Crow Road, I think?) This was a good paralell-worlds yarn with some interesting twists and some cool characters.
So now the nitpicking. It was unusually sex-obsessed for Banks. I don't consider myself a prude, and I don't mind a b More...
So now the nitpicking. It was unusually sex-obsessed for Banks. I don't consider myself a prude, and I don't mind a b More...
Sep 13, 2010
Marcus
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I always like a bit of Banks, although to be honest I've generally enjoyed his SF alter-ego's recent works a bit more than his 'straight' fiction. That isn't to say that I wasn't interested in reading this, mind you, but when I got hold of the proof and read the blurb on the back (not to mention the first few pages), I realised that this was going to be far more unusual than some of his recent 'mainstream' work. The fact that it's being published in the States as one of his 'M' books is a fairly
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Sep 07, 2010
Jonathan
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Madam d'Ortolan valiantly attempts to keep the peace across a multitude of worlds, between the fall of the Berlin wall and the Saudi Arabian attack on the US, while rebels and traitors conspire to open up humanity to alien incursion, led by a suspiciously-eyed Mrs Mulverhill. One suspects that the downfall of a tyrant will not result in the return of a republic...
I am so happy to see a non-dull, yet also non Culture novel! The ideas are properly old school, carried off with aplomb an More...
I am so happy to see a non-dull, yet also non Culture novel! The ideas are properly old school, carried off with aplomb an More...
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Aug 13, 2010
Palmyrah
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Don't know why this isn't an 'Iain M.' Definitely science fiction, though admittedly not space opera. A thriller set across the parallel worldlines postulated by Everett's famous many-world interpretation of quantum mechanics.
A mysterious outfit called the Concern sends its agents across the worldlines, ostensibly to do good. But is the mission truly philanthropic, or is there a darker, hidden agenda?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has all the qualities you expect fro More...
A mysterious outfit called the Concern sends its agents across the worldlines, ostensibly to do good. But is the mission truly philanthropic, or is there a darker, hidden agenda?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has all the qualities you expect fro More...
Feb 10, 2010
Simon
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 02, 2010
Tony
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I've read a few Iain Banks books (some with the "M", some without), and this one fell a somewhat short for me. Told through a variety of alternating voices, the premise is pretty straightforward: there is a vast multiverse of parallel or alternate Earths, each of which represents some small change somewhere in history. Monitoring all these is an organization called "The Concern," whose members have the ability to travel (or "transition") between these worlds and int
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Jan 29, 2010
Lioneltrilling
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Dec 15, 2009
Harrys
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Hmmm... interesting. Better than I was expecting, not as good as I'd hoped. In retrospect the whole, "is it an Iain Banks or is it an Iain M. Banks?" question seems a lot less controversial, half way through I remembered "The Bridge" which had elements of both.
The characters weren't as well drawn as I'd hoped though if this milieu is continued maybe that will change, and I could have done after a while without quite so much of the rather purposeless shagging!
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The characters weren't as well drawn as I'd hoped though if this milieu is continued maybe that will change, and I could have done after a while without quite so much of the rather purposeless shagging!
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Oct 23, 2009
Gordon
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Billed as a "return to form" (although apart from the more recent The Steep Approach to Garbadale I haven't really had any issues, especially the Iain M Banks sci-fi as opposed to the Iain Banks thrillers (which tend to be weaker). (Ok, goodreads and the US indexing system doesn't highlight this discrepency so go view it at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iain_Banks).
This is meant to be The Bridge-like and also to straddle his genres.
It starts well but then estab More...
This is meant to be The Bridge-like and also to straddle his genres.
It starts well but then estab More...
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Oct 18, 2009
Thermalsatsuma
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There are many worlds, each slightly different from the next. There are those with a talent for transitioning who can flit between the worlds, occupying the mind of an inhabitant of that world and borrowing their body for a short while. There is an organisation of such talented transitionaries that has taken upon itself the duty of policing the multiverse, using its talents to nudge particular realities in certain directions at critical times. As you might imagine, such an organisation is not wi
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Sep 14, 2009
Avani
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I was really excited to get this book, and a little disappointed with how it turned out.
First, it's still Iain Banks. The book is a fine, enjoyable read. It's a fantasy book set in the present day, so it lacks the typical trappings of Culture books (such as the Culture, though there is an entity that may be a logical predecessor). The big problem is that Banks just doesn't finish what he starts. It feels like he published half a book because he had a bunch of notes and a first More...
First, it's still Iain Banks. The book is a fine, enjoyable read. It's a fantasy book set in the present day, so it lacks the typical trappings of Culture books (such as the Culture, though there is an entity that may be a logical predecessor). The big problem is that Banks just doesn't finish what he starts. It feels like he published half a book because he had a bunch of notes and a first More...
Sep 10, 2009
David
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When I first got my copy of Transition, I took a quick glance at the beginning, and grinned at what I found. The epigraph reads, ‘Transition – based on a false story’; and the opening sentence is one of the most endearingly cheeky I’ve ever come across: ‘Apparently I am what is known as an Unreliable Narrator, though of course if you believe everything you’re told you deserve whatever you get.’ That’s the start of an Iain Banks book, and no mistake.
Well, now I’ve read the whole thing More...
Well, now I’ve read the whole thing More...
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Jul 20, 2011
David
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Banks usually splits his novels between contemporary fiction and science fiction, but here he publishes what is obviously a science fiction story under his 'contemporary' nom de plume. I'm unsure of the reasons for this, but it is certainly his most enjoyable novel in quite some time, certainly an improvement on The Steep Approach to Garbadale, which was just The Crow Road reheated.
The story, told from the point of view of several characters, but mainly that of a man called Temudjin More...
The story, told from the point of view of several characters, but mainly that of a man called Temudjin More...
Jul 07, 2010
Robert
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Banks has a number of themes that appear repeatedly across his now quite large output of fiction and they ALL get stuffed into this one. That makes for quite a rich book but some of it is just so unsubtle that it's irritating - take Adrian, the 100% cliche drug/financial dealer whose role is very minor as compared to the space he's given. Adrian is given that much space so that Banks can have another go at Capitalism, without any subtlety involved and giving a girl in a bar a walk-on part as Ban
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Mar 03, 2010
Jesse
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I've read a lot of Iain Banks books in the last couple years, and this is the first one that wasn't amazing. This books is not only less than amazing, it is, actually, terrible.
The characters are all obvious stereotypes. There are extended monologues where these characters explain their identity directly to you, the reader - and then most of those characters are just dropped from the storyline.
The plot ranges from nebulous to pointless. No character seems to have any particular motiv More...
The characters are all obvious stereotypes. There are extended monologues where these characters explain their identity directly to you, the reader - and then most of those characters are just dropped from the storyline.
The plot ranges from nebulous to pointless. No character seems to have any particular motiv More...
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Dec 23, 2009
Kevan
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In NZ it's published under the name Iain Banks, without the M, implying that it's fiction not science fiction. It was shelved under the Literature section in the bookshop.
Well, I've read it now. My wife and daughter wanted to spend yesterday and today fishing so I went with them, got comfy and read it.
First off, it's difficult to understand how it wouldn't be classified as science fiction. Most unusual science fiction but definitely science fiction.
The overall More...
Well, I've read it now. My wife and daughter wanted to spend yesterday and today fishing so I went with them, got comfy and read it.
First off, it's difficult to understand how it wouldn't be classified as science fiction. Most unusual science fiction but definitely science fiction.
The overall More...
Oct 18, 2010
Damon
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I apparently can't avoid reading Iain M Banks books, and since this one was tagged with the Sci-Fi 'M' middle initial in the US (but was published under Iain Banks in the UK) I decided to read it. Frankly, Banks' non-sci-fi stuff leaves me cold. The Wasp Factory was pretty great, and I liked The Business but after reading the complete toss that was Dead Air I vowed never to read a non 'M' book again.
Transitions is quite like The Business in that it features an ultra-secretive shadow o More...
Transitions is quite like The Business in that it features an ultra-secretive shadow o More...
