It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters.
It begins with a murder.
And it will not end until the Culture has go... read full description
It begins with a murder.
And it will not end until the Culture has go... read full description
reviews
Dec 10, 2011
Ian
rated it: 
When one rates an audiobook, is one rating the quality of the underlying written work, the quality of the audio version, or both? I suppose I'll just clarify that my five-star rating applies to both in this case.
Surface Detail is the latest of the Culture Novels from Iain M. Banks. The wait for this one was worth it. I think I'm ready to say that Use of Weapons has finally been supplanted as the best of the Culture books.
I'll write a proper review of Surface Detail, the More...
Surface Detail is the latest of the Culture Novels from Iain M. Banks. The wait for this one was worth it. I think I'm ready to say that Use of Weapons has finally been supplanted as the best of the Culture books.
I'll write a proper review of Surface Detail, the More...
6 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Jul 10, 2011
Nick
rated it:
Banks is one of my all time favourites, but had put out some disappointments recently - Algebraist and Matter were just plain no good. Some of the straight fiction stuff had also been really below par, but he's put out Transitions and now this and I'm ready to say 'all is forgiven.' There are some cookie-cutter chapters, where you think that he's repeating scenes and characters and just varying the outlandish architecture/hunt-scene/cruel game/unusual dinner and pretending that it's something el
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2 comments
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(8 people liked it)
Jul 13, 2011
Stefan
rated it:
Another excellent installment in what's probably my favorite ongoing SF series. Banks plays with themes of life, death, illusion and virtual reality, in a number of permutations and twists that's dizzying right from the beginning. There's more sheer old-fashioned sense of wonder in this book than you can shake a stick at. Some of the story lines are painfully intimate, others relate to the galaxy-wide politics of the "In-Play" civilizations, one of which is the post-scarcity Mind-ru
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6 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 17, 2012
Susanne
rated it:
How do I love thee, Culture universe? Let me count the ways by playing--
Culture bingo!
Awesome tech: check
For starters, we have the standard fare of neural laces, AIs, drug glands, etc etc, everything that makes the Culture a level 8 civ. Today's main course is a Bulbitian, an ancient ship and a talking singularity. For desert, have a virtual Hell. Oh my.
Cool aliens: sorta-check
A clear majority of pan-human players this time, but you gotta love the GFCF. Pl More...
Culture bingo!
Awesome tech: check
For starters, we have the standard fare of neural laces, AIs, drug glands, etc etc, everything that makes the Culture a level 8 civ. Today's main course is a Bulbitian, an ancient ship and a talking singularity. For desert, have a virtual Hell. Oh my.
Cool aliens: sorta-check
A clear majority of pan-human players this time, but you gotta love the GFCF. Pl More...
Jan 13, 2012
Now I was probably always going to enjoy this book, because I am a longtime fan of the Culture ‘verse, ever since I read "Consider Phlebus"—which may even be Banks’ first novel, not just his first Culture novel.(Not sure on this point, but 'early' Banks at any rate.)
To me, the ‘verse of the Culture is space opera at its best—and here’s three of the things I really love about it: 'the ships, the ships, the ships.' (Oh yes, and knife missiles.) The Culture is a super-civilizat More...
To me, the ‘verse of the Culture is space opera at its best—and here’s three of the things I really love about it: 'the ships, the ships, the ships.' (Oh yes, and knife missiles.) The Culture is a super-civilizat More...
Oct 30, 2011
Elf
rated it: 
Surface Detail is Iain M. Banks latest Culture novel, and... that's about it.
No, really. If you've read a Culture novel, you know what you're in for: a series of novelletish vignettes featuring a vast cast of characters, from all different types, two of which (the corporate sociopath and the political sociopath) will crop up, be lectured to by some nominal "good" protagonist, and eventually fall from grace and probably be killed in some gruesome manner.
If Banks a More...
No, really. If you've read a Culture novel, you know what you're in for: a series of novelletish vignettes featuring a vast cast of characters, from all different types, two of which (the corporate sociopath and the political sociopath) will crop up, be lectured to by some nominal "good" protagonist, and eventually fall from grace and probably be killed in some gruesome manner.
If Banks a More...
Jul 05, 2011
Clay
rated it: 
Iain Banks returns to The Culture, his massive, hugely advanced, galactic civilization, in “Surface Detail” (Orbit, $25.99, 627 pages) – which is good news for fans, who had to undergo an eight-year hiatus in the now eight-book series from 2000 to 2008.
The Culture is a liberal’s dream: Advances in technology and language have created a society in which everyone is healthy, there’s plenty of everything, and powerful artificial intelligences are just one of many species that live and tra More...
The Culture is a liberal’s dream: Advances in technology and language have created a society in which everyone is healthy, there’s plenty of everything, and powerful artificial intelligences are just one of many species that live and tra More...
Jun 18, 2011
Will
rated it: 
If this were a movie, I'd be blinking myself awake in a chair, belly stuffed full of popcorn, remembering vaguely that there were lots of explosions and weak acting, and feeling a bit silly for having hoped it was going to be something else.
I really wanted to like this book. And I did, when it was called Excession. Banks has had these problems before in other novels, but here it really all comes together. It's a Culture Novel by the tropes.
Seriously, there's nothing in t More...
I really wanted to like this book. And I did, when it was called Excession. Banks has had these problems before in other novels, but here it really all comes together. It's a Culture Novel by the tropes.
Seriously, there's nothing in t More...
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(1 person liked it)
May 23, 2011
Josh
rated it:
I first discovered Iain M. Banks about two decades ago, when I read "Use of Weapons" in junior high or thereabouts. I've been hooked ever since - I've read most of his output, whether as Iain M. Banks or just as plain-old Iain Banks. I eagerly devoured Matter several years ago when it first came out, only to be left disappointed.
So it was with some trepidation that I started reading this volume. But within 100 pages I was hooked and I didn't look back until I had finishe More...
So it was with some trepidation that I started reading this volume. But within 100 pages I was hooked and I didn't look back until I had finishe More...
May 11, 2011
Matus
rated it:
I did not read this book; when I first opened the package, I gently wadded up clusters of ten or so pages, careful not to damage them too much; pulled out my paraphernalia kit, and one by one heated the clumps on a spoon, injecting them directly into my bloodstream.
As always, the effect of the drug only kicks in after about 100 pages of hits; it's less the body adjusting to the magic substance, and more the fact that the first 100 pages are created somewhat defensively, always a little More...
As always, the effect of the drug only kicks in after about 100 pages of hits; it's less the body adjusting to the magic substance, and more the fact that the first 100 pages are created somewhat defensively, always a little More...
May 10, 2011
Alan
rated it:
Iain M. Banks has earned more than a little slack from us over the years with his prodigious and amazing output. Surface Detail calls some of that back in. The book takes its time getting started. Its multiple opening chapters seem like little more than vignettes. But Banks' ability, the trust that he has earned over those decades, should keep you reading, as he begins weaving these disparate tales together.
Surface Detail turns out to be something like a pleasant, prolonged stroll th More...
Surface Detail turns out to be something like a pleasant, prolonged stroll th More...
2 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Apr 10, 2011
Rushabh
rated it:
Ian M. Banks's latest Culture novel is, in my opinion, his best work to date. For the uninitiated, Culture novels usually revolve around the Culture, a perfect civilization of sorts, where people live as long as they want, benevolent (and sometimes malevolent) AIs control and provide for everything etc. Except there are tons of races in the galaxy (it is huge, after all) and the Culture deals with those both above and below it on the technological ladder. The most interesting sections of the Cul
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Apr 03, 2011
Jason
rated it:
The publication of a new Iain M Banks Culture novel is greatly exciting for me. Banks is one of the few contemporary sf writers who keep me interested in the state of the genre and give me faith in the longevity of science fiction. The Culture novels (of which this is the 8th) are not tied together by plot or character but by the universe he has created. The Culture is a fictional interstellar anarchic, socialist, and utopian group of post-scarcity Minds (AI) that exist individually as ships. Th
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Apr 02, 2011
William
rated it:
Banks’ “Culture” setting is one of the best pieces of world-building in Science Fiction and “Surface Detail” is another strong addition to the series of books set there. It is one of the longer Culture books and it does take some time to really get going with a lot of set-up and disparate plotlines that only really start to come together in the final section of the book so a bit of persistence is required to really understand where the story is going. Even if it can be hard to work out their sig
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Feb 09, 2011
Dan
rated it:
Satisfying but not spectacular entry in Banks' Culture series. Still has the trademark grand scope and wild imagination but lacking in the moral equivocation and dynamite plotting of some of his earlier books. I paused halfway through to read a couple of other books, which I haven't done with Banks before. Partly because I feared that he wouldn't be able to come up with an ending dramatic enough to live up to the heady concepts he introduced in the beginning. Interstellar societies going to
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Feb 05, 2011
Brenda
rated it:
Banks' "Culture" books have always been a reliable source of off kilter humor and space opera in the most rollicking style.
Virtual environments have become so convincing that many civilizations have taken to imagining afterlives with them; blissful heavens and Dante-esque hells to reward or punish their citizens upon their deaths. Banks gives us Prin and Chay, two elephant-like investigators who dive into their civilization's hell in order to gather information and publicit More...
Virtual environments have become so convincing that many civilizations have taken to imagining afterlives with them; blissful heavens and Dante-esque hells to reward or punish their citizens upon their deaths. Banks gives us Prin and Chay, two elephant-like investigators who dive into their civilization's hell in order to gather information and publicit More...
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 23, 2011
Matt
rated it:
Well, it was better than 'Matter'.
But to me at least, Banks flaws are really beginning to start to irritate.
Banks seems completely unwilling to let anything actually challenge his precious 'Culture'. The typical story arc is to develop some sort of nominally galaxy threatening challenge to the Culture, which, near the end of the book, he'll reveal to be pathetically overmatched by the most trivial exercise of Culture might which arrives to aid the protagonist in all of More...
But to me at least, Banks flaws are really beginning to start to irritate.
Banks seems completely unwilling to let anything actually challenge his precious 'Culture'. The typical story arc is to develop some sort of nominally galaxy threatening challenge to the Culture, which, near the end of the book, he'll reveal to be pathetically overmatched by the most trivial exercise of Culture might which arrives to aid the protagonist in all of More...
5 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Jan 14, 2011
Karlo
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 10, 2011
Alexandra
rated it:
A new Culture novel! The world should rejoice! And this is one of the biggest ones yet, I think, at 627 pages. I’m way too much of a fangirl to give this a particularly critical review, but…
I have a really bad memory but I think this is one of the bigger casts that Banks has followed in detail, which contributes to its size. There are certainly some privileged characters, but most of those introduced do get some detail and resolution. They’re a good mix, too; mostly pan-human, but a fe More...
I have a really bad memory but I think this is one of the bigger casts that Banks has followed in detail, which contributes to its size. There are certainly some privileged characters, but most of those introduced do get some detail and resolution. They’re a good mix, too; mostly pan-human, but a fe More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Dec 04, 2010
Roger
rated it:
Aaaah, a good Culture Book from Mr. Banks again - I have to admit that the last one (Matter) was a bit lacking - especially when it comes to the funny (?) / eccentric names of the hyperintelligent ships involved ("Falling outside normal moral restraints" IS a funny and fitting name for a warship after all). The main warship involved in the story (name mentioned before) is hilariously rude and arrogant and "Special Circumstances" - the dirty tricks division of the Culture - is
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(1 person liked it)
Oct 31, 2010
Leslie
rated it:
I really like the Culture books, and this one is a good addition to the series. The only thing I regret about it is that I finished it in under a week.
Like most of the Culture books, this one introduces a few fun oddities:
A girl whose intricate tattoo covers not only her body, but the very patterns of her cells down to a molecular level—marking her as wholly owned by the most wealthy and powerful man in her civilization.
A number of galactic civilizations have More...
Like most of the Culture books, this one introduces a few fun oddities:
A girl whose intricate tattoo covers not only her body, but the very patterns of her cells down to a molecular level—marking her as wholly owned by the most wealthy and powerful man in her civilization.
A number of galactic civilizations have More...
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 01, 2011
Sheri
rated it:
My friend Michelle turned me on to Iain Banks years ago, and I sometimes think about how lucky a recommendation that was. Banks' books don't end up on best seller lists in this country (despite their merits), although they're every bit as good as most that do. He writes in 2 genres, one being modern fiction about seemingly true-to-life characters under the name Iain Banks; the other being wonderfully detailed science fiction set on manufactured "Orbitals" that are the homes of billio
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May 15, 2011
William
rated it:
It's the curse of most Culture novels that you can never tell how good they are until the end. Sure, the middle may be full of action, conspiracies, space battles, drama, pathos, and everything else a great space opera needs, but the real point is to get us to love and understand the characters so that we can fully appreciate the big reveal. Perhaps aware that more recent novels were getting a bit samey, Banks picks a new field to mine for wonders here - the largely unexplored worlds of Cultur
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Mar 01, 2011
Insouciantly
rated it:
An Impressive Work of Scope, and Gravitas
I think what we all really love about Iain M Banks is his ability to come up with an idea, and then to not only run with it, but to travel at light speed with it to the furthest edge of the galaxy of our imagination... and sometimes one step further.
His ideas aren't merely creative and individual, they are unique because of the depth to which he explores them. Sure, people have created super-powerful futuristic space exploring societies before More...
I think what we all really love about Iain M Banks is his ability to come up with an idea, and then to not only run with it, but to travel at light speed with it to the furthest edge of the galaxy of our imagination... and sometimes one step further.
His ideas aren't merely creative and individual, they are unique because of the depth to which he explores them. Sure, people have created super-powerful futuristic space exploring societies before More...
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(1 person liked it)
May 09, 2011
Lins
rated it:
Yet another brilliant Culture novel from Banks, who consistently writes in ways that capture my imagination and make me think. This time the topics are somewhat close to my, being religion and the afterlife and looking at the rights of people and the idea of slavery. Very intriguing stuff, and lots of scope for philosophy. But the thing I love about the Culture books is that they are more than just philisophical.
In fact, they don't need to be philosophical at all if you don't want th More...
In fact, they don't need to be philosophical at all if you don't want th More...
Jan 18, 2012
Silvio
rated it:
I've finally gotten all the way to the most recent Culture novel. This one takes the virtual afterlife idea from Look to Windward further. Some civilizations send some of their own individuals to virtual hells, and some other civilizations are outraged about it. As this conflict is coming to a head, a slave from a society something like our own capitalism given a few more centuries to run wild, murdered by her master, is resurrected by Culture ships under odd circumstances. The book doesn't tell
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Jul 14, 2011
Ian
rated it:
The concept of articial hell in this book made me ponder....
If your mindstate is transferred as software running in a simulated hellish reality, so that you perceive yourself to be conscious and self-aware, should I be concerned if you are experiencing eternal pain and torment in an artificial hell? After all, you are just a program running on a computer - how could your suffering be real? It's just an algorithm and data!
But then again, maybe our minds in this world could More...
If your mindstate is transferred as software running in a simulated hellish reality, so that you perceive yourself to be conscious and self-aware, should I be concerned if you are experiencing eternal pain and torment in an artificial hell? After all, you are just a program running on a computer - how could your suffering be real? It's just an algorithm and data!
But then again, maybe our minds in this world could More...
Jan 23, 2011
Sean
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Nov 10, 2011
Ryan
rated it:
This was my first Iain M. Banks novel, and I enjoyed the experience, though it didn't knock my socks off the way it seems to have for other readers. Fans of contemporary "hard" science fiction will find a lot familiar elements here: sentient AIs, extremely advanced physical technology, a swarming pan-galactic meta-civilization filled with biological and machine-based societies (or those that have gone from one to the other), and the uploading of consciousness into virtual realities or
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May 28, 2011
Julie
rated it:
UGH, IAIN M. BANKS, STOP BEING AMAZING. There's not much I can say about the newest Culture novel that I haven't already blathered about the series in general: his universe is wonderful and compelling and creative, he writes about things I've never seen anyone else do, and his plots are intense and demented. Ridiculously great sci-fi. I've started making the horrible pun now that "his plot twists are totally unexpected, coming out of nowhere and Banking left". Seriously, I don't see ha
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