false 50590116 727106 886066 1841494186 9781841494180 127 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/886066.Matter 3.72 629 7628 3.83 12557 1171 3 0 false Wed Mar 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 00:50:53 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 01:07:48 -0700 2009
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. ]]>