What I'm Reading: "Surface Detail" by Iain M Banks

Because I am currently so busy with the copyedit of The Gathering of the Lost, (The Wall of Night Series, Book Two) reading for pleasure has had to take  back seat. But just before the copyedit manuscript arrived I finally got to read Iain M Banks' Surface Detail, the latest novel set in his Culture 'verse, which came out last year.

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.

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-civilization of humans and AIs, and many/most of the latter take the form of ships. (Space ships, that is.) So the fact that Surface Detail featured several Culture ships, but most particularly the enfant-terrible, Abominator-class warship, Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints, was a fairly certain source of guaranteed happiness. And I was not disappointed—I very much enjoyed my time spent with Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints and its avatar Demeisen.

As with many Banks' books there were a number of parallel stories running—all of which did come together at the end—and one of which, the idea of virtual Hells, as well as the parallel virtual war to decide whether they should be allowed to continue or not, I found intriguing if not always particularly pleasant.

A note to those who have not read Iain M Banks before—there are always elements that are not particularly pleasant, and may be downright repugnant. Although I sometimes find these difficult, the overall interest of the Culture universe, and above all the fascination of the ships, always brings me back to Banks' world. In this case—despite a few too many science-y infodumps for my unadulterated enjoyment—I very much enjoyed Surface Detail. And I loved all the ships just as much as ever!