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Matter

(Culture #8)

Iain M. Banks

4.08 · Rating details · 24,192 ratings · 959 reviews

In a world renowned within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one brother it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And for their sister, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.

Only the siste ...more

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Paperback, 593 pages

Published January 31st 2008 by Orbit

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Jan 06, 2019 Mario the lone bookwolf rated it really liked it

Shelves: banks-m-iain

Like an onion or a profound human, the many layers of shellworlds and similar superstructures may give living space to trillion of human or whatever beings in the future.

One of the most stunning features may be to mix different physics, geology, biology, mentality, and prosperity in each shell, open the gates from time to time to let them fight or cuddle and interbreed with each other and to manage everything with an AI-controlled, almighty, self-replicating, permanently morphing infrastructure ...more

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Sep 13, 2016 Bradley rated it really liked it

Shelves: space-opera, sci-fi, 2016-shelf

This is one of those horribly complicated books that is simultaneously strong and weak in the same exact areas at the same time. *groan*

I mean, it starts off strongly with fantasy-type trials and tribulations in the empire, a king dying and his son being supplanted by the king's best friend, taking over the kingdom. Pretty standard... but then the whole other part of this novel is chock-full of purely wonderful heavy SF ideas that isn't entirely obvious at first but then becomes an infodump mast This is one of those horribly complicated books that is simultaneously strong and weak in the same exact areas at the same time. *groan*

I mean, it starts off strongly with fantasy-type trials and tribulations in the empire, a king dying and his son being supplanted by the king's best friend, taking over the kingdom. Pretty standard... but then the whole other part of this novel is chock-full of purely wonderful heavy SF ideas that isn't entirely obvious at first but then becomes an infodump masterpiece of oddness and wonder and a world that really belongs as a movie just because the visual elements are completely amazing.

The world. Oh my lord, the world. Layers and layers and layers with ancient species and high tech and even ascended species. These humans are only on some outer layer. The infodumping doesn't do it justice.

Just... wow. Plus there's also different factions of the Culture, Special Circumstances against the rest, and no one seems to agree how to deal with people. :) And then there's the rogue Culture fragments that may or may not be in with the actual culture (either side), and the sister of the poor deposed kingling decided to quit Special Circumstances to help him out.

Everything else just devolves into a huge technothriller with huge stakes and ships and some really amazing descriptions and adventure.

So why am I only giving this a 4 star?

Because while the ideas are amazing and this author is known for his wonderful characters and his ability with traditional fiction, too, the character's names are too difficult and the ideas are too info-dumpy rather than a flowing masterpiece.

And to be entirely fair, I don't know how he could have done it better except by turning this novel into something much longer and gentle.

So it feels flawed and utterly brilliant at the same time. Which is a shame. I really want to LOVE this novel, not just appreciate it to death. Which I do. Hell, I want to kind of worship it, but I can't quite LOVE it. How frustrating.

I'll keep going! For straight ideas, Banks is one of those grand masters of SF. :) His characters, for their flaws, are still some of the most richly imagined. The plots are usually mind blowing.

And if he could ever keep it all flowing and working together right without tripping over each other, I might start worshipping the man as a god. :) ...more

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Jul 23, 2015 Kevin Kelsey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2016, read-it-again

The eighth book in the culture series. If you're reading this, you're familiar with the Culture, and you don't need yet another review telling you how fantastic this particular entry is. All I'll say is that it's no exception, and stands right up there with all the others.

Two quotes that really stood out for me from this fantastic book:

“Behave honourably and wish for a good death. He’d always dismissed it as self-serving bullshit, frankly; most of the people he’d been told were his betters were ...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Manny rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Culture addicts

Shelves: science-fiction, celebrity-death-match, parody-homage, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, if-research-were-romance

[Swirling patterns. Weird, vaguely familiar, futuristic music. Is it the Doctor Who theme tune? Slowly the camera pulls back to show the title

Celebrity Death Match Special: Blackadder versus The Culture

and we realize it's an unusual setting of the Blackadder song.

Dissolve to ROWAN ATKINSON and HUGH LAURIE, who looks rather unhappy]

ATKINSON: Is everything alright, sir?

LAURIE: Oh yes, rather, absolutely spiffing, top hole, couldn't be better. Except for one little thing.

ATKINSON: And that is?

LAUR ...more

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Feb 25, 2008 Psychophant rated it it was ok

Shelves: reviewed, far-future

This is a book I really wanted to like, and failed. I like Iain M. Banks style, I like his willingness to run risks, to give you the whole punch. And in this book, he barely delivers.

The book are 500 pages of set-up, and forty pages of resolution, and not a very satisfying one.

Too many characters doing not very interesting things in utmost detail, and then the interesting parts are just glossed over. Add wooden (and not very new in his books) characters, when part of his magic is making great in ...more

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Jun 03, 2014 Ian rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, audiobooks

I originally read this novel a number of years ago but am posting this review having just “read” it again, or more accurately listened to it on audiobook.

I’ve read all of the books in Iain Banks’ Culture series. For me two of the early novels, “The Player of Games”, and “Use of Weapons”, stand out above the others. Most of the remaining books tend to merge into one in my memory. When I saw this was available in my local library as an audiobook, I realised that all I could remember of it was the I originally read this novel a number of years ago but am posting this review having just “read” it again, or more accurately listened to it on audiobook.

I’ve read all of the books in Iain Banks’ Culture series. For me two of the early novels, “The Player of Games”, and “Use of Weapons”, stand out above the others. Most of the remaining books tend to merge into one in my memory. When I saw this was available in my local library as an audiobook, I realised that all I could remember of it was the setting and, for some reason, the beginning, (but not the end). Listening to it was therefore like reading it for the first time.

I suppose that in reading a sci-fi novel I’m looking for an imaginative setting, and the author delivers that with the concept of the shellworld, an artificially constructed planet consisting of concentric layers, each a world in itself. At the same time, Banks goes into overlong descriptions of the landscapes and design of his featured shellworld, and of other worlds within the wider galaxy. At times these descriptions threaten to overwhelm the novel itself.

There are two main strands to the plot. One features a people, the author calls them Sarl, who inhabit one level of the shellworld, and who have a level of technological development that very roughly equates to early modern Europe. Individual aspects of their society range from medieval to 19th century. This story revolves around palace rivalries for the succession to the Sarl monarchy, and to be honest the characters seem a bit hackneyed. There’s a ruthless and ambitious Regent with designs on the throne, and two princes, one of whom - foolish, arrogant and over-entitled - is accompanied by his uneducated but able servant. The Prince eventually becomes a better person through adversity. These events are connected to wider disputes within the advanced species that inhabit the wider galaxy.

This is a long book, and I would say the pace is moderate until the denouement, when the author manages to inject some much-needed energy. If you’re thinking of reading the Culture books, then books 1-3 are worth it. I’m less sure about the others. ...more

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Aug 28, 2008 Adam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: horror-disguised-as-literature, steampunkery

Matter starts out with some baroque steampunk fantasia with grim political dealings that reminds me of Jack Vance, George R.R. Martin, and Mervyn Peake. Than it switches to a wide screen galactic romp and winds ups as a apocalyptic high-tech thriller with more than couple elements from Alastair Reynold’s Revelation Space. There is three pronged story moving through these stages involving three siblings. The relation between Ferbin and his servant Holse is filled with odd couple comedy like Cerva ...more

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Dec 25, 2015 Sumant rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, culture

The 8th book in The Culture series i.e. Matter was a big let down for me,
because it had pretty interesting ideas like Shell word and Nest world but Banks spends so much time exploring those ideas, and giving you info dumps regarding those ideas that the story of the book takes a back seat in the whole book. Also he uses a lot of complex names for his characters which after some time becomes quite irritating as you do not have index on audio book to remember all the characters.

Some of the strong ...more

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Nov 26, 2020 William rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Matter is the 8th volume in Iain M. Banks’ “Culture” series and my favorite so far. It is the story of a seemingly unimportant far-future medieval coups attempt that takes on much larger proportions as the story progresses.

Most of Matter’s events are either set on or revolve around a “shell world” named Sursamen. Shell worlds are artificial planets constructed by an ancient race called “the Involucra,” ostensibly as components of a galactic force-field of unknown purpose. They are composed of pr Matter is the 8th volume in Iain M. Banks’ “Culture” series and my favorite so far. It is the story of a seemingly unimportant far-future medieval coups attempt that takes on much larger proportions as the story progresses.

Most of Matter’s events are either set on or revolve around a “shell world” named Sursamen. Shell worlds are artificial planets constructed by an ancient race called “the Involucra,” ostensibly as components of a galactic force-field of unknown purpose. They are composed of practically indestructible concentric spherical layers. Each layer is supported internally by thousands of megalithic floor-to-ceiling towers that are also used as an inter-layer transport system. Like Philip Jose Farmer’s “Riverworld” series, each layer houses a different alien or human culture of varying technological advancement. Amid all the far-future tech, the story revolves around a pre-industrial human civilization called the Sarl. Matter also gives us a look at a roughly Culture-equivalent species called the Morthanveld, an aquatic race that constructs interwoven tubular habitats so large they encircle suns. The Morthanveld are the most advanced race, other than The Culture, we’ve seen so far, and it was interesting to observe diplomacy between the two. Matter massively expands the Culture setting to include many alien races, technologies, planets, and human cultures far beyond what I’ve mentioned here.

Banks showcased his medieval intrigue writing in his book Inversions, the sixth book in the series, and he puts those skills to work again in Matter. If you were to wrap the book Inversions in a larger science-fiction story, as was done in Matter, the books would be very similar indeed. These low-tech interludes allow the author to shift between wild imagination and familiarity, then blend the two in a very pleasing way.

Each Culture book has raised the quality of character development and dialog, and Matter is no exception. The main characters were all very distinct, colorful, and endearing. All of the main characters are believably flawed and developed well enough that I understood their motivations. Decisions made by characters were consistent with their developmental foundations, and above all, enjoyable. The supporting cast’s legions made the setting feel populated and alive, but not cluttered or distracting. I will miss Djan, Ferbin, Oramen, Choubris, Xuss, and the entire cast.

Matter’s story is primarily one of intrigue, but it also includes a fantastic mystery set in an archaeological dig. This portion of the book reminded me of Alistair Reynolds’ book Revelation Space and written equally well. There are plenty of well-written action scenes, plot twists, humor, and one of my favorite endings ever. As always, Banks’ writing is smart, elegant, and beautiful.

Matter is my new favorite book in one of my favorite series of any genre. Highest recommendation to anyone who has read at least The Player of Games, Use of Weapons, Excession, Inversions, and Look To Windward.

This review is also posted on my blog, Hidden Gems. ...more

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Jun 24, 2019 Jamie rated it it was amazing

Another superb Culture story, and in fact one of the finest. Banks' usual themes of galactic inter-civilization intrigue, war, the dilemma of interference/non-interference in alien civilizations, etc are on display, and as usual we mostly observe the Culture from the outside looking in. This story adds the perspective of a technologically underdeveloped civilization and introduces the fascinating concept of "Shell worlds" - enormous, ancient and artificially constructed planets which are essenti ...more

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Mar 27, 2009 Stefan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

I'd go as far as saying that this is the 3rd best novel in the series so far, after "The Player of Games" and "Use of Weapons" in that order. I was blown away by the quality of the story, the interesting and well-developed characters, and the sheer scale of the novel. Four stars, highly recommended. but if you haven't read Culture novels before, I recommend just starting at the beginning. "Consider Phlebas" is still the weakest novel in the series, but it is the first one and sort of a rite of p ...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Nick Wellings rated it it was ok

Where sprawling becomes a bad kind of sprawling, like, sprawling in the street after passing out from a night on the razz, only with less sodium lights and more dragon-type creatures floating around your mind, no wait, floating around your mind in a concentric kind of world within a world complete with medieval peasant types, futuristic warrior types and fey castle kingdoms, and flying dragon type things and WAR (always WAR! Yaargh!!) - but sprawling in that needy grasping way that only that som Where sprawling becomes a bad kind of sprawling, like, sprawling in the street after passing out from a night on the razz, only with less sodium lights and more dragon-type creatures floating around your mind, no wait, floating around your mind in a concentric kind of world within a world complete with medieval peasant types, futuristic warrior types and fey castle kingdoms, and flying dragon type things and WAR (always WAR! Yaargh!!) - but sprawling in that needy grasping way that only that some sprawlers supine and almost contrite with their imposition upon you can sprawl, like, suffocating...a hand grabbing your trouser cuff, an old friend you try and shake off because he's not who you knew, the whole affair leaving a bit of a Bad Taste, reluctance to treat with the chap any more, but...damnit he's a mate - can't give up on him because of one little public indiscretion.

So: Matter. SPOILERS!

So: Matter. Requisite Final Fantasy 7 "ultimate boss!" fight at the end, requisite "everyone dies" at the end complete with heroic WW2-esque "I'm going in!" self-sacrifice elements complete with King Lear-ish fratricidal brothers but minus the dramatic dignity of good old Shakes, plus flying dragon things and chase elements from flying dragon type things. I think as well as dragon things, this also had aliens made from gas, insectoid aliens - maybe next Banks we'll get aliens made from aliens, aliens made from toilet paper (if it still exists in the what-the-f**-year-is-it-anyway? century The Culture is set in - the usual intelligent ships, aliens that hate each other, a smidge of espionage and "bad girl made good" too. Fun for all the family, right? No, not quite right.

See, I like old Banks. I know we can't have Consider Phlebas again, but lately Banks' has fallen prey to inflation. Not of ego, or wallet or um... spacetime (all of the above may be true) but of plot and idea. Knowing he needs to write for the fans, he chucks everything and the kitchen sink in. It's gone all Stargate SG1, where they started to have, like SG team 18 and SG Atlantis and pyramids flying round space and by the 5th series it was just nuts, and I hated it, so much so that I can't recall anything much about the later series than the big pyramid things in space, and Amanda Tapping being kind of a babe. They made 214 episodes, says Wikipedia. 214! This book reads like an episode about 198, where its like nothing the first series ever was because its so bloated and full of wanky shit, shineys to make you think "woooo! not seen that before!".

Gone are the simple geodesics, the shortest distance between drama and event. Gone are the slick and screamingly awesome passages that helped Phlebas blow apart British sci-fi in the 80s. Gone is the majestic urgent voice of a writer who deliberately tries to dazzle. Now instead of the slick legerdemain of early Banks we have an older paunchier prose, the patter of it not quite fitting the trick it tries to pull. We have little castle kingdoms, forced dramatic irony of aliens looking down on said castle kingdom world, aliens made from gas and all that, witty spaceships, The Culture looking down on the gas aliens looking down on the world looking down on the peasants and c. (Maybe the gas aliens were big water-beings. I forget. I just recall they needed environment suits or portable ecosystems.)

Here Banks grasps, convolutes, invoulutes himself into chains of story that are coiled not so much double helix, (compact, elegant, efficient, composed of elegant building blocks encoding information, building a neat, stable whole) but laid before us well, in a more spaghetti like melange: if you tug hard enough, a strand leads to a strand, but some just terminate, all loose ended, like. Matter is all detail and no substance, it tries the dazzle, tries to pass of substance by showing of simple abundance (of material.) but the misdirection misfires,the patter runs out of steam, we're left knowing the trick and the trickster too well to be taken in.

IN FOURTEEN WORDS:
Maximalist Banks, good for a few days amusement, but by far not his best. ...more

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Feb 15, 2009 Robert rated it it was ok

Shelves: sf

There is an interview at the back of this book in which Banks says he was thinking of giving up writing SF but he set himself the task of creating a completely new context for a novel; The Algebraist, Banks' best novel for years resulted.
With Matter Banks returns to the Culture - and that is a mistake. Every worthwhile idea relating to the Culture has been expounded multiple times already - there has been no need for a new Culture novel since Use of Weapons and the quality of them has been deter ...more

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Sep 01, 2013 Peter Tieryas rated it really liked it

2/1/15-I really wanted to love this. It began in a very fascinating way, a revenge story that I was really looking forward to. By the end, it reminded me of Star Trek V, and unfortunately, not in a good way. Still, even with the flaws, Matter is an incredible book with incredible ideas. I'll write a full review at some point.

"Wisdom is silence." These Shellworlds are absolutely fascinating, especially their connection to the planets of the dead (and Consider Phlebas). Damn, am so happy to be rea ...more

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Feb 19, 2020 Jeremy Szal rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020, science-fiction, space-opera, humour

When I became indoctrinated into science-fiction literature back in 2013, on reading up on Banks and discovering that his books were exactly my kind of thing, I pledged to read the entire Culture series. I tried and failed with Consider Phlebas (the world-building was too steep for me at the time), and it wasn't until 2016 that I succeeded with finishing the Player of Games. The journey had started.

Now, it's with a bittersweet feeling that I've turned the final page of my final Culture book, an ...more

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Jan 30, 2008 Jo rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: lovers of intelligent entertainment

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Got it, read it, loved it. To be true Iain M Banks' Culture novels had always already distinguished themselves by being remarkable for having a plot, a good plot, an intelligent good plot, that is not utterly unbelievable or alien (ahem, apart from being set in the far future and in outer space etc). On that score you will not be dissappointed here either. Two, three and more plot-lines seemelessly intertwine, split, multiply and ultimately coalesce once more into a grand finale. Equally the lan Got it, read it, loved it. To be true Iain M Banks' Culture novels had always already distinguished themselves by being remarkable for having a plot, a good plot, an intelligent good plot, that is not utterly unbelievable or alien (ahem, apart from being set in the far future and in outer space etc). On that score you will not be dissappointed here either. Two, three and more plot-lines seemelessly intertwine, split, multiply and ultimately coalesce once more into a grand finale. Equally the language and vocabulary will not leave you wanting: it's a well rounded and beautiful English. Those bits and pieces that are not, and are, for lack of a better term, Culture-space-speak, are explained in a glossary in the back of the book for those who are new to Culture novels and/or fail to catch on to ample intrinsic clues scatterd throught the text. Never fear, this is intelligent SF which can easily pass muster as a piece of literature. So if Sci-Fi normally is not your thing because you dread cheap excuses for questionable air-brush cover-art, don't be shy this book would be an excellent starting point for expanding your horizons.
That having been said what can you expect from the story? A human low-tech civilization in the midst of war, treachery and intrigue finds itself embroiled in a past, present and future that far explode its scope. Those familiar with Culture novels may ask what is new at this point. The Culture - current apogee of human development in a highly competitive universe filled with a dazzling array of aliens at various levels of civilization and technological development - has always pursued the goal to interfere in the course of the development of lesser civilizations for what the Culture believes to be 'the good'. A well known fact from other Culture novels. What is new, however, is the ways in which the various charcaters of those intertwining plot-lines mentioned in the forgoing deal with their horizons being exploded (in some cases - to no surprise - literally). And yes, if you wish to play the philosophical perspective card, the relationship between mind and matter is at stake and while being entranced by a ripping good yarn you may suddenly find yourself contemplating the nature of freedom. Although the plot-twists may leave you ambiguous whether it is in our nature to be susceptible to nurture, and to which extent we are bound to the matter we are, the novel leaves you in no doubt as to I.M. Banks' position concerning the relationship of mind and matter. Trust a man of his background to sum things up with an expletive. Which one, and how and why you have to find out yourself. ...more

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Jan 25, 2009 Bettie rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, published-2008, spring-2013

Rosado mp3. Round the lake.

Thinking of Mr Banks and his sad news.

Love the ship named 'Do Not Try This At Home'

#83 TBR Busting 2013

TR Consider Phlebas
TR The Player
3* The State of Art
4* Look to Winward
3' Matter
4* The Algebraist

As Iain No Em Banks

3* The Wasp Factory
1* The Steep Approach to Garbadale aka The Steep Descent to Garbage
2* Stonemouth

...more

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Mar 15, 2010 Phoenixfalls rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, male-author, space-opera, tragedy, aliens, iain-banks, the-culture

This book is a fractal -- no matter how you zoom in or out, the basic structure remains the same. It starts incredibly zoomed in on the three (maybe four) main characters, then proceeds to zoom out. . . and out. . . and out. . . until the story encompasses issues as large as the destruction of a world and the resurrection of a long-thought-dead alien society. But, (I think purposefully) to emphasize its fractal nature, the climax comes in an instant and then the whole story comes crashing back d ...more

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Aug 22, 2009 Nick rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, scotland, favorites

This novel is a wild ride. It starts off chiefly explaining the Sarl people who live in a society that reminded me of the wild west, complete with cattle rustling (weird space cattle), saloon fights, and the omnipresent question of who's gonna run the ranch (or be the king). It is one of Banks's "Culture" novels and it does quite a lot to explain more about The Culture, for a princess of the royal family of the Sarl was given to The Culture, that conglomerate of "mongrel-utopians", to act in the ...more

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Dec 30, 2019 Sambora rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Matter, like most of the Culture novels I have read, contains within it the most powerful usage of raw imagination that I have been presented with in any format, written or otherwise.
The sheer scope and scale of the story being told and the creativity used to flesh out the space in which it is performed is unparalleled.

Matter is book number 8 in the Culture series.
Each book in the series can be read separately from each other and in almost any order, there only being very minor overlaps of presu ...more

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Jun 30, 2008 Stuart rated it really liked it

Is it really the first Culture novel for seven years? Where does the time go? While 2004's The Algebraist was full of the verve and invention that we nowadays simply expect by right from Banks' science fiction, somehow the absence of the Culture also left it lacking the ideological thrill – the politics of utopia, as it were – that gives a Banks' novel its heart. Hence the cover of my preview copy simply says, 'The Culture is back. Nothing else matters.' A statement I didn't entirely disagree wi Is it really the first Culture novel for seven years? Where does the time go? While 2004's The Algebraist was full of the verve and invention that we nowadays simply expect by right from Banks' science fiction, somehow the absence of the Culture also left it lacking the ideological thrill – the politics of utopia, as it were – that gives a Banks' novel its heart. Hence the cover of my preview copy simply says, 'The Culture is back. Nothing else matters.' A statement I didn't entirely disagree with (to the disgust of my wife). But to what, I wondered, does the cryptic title refer? What definition of 'matter'?
Only one thing is certain: this is a Banks' book so it could be any or all of them.

Matter begins on Sursamen, a Shellworld, a gigantic Russian Doll of a world, built eons ago by an inscrutable and extinct race for an unknown purpose. There are thousands scattered across the galaxy (although there used to be many more), most of which are inhabited by a glorious multitude of different races. Levels eight and nine respectively of Sursamen happen to be the home of the Sarl and the Deldeyn, human-like species both undergoing their equivalent of the industrial revolution, and both at war with each other. At the moment of his greatest triumph, Hausk, king of Sarl, is murdered by his closest advisor and we thenceforth follow his surviving offspring: foppish heir to the throne Ferbin, on the run having borne secret witness to his father's ultimate betrayal; bookish Oramen, heir apparent to the now-vacant throne of Sarl; and finally, absent Djan. Given by her father to the Culture some years ago, she has not merely been given citizenship of the Culture, but has become a member of Special Circumstances (or SC), its shadowy secret service.

Meanwhile, Ferbin sets out on a mighty journey to enlist his sister's help in avenging their father, although Djan is already returning to Sursamen for reasons of her own, and both hope to save their naïve younger brother, who is in terrible danger from his father's killers.

The Culture can't intervene directly on Sursamen for various diplomatic reasons, so their possessing an SC agent is perhaps fortuitous – as much as anything is ever fortuitous in the Culture (I'm thinking of the Sleeper Service and its deep deep cover mission in Excession, which is pointedly recalled here). Most of Matter follows characters to whom the Culture and other such advanced civilisations are distant legends, so we're very much down and dirty with the locals - readers hoping to be thrust once more into the Aladdin’s cave of the Culture per se may be disappointed; this isn't another Inversions, but rather somewhere in-between. While there are wonders by the score, interesting characters aplenty and even a few amusing ship names thrown in for old times' sake, Matter feels like something of a marginal Culture novel, serving mainly to give us a better idea of the Culture’s place and standing in the galactic hierarchy.
The story (and especially the ending) feels a bit tenuous. All the various threads work well enough on their own, and the set-pieces, as always, are awe-inspiring, but the story doesn't pull together into a satisfying whole: simply having everyone blunder entertainingly about, incidentally visiting some marvellous places, does not a great novel make, I’m afraid.

In fact, I think there are two novels wrestling each other here – with the one featuring the Culture coming off least well. You have to ask, if the Culture wasn’t here would it make a very great difference to matters, and the answer is ‘only to its fans’ (of which I’m definitely one). There’s also some frankly lazy infodumping – fascinating info, I grant you, about which I hesitate to complain because Banks' infodumps have in the past changed the way I think about science fiction as a genre - but info is being dumped upon you, and no mistake.

So, a slight disappointment then; but a slightly disappointing Culture novel is still a standard that many other writers should aspire to. Matter is a cracking read on its own, just not a great addition to the Culture canon, adding little to our understanding of everyone's favourite post-scarcity wish-fulfillment civilisation.

And what 'matter' do I finally think Mr Banks is referring to? I rather suspect it to be a little joke: that even the stupendous Minds of the Culture still depend upon matter as a stratum for their thought processes, so that, ahem, matter matters. ...more

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Oct 27, 2018 William rated it really liked it

The story is told in linear fashion, which is somewhat unusual for Banks. And it is an old plot, worthy of the Elizabethan Stage, with elements that are somewhat reminiscent of the works of Frank Baum and Tolkien. Does not get five stars from me due to the author's consistent failure to adhere to the laws of grammar and his often self-indulgent descriptions and diversions into matters that add nothing to the plot. But...still a good read.
...more

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Mar 13, 2017 prcardi rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, other-world, series, hard-science-fiction, rated-r, space-opera, robots, prometheus-nominee

Storyline: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Writing Style: 3/5
World: 4/5

Iain M. Banks.... You did it again. The Culture is my favorite sci fi series to date. There's not even a close second-place contender.

Matter is a representative Culture book. That means a far future science fiction universe with species of varying forms and abilities. A universe where historical events billions of years ago are referenced in the same way we now discuss the events of classical Greek history. A time of overlapping technolog ...more

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Jan 23, 2019 Ian Mond rated it liked it

That was a slog.

After eight years of waiting for Banks to write a new Culture novel, I’m sure fans were ecstatic when Matter came out and it was so weighty, the longest ever Culture novel to that point (I believe Surface Detail, the next one, is a little longer). As a fan of Stephen King you’d think I’d be comfortable with door-stoppers, but as I’ve become older, wiser and increasingly impatient, any book that exceeds 80,000 words makes my heart sink a little.

Matter is 180,000 words.

Of course, That was a slog.

After eight years of waiting for Banks to write a new Culture novel, I’m sure fans were ecstatic when Matter came out and it was so weighty, the longest ever Culture novel to that point (I believe Surface Detail, the next one, is a little longer). As a fan of Stephen King you’d think I’d be comfortable with door-stoppers, but as I’ve become older, wiser and increasingly impatient, any book that exceeds 80,000 words makes my heart sink a little.

Matter is 180,000 words.

Of course, if the length were justified I wouldn’t give a shit, but the plot that Banks serves up is taken straight from the epic fantasy handbook. Prince Ferbin of Sarl, egotist and philanderer, witnesses the murder of his father, the King, at the hands of his right-hand man, Mertis tyl Loesp. Ferbin does a runner and is presumed dead. His younger brother, Oramen, is too young to take the crown and so Loesp becomes Regent until Oramen comes of age. Of course, the evil, conniving Loesp has no intention of that happening.

Yes, I know what you die-hard Culture fans are going to say, the story is more complicated than that. For one, the pre-industrial kingdom of Sarl is located on the eighth level of a Shellworld named Sursamen (you might remember Shellworlds from Consider Phlebas). These are planets that were built, Magrathean-style, by an ancient civilisation (now deceased). They are layered like an onion, with multiple levels that are accessed via towers that bisect the planet. The Sarls *know* they live on a Shellworld. They also know that they are monitored by aliens such as the Oct and the Aultridia (who detest each other). It’s fascinating stuff, avoiding the annoying Prime Directive cliche where low-tech humans aren’t aware of the aliens among them.

Second off, Ferbin and Oramen’s sister, Djan Seriy Anaplian, was - a decade previously - handed over to the Culture as payment for services rendered by a Culture agent. In the years that follow Anaplian becomes a member of Special Circumstances - the covert arm of the Culture. When she hears about the death of her father and brother she decides to head back to Sursamen. Anaplian is a great character, that rare occasion where Banks gives a meaty role to a woman, one who is confident, empowered and smart.

Third, and finally, an archeological dig on the ninth level of Sursamen has uncovered an artefact that has the Oct in a tizzy. They believe this might be a relic left behind by the creators of the Shellworld, beings they idolise.

So, yes, it’s more than just a ho-hum tale about a King betrayed on a paper-thin secondary world. The problem is that too much of the plot centres on the political machinations of Loesp, whose ambition and moustache twirling plans I couldn’t give a toss about. Oramen’s ability to avoid assassination attempts, mostly through luck, rather than skill, is also irritating. But what kills the novel’s momentum dead is Ferbin’s trip, with his Baldrick inspired dogsbody Holse, across the galaxy to seek assistance from the Culture agent that visited Sursamen a decade previously. Not only does their quest seem to last for an eternity, once Ferbin reaches his destination and meets the now ex- Culture agent he receives no help at all and instead is “gifted” a patronising, albeit vaguely interesting, Philosophy 101 conversation about epistemology and war.

It’s not until the final third of the novel - which I won’t spoil - that the plodding, stodgy plot slips into turbo mode. I zipped through the last 130 or so pages, the ending as cinematic as anything Banks has written - at least in terms of The Culture books. I even liked the abrupt ending. But fuck me, I had to eat a shitload of broccoli to get there. ...more

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Jul 29, 2016 Leah Bayer rated it really liked it

3.5 stars

I have so many conflicting emotions about this book! Probably because, at least to me, it felt like two books: one with crazy space antics and another featuring political intrigue on a low-tech world. Usually the contrast between high- and low-tech societies is something I enjoy in books (The Dreaming Void, A Fire Upon the Deep) but I am generally not a fan of Iain Banks' more politically driven, almost-fantasy stuff: Inversions is the only Culture book I actively didn't love, for examp 3.5 stars

I have so many conflicting emotions about this book! Probably because, at least to me, it felt like two books: one with crazy space antics and another featuring political intrigue on a low-tech world. Usually the contrast between high- and low-tech societies is something I enjoy in books (The Dreaming Void, A Fire Upon the Deep) but I am generally not a fan of Iain Banks' more politically driven, almost-fantasy stuff: Inversions is the only Culture book I actively didn't love, for example. I felt like the two elements didn't work harmoniously. Even though they are plot-connected, I didn't feel the mirroring of elements or strong contrast I feel like a low- vs high-tech plot needs.

So let's talk about the good. I adore the worldbuilding here! So many cool concepts. Tons and tons of really interesting alien races (though tbh I could have used more info or scenes of the other ones in the Shellworld), nifty tech we haven't seen before, the rumors of ancient alien races, and of course the Shellworld itself--one of my favorite Culture concepts. Just the idea of it was so amazing, and Banks always does such a good job of bringing his ideas to life. I felt like I could picture it all so perfectly.

The characters here, like in many Culture novels, are interesting but not particularly unique feeling. We've got the son who doesn't want to be king, the son who does but is too young and in his head, the scheming overlord, the prodigal sister. I feel like characters are never Banks' strength, though, so I expected that coming in and it didn't bother me. Because he always makes up for it with sassy ships & drones! This time we also get a sassy human assistant, because a large chunk takes place on a tech-free world and we need some way to get those sarcastic comments in there.

The last 20% of this book is fantastic. I really felt a huge disjoint between the story aspects, though. The elements of the ending section are touched on but not really talked about until they're suddenly in play: then it feels like the whole first half of the book (and everything in the Shellworld) were a huge waste of time because they have almost nothing to do with what's going on. It just feels unbalanced. It could have either been much shorter (we didn't need half of the on-Shellworld POV scenes for the plot) or the same length but with 1) more space and Culture scenes and 2) more foreshadowing or actual plot-building about the endgame elements.

So, to sum it up, I enjoyed this (like I do most Culture novels) but it's not one of my favorites from the series. I think my order of preference goes Look to Windward > Excession > Player of Games > Use of Weapons > Matter > State of the Art > Consider Phlebas > Inversions ...more

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Jan 15, 2009 Michael David Cobb rated it really liked it

I just completed Iain Banks' latest Culture novel 'Matter'. He is something less of a yarn spinner in this one and I was stalled at page 20 for a while, but by the time I got to page 120, I could tell it was going to be a great story.

Unlike 'Phlebas' which was the second Banks book I read (after the Algebraist), Matter was a bit more predictable. The intrigue from this book comes from knowing in some detail what Culture SC operatives and their technology are capable of. So the drama builds in th

I just completed Iain Banks' latest Culture novel 'Matter'. He is something less of a yarn spinner in this one and I was stalled at page 20 for a while, but by the time I got to page 120, I could tell it was going to be a great story.

Unlike 'Phlebas' which was the second Banks book I read (after the Algebraist), Matter was a bit more predictable. The intrigue from this book comes from knowing in some detail what Culture SC operatives and their technology are capable of. So the drama builds in this story by knowing that several species at various levels of sophistication are going to be met with the wrath of god, god being a relative term - achievable by humans in already achieved by one woman exiled from a doomed world.

The other interest in this story comes from the seemingly infinite hierarchies of species which are so incredibly alien to human emotions and storytelling. A fascinating device to be sure. Here you have the story of essentially almost modern humans in something of a Napoleonic age who live in a world dominated by the Oct, a species that most resemble nothing more or less than crabs. Not giant man-eating crab-people, but dinner plate sized creatures who smell funny, think and talk sideways. The Oct were described as possessors of the most untranslatable language in the galaxy. Every year they win the prize and nobody can understand their acceptance speech. The Oct are enmeshed in a constant struggle for power with the Aultridians, an even more smelly race of creatures that resemble doormats. Above the Oct are an insectile race, and above them a race of waterborne creatures which I can best say resemble a cross between porcupine fish and sea urchins.

If you can imagine how difficult it might be to live in America if your candidate doesn't win in November, imagine what it must be like to be ruled by crabs inferior to ants inferior to fish and that the fish basically own a volume of space containing two million stars. This is the predicament of Ferbin, the playboy prince whose father, the King is assassinated. He must plead his case up this motley chain of command while running for his life. Unbeknownst to him, his exiled sister a secret agent for the Culture, the masters of the galaxy, is working her way down back to her home planet and finding it not difficult to care even in her post-ghetto life. Family still matters. But her lust for revenge is tempered by her new sophistication and the rules of engagement, or is it?

Banks shines in his description of the Shellworld, a new invention into his great galaxy. And the appendix adds to the wiki-able knowledge base that attaches to his interstellar inventions. There is great multi-species drama and intrigue in this novel, and yet another reason to read all of Banks.

By the way, the title, like 42 is an answer to one of the great philosophical questions of our age. ...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Joseph Michael Owens rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 stars

Even pressing on into the final chapter and closing pages, I was going to originally go with a somewhat nebulous ~4+ because I couldn't decide how I felt about the book overall. There is some truly brilliant pieces of fiction at work here and Banks's concept of the shellworld Sursamen — where the vast majority of the book is set — was marvelously executed.

However, as the man who introduced me to the Culture series noted (Kyle Muntz), the book sort of takes ~300 pages to get rolling; a ...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Chris Infanti rated it it was amazing

When people used to ask me who my favorite science fiction authors are, my answer was always "William Gibson and Neal Stephenson." I've read everything they've written, and even when the plot becomes convoluted, or the characters are not well-realized, the sheer force of imagination and excitement about the new ideas on each page always leaves me with a big smile on my face.

That list is going to have to grow to three now, because Iain Banks has made me more excited as a reader of sci-fi than I' ...more

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Apr 04, 2008 David Hughes rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Banks fans, science-fiction buffs

Shelves: fiction, scifi

Iain M. Banks is the lion of contemporary British science-fiction, and this book fully displays his craft, his style and his unbridled imagination. Like most of Banks's science fiction, it involves his utopian Culture of benevolent hyper-intelligent machines, but the story itself is that of a low-technology society being manipulated to its own destruction by advanced civilisations whose aims it finds incomprehensible -- but which may themselves be only the pawns of some ancient and malign intell ...more

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Mar 02, 2009 David rated it liked it

Shelves: don-t-own, sci-fi

I love Bank's ideas - his pantropic/transhumanist far-future socialist utopian society called the Culture; the AI Minds in ships with crazy names; the baroque alien civillizations and ancient artifacts of fearsome power; the big ideas about contact between cultures of vastly different technology levels.

This book seemed to be a lot more setup than necessary - a lot was familiar to anyone who'd read a Culture novel before, so I suppose useful to anyone who hadn't, but certain flights of over-descr ...more

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About Iain M. Banks

Iain M. Banks

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Iain M. Banks is a pseudonym of Iain Banks which he used to publish his Science Fiction.

Banks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, li ...more

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