mark’s review of Surface Detail (Culture, #9) > Likes and Comments
75 likes · Like
Does our friend from Use of Weapons go by his real name or his adopted name?
Mark, Thanks for the informative review. Excellent description of his writings. Haven't read enough of him.
I remember this one as being particularly good, and the villain being particularly evil! Also a memorable scene with some toy boats?!
Interesting that you find Banks so bleak, I normally find his books pretty fun and quite optimistic, despite his penchant for casually throwing in a load of nasty stuff! He's my favourite author though and like you I'm working through all his books. Have you also read his none sci-fi stuff? It's also excellent. I'd particularly recommend The Crow road.
I'll have to give Iain M Banks another go, despite so many of my favourite authors loving iain M Banks' work I have always hated them apart from Inversions. I know that I am missing something or maybe they are just not for me.
Jessica wrote: "Look to Windward is more positive"
Look to Windward ends in the double suicide of two sympathetically depicted characters, due to the sadness, loss, and guilt over a genocide.
Jonny wrote: "Also a memorable scene with some toy boats?!...
Interesting that you find Banks so bleak, I normally find his books pretty fun and quite optimistic... Have you also read his none sci-fi stuff? It's also excellent. I'd particularly recommend The Crow road."
Yes, there are a couple great scenes with these mini-boats engaging in a play-war. Not quite toy boats, as they can fit an entire person in them. And not quite play-war, as deaths during these games can occur.
I am very surprised you find Banks' optimistic! I mean, I love him too and I also have a lot of fun reading his books. But optimism is just not a word that would ever occur to me in describing him. Too much death, torture, mutilation, etc.
I have read three non-Culture books by him: his classic Wasp Factory, his murder mystery (sorta) Complicity, and his non-Culture scifi epic The Algebraist. All very interesting experiences. Fantastic author!
John wrote: "I'll have to give Iain M Banks another go, despite so many of my favourite authors loving iain M Banks' work I have always hated them apart from Inversions. I know that I am missing something or ma..."
You are not alone, many people hate Banks, and especially his books Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, and Wasp Factory. He's not for everyone! But I'm glad you didn't hate Inversions, which is superb and is my favorite of the Culture novels.
Every novel reflects the time it's written in. (or something like that ) I miss those good old times when SF was still about optimism. Where someone like Iain Banks could write about an anarcho- communists AI Utopia, and it felt perfectly reasonable. Just a few decades later, and most SF novels are about certain doom & gloom dystopias that await us .;)
back to top
date
newest »
newest »
Does our friend from Use of Weapons go by his real name or his adopted name?
Mark, Thanks for the informative review. Excellent description of his writings. Haven't read enough of him.
I remember this one as being particularly good, and the villain being particularly evil! Also a memorable scene with some toy boats?!Interesting that you find Banks so bleak, I normally find his books pretty fun and quite optimistic, despite his penchant for casually throwing in a load of nasty stuff! He's my favourite author though and like you I'm working through all his books. Have you also read his none sci-fi stuff? It's also excellent. I'd particularly recommend The Crow road.
I'll have to give Iain M Banks another go, despite so many of my favourite authors loving iain M Banks' work I have always hated them apart from Inversions. I know that I am missing something or maybe they are just not for me.
Jessica wrote: "Look to Windward is more positive"Look to Windward ends in the double suicide of two sympathetically depicted characters, due to the sadness, loss, and guilt over a genocide.
Jonny wrote: "Also a memorable scene with some toy boats?!...Interesting that you find Banks so bleak, I normally find his books pretty fun and quite optimistic... Have you also read his none sci-fi stuff? It's also excellent. I'd particularly recommend The Crow road."
Yes, there are a couple great scenes with these mini-boats engaging in a play-war. Not quite toy boats, as they can fit an entire person in them. And not quite play-war, as deaths during these games can occur.
I am very surprised you find Banks' optimistic! I mean, I love him too and I also have a lot of fun reading his books. But optimism is just not a word that would ever occur to me in describing him. Too much death, torture, mutilation, etc.
I have read three non-Culture books by him: his classic Wasp Factory, his murder mystery (sorta) Complicity, and his non-Culture scifi epic The Algebraist. All very interesting experiences. Fantastic author!
John wrote: "I'll have to give Iain M Banks another go, despite so many of my favourite authors loving iain M Banks' work I have always hated them apart from Inversions. I know that I am missing something or ma..."You are not alone, many people hate Banks, and especially his books Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, and Wasp Factory. He's not for everyone! But I'm glad you didn't hate Inversions, which is superb and is my favorite of the Culture novels.
Every novel reflects the time it's written in. (or something like that ) I miss those good old times when SF was still about optimism. Where someone like Iain Banks could write about an anarcho- communists AI Utopia, and it felt perfectly reasonable. Just a few decades later, and most SF novels are about certain doom & gloom dystopias that await us .;)
^^^ Love that.