Consider Phlebas - 4. Temple of Light

[Brad]

Gotta say I dig this chapter very much. Whatta y'all think?

[Cindy]

Totally. It was intense, and I think as the action unfolds, the reader is just as confused as poor Horza in his two-bit suit. I didn't see the reflection/refraction complication ahead of time, which is pretty cool.

[Brad]

The part that really blew me away was the death-suicide of the lovers. That was super-intense, and it was really kind of beautiful. Banks actually surprises me with his talent for finding beauty amidst brutality, and that was one of his killer moments.

I loved the reflection/refraction complication too, Cindy. What a killer touch. I love the way Banks thinks.

[Cindy]

Yeah, that moment took my breath away. I didn't see it coming - partly because we weren't privvy to the intense nature of their relationship. But neither was Horza - so the reader just as taken aback as he was.

It's pretty amazing to have this detailed chapter, right in the middle of an incredibly complex war & Universe. And yet, somehow it's not too confusing. I had this impression that Banks writes really dense books, but so far I've not found this to be the case with Consider Phlebas.

[Brad]

The only book of his I've found dense (although I haven't read them all) was The Bridge. But I felt like the density was on purpose there, so I was able to let myself go with it.

[Cindy]

Good to know. The only other Banks I've read was The Algebraist, and I found that more dense than Consider Phlebas. Feersum Endjinn must involve a whole 'nother mind space to get into it.

[Jon]

Intense, but ultimately pointless and decimating (or worse).

Kraiklyn needs more than just a suped-up brain or he won't survive many more half-baked plans like this raid on the Temple of Light.

[Brad]

Feersum Endjinn is brilliant, Cindy, and I could feel the brilliance as I read it, but I didn't enjoy it all that much. It does take a different headpace to read, and the dialects make for tough going at first. I've not read the Algebraist yet cause I have been going in order on his books (which I intersperse with others), so my next is Look to Windward.

Yeah, Jon, what the hell was Kraiklyn thinking? Horza's range of choices really seem to suck.

[Maggie]

It seemed like such a waste...losing 7 of the team on this half a plan...I like that I already cared about that.

[Brad]

Kraiklyn really hit a bad stretch of luck, but bad luck born of arrogance. I felt the same way, Maggie. I cared about these characters really quickly too

[Silvio]

There's something about some books and scenes that makes me trust the narrator and forget that it's fiction, and this scene had it, whatever it is. Some of it is unexpected details like the laser-reflecting crystal, but I think there's something more to it I can't analyze so far.

I do wonder, if crystal is cheaper than laserproofing, why people don't always include a lot of crystal blocks in buildings they want to fortify

[Brad]

I really dug this chapter too, Silvio. There was something beautiful about it in a very short story way. It was a complete story unto itself, really. And those crystals are a brilliant idea.