Matter, Iain M. Banks
Matter, Iain M. Banks
2 Rating(s)
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Matter

Author: Iain M. Banks

Series: Culture

Narrator: Toby Longworth

Unabridged: 17 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/11/2014

Synopsis

In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one man 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, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.

Only the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilizations throughout the greater galaxy.

Concealing her new identity - and her particular set of abilities - might be a dangerous strategy, however. In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter.

MATTER is a novel of dazzling wit and serious purpose. An extraordinary feat of storytelling and breathtaking invention on a grand scale, it is a tour de force from a writer who has turned science fiction on its head.

About Iain M. Banks

Iain Banks (1954-2013) came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984. Consider Phlebas, his first science fiction novel, was published under the name Iain M. Banks in 1987 and began his celebrated ten-book Culture series. He is acclaimed as one of the most powerful, innovative and exciting writers of his generation.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Mario the lone bookwolf on April 16, 2022

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 alien beings in the future. Reread 2022 with extended review Under each crust is a special species taste One of the most mindblowing features may be to......more

Goodreads review by Bradley on February 09, 2017

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......more

Goodreads review by Manny on January 07, 2019

[Swirling patterns. Weird, vaguely familiar, futuristic music. Is it the Doctor Who theme tune? Slowly the camera pulls back to show the titleCelebrity Death Match Special: Blackadder versus The Cultureand we realize it's an unusual setting of the Blackadder song. Dissolve to ROWAN ATKINSON and HUGH......more

Goodreads review by Psychophant on February 19, 2010

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 do......more

Goodreads review by mark on May 15, 2023

Entertaining, thought-provoking, full of mindboggling inventions, aliens, worldbuilding. Rich, dense and very sardonic. This one includes all of the author's leitmotifs, such as how war and brutality get justified, what exactly is this weird construct called "civilization" and can it actually give l......more

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