Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
i thought matter was a bit meh
not the best culture novel might even be the worst
not the best culture novel might even be the worst
Matter - New Iain M Banks Culture Novel
- Thread starter camouflage
- Start date
elevendayempire
Registered Loofah
Hmm, Cornell wants to sort out his Facebook then, he's got the wrong date!
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Finished it about 1am this morning...ending both a bit rushed and unsatisfying, still good; better than Inversions, which is by far the worst Culture novel IMO...
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
I'm a few chapters in, and it's been a bit of a drag so far. Reminded me too much of inversions
Yeah, I had that until about 1/5 of the way in - too much time spent with the prims and not enough shiny high tech stuff.
There will be plenty of shiny things soon, and the prims story gets a lot better.
Really? I liked the ending a lot, but I think it takes a while to sink in. Give it a day or so.
Structaural
in Chatsubo
excellent - is it out in Softback yet? Feersum Engine was his hardest for me but I love his sci-fi - one of my favourites.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
*deals a full deck of spoiler tags to all participants, just in case*
yes it is in paperback. I'm reading an ebook, though
http://www.amazon.com/Matter-Iain-M-Banks/dp/0316005371
yes it is in paperback. I'm reading an ebook, though
http://www.amazon.com/Matter-Iain-M-Banks/dp/0316005371
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
No wai, inversions is cool. One of the better imo.
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Really? I liked the ending a lot, but I think it takes a while to sink in. Give it a day or so.
I'll do this in spoiler, since peeps haven't read the paperback yet...
My main dissappointment comes from not reading a description of Anaplian's head blowing the Iln device to bits, the late arrival of the Morthenvald on the scene etc - I'd have preferred an end similar to Excession, basically. Other than that it's great - the ending as is, is proper dark (almost everyone dies, and I was gutted the the Liveware Problem dies as a ship and Mind - presumably the Minds can't shovel their whole consciousness into their avatars, since they only really exist in hyperspace); the epilogue was great and unexpected - I thought Tolse was going to leave Sarl completely and join SC, rather than come back as an SC agent...or at least under SC auspices...)
In fairness, I do think that a 'bad' Banks SF book is a very relative concept - they're all good SF novels, just some are better than others...just started re-reading Player today
Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
hummm
not very spoilery but just in case
i'm wondering if he doesn't do action scenes any more because (in my opinion) books arn't a great medium for this i felt like this was distinctly the case with consider philbas. it focuses more what happens due to batlles rather than the battles themselves.... oh except for ship battle but that is because they are just cool
not very spoilery but just in case
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Shall we start a new thread? I'd have to disagree with you on the basic premise tho...
Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
dunno isn't this what spoiler tags are for?
i think it's an each to their own on that point it all depends on your taste in writing
i think it's an each to their own on that point it all depends on your taste in writing
Structaural
in Chatsubo
*deals a full deck of spoiler tags to all participants, just in case*
yes it is in paperback. I'm reading an ebook, though
http://www.amazon.com/Matter-Iain-M-Banks/dp/0316005371
I'm seriously tempted to put that on my iPhone, my commute is looong and books from here are well expensive.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
I got a naughty version
, although I have bought quite afew of his books , so that's ok. I think. What reader are you using btw? I've just got Stanza, which is nice but has no 'Library' system on the host PC, as far as I can tell.kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Comes down to taste then.
There's not shortage of action in all his SF, save perhaps Inversions (it's been a while since I read it) but I think he was trying to do something different from mainstream SF with that. As I say in my spoiler, it's not that Matter lacks action, I was just hoping for a more destructive climactic battle at the end
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
My main criticism of Phlebas is the bit with the cannibals - great sequence, but you can ignore it completely and not lose anything from the main story. I also think the tunnels section could've done with some trimming.
What I found interesting about the interview with Banks at the end of Matter was that he thinks Phlebas would make a good film - for me, Player of Games offers itself as the most obvious transfer (and Against a Dark Background is the most obviously 'Hollywood' book as it's just a succession of set-piece events)...
Structaural
in Chatsubo
I got a naughty version
(I notice it's available in 4 formats on Demonoid)
I use Stanza too - but can't get anything dodgy into it. I've bought a couple of books with it - but it's a pain as you have to keep entering your credit card number.
I use MobileFiles to copy stuff from my iDisk (mainly because the wifi is firewalled from the main network at work) to my iPhone and then read it from there. It's not a very good way as it doesn't remember your page in the book.
I've got e-reader which I'm investigating now as it allows you to enter your own website for downloading. I'll report back...
Yeah Against a Dark Background probably would make the easiest transition to film - like you say it has lots of cool set-pieces and there's lots of scope for funky visual metaphor with all the light/dark stuff going on in the book.
I absolutely loved The Player of Games, it's probably one of the best ones as a pure novel along with Use of Weapons. I liked Excession a lot as well, but it's a more genre-ish book that scratches the space-opera itch. It could potentially make a good film but would require a huge SFX budget; maybe it would be better as an animation.
I absolutely loved The Player of Games, it's probably one of the best ones as a pure novel along with Use of Weapons. I liked Excession a lot as well, but it's a more genre-ish book that scratches the space-opera itch. It could potentially make a good film but would require a huge SFX budget; maybe it would be better as an animation.
The bit with Fwi-Song and the eaters in Consider Phlebas is so episodic that I couldn't remember which book it was from!
The end is possibly the worst bit of any of the SF novels, the attempt to use running and chasing to impart some sense of movement to the end of a book that lacks momentum is seriously Peter F Hamilton-esque, and I just expect much better from Banks.
The end is possibly the worst bit of any of the SF novels, the attempt to use running and chasing to impart some sense of movement to the end of a book that lacks momentum is seriously Peter F Hamilton-esque, and I just expect much better from Banks.
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Tragically, I've got some badly drawn storyboards of the monorail heist in the desert!
So - do you think Against... is a standalone novel, or is it a novel of a Mind running a simulation in Infinite Fun Space?
There are teasing hints in Feersum that there is some kind of link to a wider universe - and lets face it, a conservative faction remaining on Earth, rejecting nano and AI would be completely in keeping with our species character I suspect!
So - do you think Against... is a standalone novel, or is it a novel of a Mind running a simulation in Infinite Fun Space?
There are teasing hints in Feersum that there is some kind of link to a wider universe - and lets face it, a conservative faction remaining on Earth, rejecting nano and AI would be completely in keeping with our species character I suspect!
That is well 
In terms of AADB, it's hard to say. If it's a pure stand-alone book then it's the only one, because Feersum Endjinn and The Algebraist both have that theme of anti-AI that links it to the Culture books; the resilers Feersum Endjinn, almost everybody in The Algebraist and Fwi-Song in Consider Phlebas all mention ‘anathematics’ but no-one in AADB does despite the similar outlook, so there is a thematic linkage to AADB but not an explicit one. I guess maybe you could say that it’s in the same universe but outside the galaxy and thus uncontacted, in that there aren’t the same teasing references to Culture stuff but it definitely seems to be making the same kind of technical assumptions etc. You get the impression that the anti-technology elements in AADB are more about preserving stability in this situation of unchanging isolation, rather than the sort of quasi-religious conviction that the others have.
Personally I want to go and live wherever the excession lives – that last page that’s narrated by it is probably some of the most concentrated awesomeness in any SF novel.
In terms of AADB, it's hard to say. If it's a pure stand-alone book then it's the only one, because Feersum Endjinn and The Algebraist both have that theme of anti-AI that links it to the Culture books; the resilers Feersum Endjinn, almost everybody in The Algebraist and Fwi-Song in Consider Phlebas all mention ‘anathematics’ but no-one in AADB does despite the similar outlook, so there is a thematic linkage to AADB but not an explicit one. I guess maybe you could say that it’s in the same universe but outside the galaxy and thus uncontacted, in that there aren’t the same teasing references to Culture stuff but it definitely seems to be making the same kind of technical assumptions etc. You get the impression that the anti-technology elements in AADB are more about preserving stability in this situation of unchanging isolation, rather than the sort of quasi-religious conviction that the others have.
Personally I want to go and live wherever the excession lives – that last page that’s narrated by it is probably some of the most concentrated awesomeness in any SF novel.
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Hell yeah! Completely agree!
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
Someone with Final Cut pro should well do 'A gift from the Culture' as a short animatrix-style piece.
Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
fuck that
i'd want a full 26 episode adaptation of a book done by projet ig or gainax and the like
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
Is Titan AE Gianax? I envision an animated banks to be similar.
Aye.
Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
no
no it's not
this stuff is gainax
no it's not
this stuff is gainax
