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Iain M. Banks is a true original, an author whose brilliant speculative fiction has transported us into worlds of unbounded imagination and inimitable revelatory power. Now he takes us on the ultimate trip: to the edge of possibility and to the heart of a cosmic puzzle. . . . Diplomat Byr Genar-Hofoen has been selected by the Culture to undertake a delicate and dangerous mission. The Department of Special Circumstances--the Culture's espionage and dirty tricks section--has sent him off to investigate a 2,500-year-old mystery: the sudden disappearance of a star fifty times older than the universe itself. But in seeking the secret of the lost sun, Byr risks losing himself. There is only one way to break the silence of millennia: steal the soul of the long-dead starship captain who first encountered the star, and convince her to be reborn. And in accepting this mission, Byr will be swept into a vast conspiracy that could lead the universe into an age of peace . . . or to the brink of annihilation.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member baswood
Excession looks like a word that should mean something, especially when it appears on the dust jacket of this science fiction novel without a capital letter at the start of the word. It looks like it should be a derivation of excessive but that does not sound quite right. The only definition that I
"something so technologically superior that it appears magic to the viewer."
A word then invented by the author that is still finding it's way into everyday usage (all those other people who are not dedicated science fiction readers). No real clues then as to what the story is about from it's title but it eventually became clear that at the heart of it was an OCP (Outside Context Problem); there goes an initialism and how science fiction writers love their initialisms and acronyms and although not overused by Banks they do nothing to help the uninitiated reader. Fortunately I know my GCU's from my GSV's having read Bank's four previous novels set in his imaginary future universe of the Culture. it still took me some time to make headway into this story, but I have learnt that Banks would make things a little clearer as I went along and that by the end of the novel I would have a fairly good grasp of what had happened.
This is a story that will be appreciated by those readers already familiar with Bank's concept of the Culture and readers coming to the series for the first time might have to take quite a lot of the writing on trust, however the human story that is at the core of this novel should appeal to many readers. In accordance with Bank's universe the Culture is the dominant force/society that exists many years in the future when much of the universe has already been explored. Humans may or may not have given birth to the Culture which are, robots, machines, spaceships controlled by their own artificial intelligence. They would appear to be a force for good in the universe and certainly humans have adapted their lifestyles to fit into this quite different world. Bank's stories have a familiar 'modus operandi' the Culture calls on certain humans with the necessary skills to carry out certain diplomatic/operational/intelligence operations usually involving alien societies who have trouble in accepting the values/society of the Culture. The humans in many instances are pleased to accept these tasks, but occasionally have to be pried away from their otherwise hedonistic lifestyles. The stories then have a kind of cross pollination between humans and intelligent machines, but in Excession it is the machines in the form of spacecraft that drive this plot with the reader wondering where the human characters fit in. It is the novel perhaps that many of Bank's dedicated readers have been waiting for, that is waiting for him to share more of his vision of the Universe of artificially intelligent machines.
The OCP (outside context problem) takes the form of a mysterious object that appears in the universe and which seems to have powers that go far and away beyond anything that the Culture possesses. Meanwhile a rising species of aliens The Affront who have less than human characteristics seem intent on using the distraction of the Excession to overthrow the Culture who in its turn are calling on a couple of humans to carry out a secret mission.
The two humans Djeil and Genar-Hofoen have had an intense relationship some years before and are now living estranged lives after a near murderous end to their affair. Djeil seems to have been living in an artificial world created by the Culture for hers and their benefit and much of the early part of the novel explores this solitary world. Banks is at his strongest as an imaginative writer in creating these different worlds and he does a similar thing with Genar-Hofoen in his role as a diplomat on the alien home planet of the Affront. Then there is the asteroid called Pittance where a human recluse has chosen to live, which also houses mothballed war machines left over from the last war the Culture had to fight. As a reader we know that these different milieu will form part of the story but Banks persuades us to linger there with him while he creates an ambience that contrasts with other events that will overtake his characters. After all this is the novel where the artificially intelligent spacecraft (minds) confront the Excession. It is these minds that show all to noticeable human characteristics that results in both their weaknesses and their strengths and of course make Bank's story more interesting. Banks at times skates perilously close to banality with some of this, but he just about keep on the right side.
This is an excellent novel for Culture enthusiasts and probably one for science fiction readers who are prepared to enjoy a human story that can be more perceptive than the super-intelligent minds of the Culture machines. I think Banks has achieved a very good balance in his story telling. If the ending appears a little too engineered for some tastes then that does not take away from the high spots that precede it. This is my favourite book in the Culture series, running just ahead of [The Player of Games] and so 4.5 stars.
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could find came from a website The Urban Dictionary which was:"something so technologically superior that it appears magic to the viewer."
A word then invented by the author that is still finding it's way into everyday usage (all those other people who are not dedicated science fiction readers). No real clues then as to what the story is about from it's title but it eventually became clear that at the heart of it was an OCP (Outside Context Problem); there goes an initialism and how science fiction writers love their initialisms and acronyms and although not overused by Banks they do nothing to help the uninitiated reader. Fortunately I know my GCU's from my GSV's having read Bank's four previous novels set in his imaginary future universe of the Culture. it still took me some time to make headway into this story, but I have learnt that Banks would make things a little clearer as I went along and that by the end of the novel I would have a fairly good grasp of what had happened.
This is a story that will be appreciated by those readers already familiar with Bank's concept of the Culture and readers coming to the series for the first time might have to take quite a lot of the writing on trust, however the human story that is at the core of this novel should appeal to many readers. In accordance with Bank's universe the Culture is the dominant force/society that exists many years in the future when much of the universe has already been explored. Humans may or may not have given birth to the Culture which are, robots, machines, spaceships controlled by their own artificial intelligence. They would appear to be a force for good in the universe and certainly humans have adapted their lifestyles to fit into this quite different world. Bank's stories have a familiar 'modus operandi' the Culture calls on certain humans with the necessary skills to carry out certain diplomatic/operational/intelligence operations usually involving alien societies who have trouble in accepting the values/society of the Culture. The humans in many instances are pleased to accept these tasks, but occasionally have to be pried away from their otherwise hedonistic lifestyles. The stories then have a kind of cross pollination between humans and intelligent machines, but in Excession it is the machines in the form of spacecraft that drive this plot with the reader wondering where the human characters fit in. It is the novel perhaps that many of Bank's dedicated readers have been waiting for, that is waiting for him to share more of his vision of the Universe of artificially intelligent machines.
The OCP (outside context problem) takes the form of a mysterious object that appears in the universe and which seems to have powers that go far and away beyond anything that the Culture possesses. Meanwhile a rising species of aliens The Affront who have less than human characteristics seem intent on using the distraction of the Excession to overthrow the Culture who in its turn are calling on a couple of humans to carry out a secret mission.
The two humans Djeil and Genar-Hofoen have had an intense relationship some years before and are now living estranged lives after a near murderous end to their affair. Djeil seems to have been living in an artificial world created by the Culture for hers and their benefit and much of the early part of the novel explores this solitary world. Banks is at his strongest as an imaginative writer in creating these different worlds and he does a similar thing with Genar-Hofoen in his role as a diplomat on the alien home planet of the Affront. Then there is the asteroid called Pittance where a human recluse has chosen to live, which also houses mothballed war machines left over from the last war the Culture had to fight. As a reader we know that these different milieu will form part of the story but Banks persuades us to linger there with him while he creates an ambience that contrasts with other events that will overtake his characters. After all this is the novel where the artificially intelligent spacecraft (minds) confront the Excession. It is these minds that show all to noticeable human characteristics that results in both their weaknesses and their strengths and of course make Bank's story more interesting. Banks at times skates perilously close to banality with some of this, but he just about keep on the right side.
This is an excellent novel for Culture enthusiasts and probably one for science fiction readers who are prepared to enjoy a human story that can be more perceptive than the super-intelligent minds of the Culture machines. I think Banks has achieved a very good balance in his story telling. If the ending appears a little too engineered for some tastes then that does not take away from the high spots that precede it. This is my favourite book in the Culture series, running just ahead of [The Player of Games] and so 4.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member DRFP
Overall, a disappointing entry in the Culture series. The significant rough edges of Consider Phlebas and Use of Weapons I forgave because they were old ideas Banks got published after he became successful as a mainstream author of fiction. Both, in my view, are certainly inferior to the excellent
The main trouble is that the novel is incredibly slow to get going. As one of the Culture Minds states almost halfway through the book - "I wish something would happen." This trouble is brought about because the Excession itself is largely a MacGuffin (at least until the final page). As a result not a lot of activity takes place around something that also doesn't do very much for 90% of the story. All quite boring and even the threat of war is quite boring when the result is an admitted foregone conclusion.
The human side of the story is also... well, pointless, I thought. The overall "conspiracy" leads you to think this storyline is actually important when it's really not, except for the hurt pride of the Sleeper Service itself. Really why the human characters have a role in this story is a bit of a mystery - Ulver is a particular waste of space and only useful for injecting some sex into proceedings. I suppose Banks felt he couldn't possibly write a novel just about the Minds?
I made it through the novel and although some sections could do with better editing, it was generally well written. Excession does shed light on how certain factions exist within the Culture and how it might not all be goody-goody. Yet that's about the only worthwhile thing to come out of this novel and it's an awfully long winded way to make that point.
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Player of Games. Excession being a "new" Culture novel and not another old idea dredged up meant I had high expectations, which unfortunately were not met.The main trouble is that the novel is incredibly slow to get going. As one of the Culture Minds states almost halfway through the book - "I wish something would happen." This trouble is brought about because the Excession itself is largely a MacGuffin (at least until the final page). As a result not a lot of activity takes place around something that also doesn't do very much for 90% of the story. All quite boring and even the threat of war is quite boring when the result is an admitted foregone conclusion.
The human side of the story is also... well, pointless, I thought. The overall "conspiracy" leads you to think this storyline is actually important when it's really not, except for the hurt pride of the Sleeper Service itself. Really why the human characters have a role in this story is a bit of a mystery - Ulver is a particular waste of space and only useful for injecting some sex into proceedings. I suppose Banks felt he couldn't possibly write a novel just about the Minds?
I made it through the novel and although some sections could do with better editing, it was generally well written. Excession does shed light on how certain factions exist within the Culture and how it might not all be goody-goody. Yet that's about the only worthwhile thing to come out of this novel and it's an awfully long winded way to make that point.
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LibraryThing member clong
Banks is an imaginative, talented storyteller, and this book featured some intriguing concepts, but on balance I was disappointed by Excession. For me there were two areas of the book that failed badly: characterization and universe-building.
I intensely disliked the main human characters Byr
On top of that, I thought this book told us a lot of new things about the Culture that made it a much less plausible universe; Banks creates opportunities to explore sexuality, longevity, and human AI interaction, and completely ignores the implications. Almost as an aside Banks throws in variable gender as a plot device (which somehow turns into an opportunity for a brief moment of gratuitous lesbian sex); yet he seems totally oblivious to the consequences of such a central component of identity (with the obvious comparison to Ursula Le Guin's treatment of the same subject in The Left Hand of Darkness). Similarly, this is a universe where people can live forever; yet this profoundly life altering reality seems to have no impact on how they live their daily lives. Many, many other authors have treated this subject in a thoughtful, thought-provoking way--for Banks, it is thrown in as device around which to steer a plot turn. And perhaps most bizarrely in this book (for me anyway, given the random order in which I am making my way through the Culture series) we learn a whole lot more about ship Minds, things that make it utterly incomprehensible to me that the humans of the Culture would blindly entrust their society to the Minds' wisdom and justice.
I don't agree with the reviewer who suggested the book should have been cut by 200 pages (which would be about 40% of its length!). It was slow paced, but I think this flowed from the plot. There were multiple layers of narrative going on here, and it inevitably took time to climb through each layer to get to the central issues and driving events of the story.
I intensely disliked the main human characters Byr
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Genar-Hoefoen, an aimless diplomat whose essential purpose in life is to screw every woman with whom he comes into contact, and Dajeil Gelian, an utterly self-centered victim in need of serious therapy who will never be nominated for mother of the year. Add to this the Sleeper Service, the we’re-not-quite-sure-if-there’s-any-method-to-his madness Eccentric GSV who is Gelian’s enabler, Ulver Seich, a mindless young hedonist of ridiculous proportions (think “Riders of the Purple Wage,” without the humor), the poorly developed token not-so-bad-representative-of-an-inherently-cruel-alien-species Fivetide Humidyear, and a variety of other ship Minds who are all wallowing in their egocentric worlds and you don't really have anyone for whom to root. The only character I really liked was killed off after a couple of seconds (I kid you not, although a lot of things happened in those couple of seconds). And Gravious showed some promise, but didn't get enough copy to add much to the book. On top of that, I thought this book told us a lot of new things about the Culture that made it a much less plausible universe; Banks creates opportunities to explore sexuality, longevity, and human AI interaction, and completely ignores the implications. Almost as an aside Banks throws in variable gender as a plot device (which somehow turns into an opportunity for a brief moment of gratuitous lesbian sex); yet he seems totally oblivious to the consequences of such a central component of identity (with the obvious comparison to Ursula Le Guin's treatment of the same subject in The Left Hand of Darkness). Similarly, this is a universe where people can live forever; yet this profoundly life altering reality seems to have no impact on how they live their daily lives. Many, many other authors have treated this subject in a thoughtful, thought-provoking way--for Banks, it is thrown in as device around which to steer a plot turn. And perhaps most bizarrely in this book (for me anyway, given the random order in which I am making my way through the Culture series) we learn a whole lot more about ship Minds, things that make it utterly incomprehensible to me that the humans of the Culture would blindly entrust their society to the Minds' wisdom and justice.
I don't agree with the reviewer who suggested the book should have been cut by 200 pages (which would be about 40% of its length!). It was slow paced, but I think this flowed from the plot. There were multiple layers of narrative going on here, and it inevitably took time to climb through each layer to get to the central issues and driving events of the story.
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LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
Another Culture novel, another chance to ask myself why I find these things so curiously readable. This one focuses less on the lucky, sybaritic humans that inhabit the Culture universe than the Minds of he ships that ferry them from place to place and occasionally get involved in thrilling space
A case could also be made, I think, that Banks might also be playing with extremes here. "Excession" introduces us to the Affront, a race whose entire culture seems to be built on cruelty and who might be the least pleasant bunch of aliens I've met since encountering the Vogons in the "Hitchhiker's Guide" books. The Affront -- boorish, mean, physically repulsive and apparently incorregible -- are so awful that I often found the parts of the book that they are in genuinely difficult to read. At the same time, he devotes more time in "Excession" describing the fun -- sexy and otherwise -- that the Culture's innumerable citizens get to have. It isn't that the Culture doesn't face the sort of moral dilemmas that people who consider themselves "civilized" often run into when they come face to face with something truly alien. The line between a belief in galactic progress and bloody expansionism is, as ever, dangerously thin. Even so, the stark differences between the two modes of being epitomized by the Culture and the Affront made me wonder if it wasn't abundance itself -- of materiel, of spirit, even of time -- that makes the Culture novels so much fun to read. Banks has conceived of a world where spaceships build other spaceships and design custom-made habitants for specific humans. Much of human life seems to have become a festival of light and color that often goes on for a cool couple of centuries. A lot of it sounds delightful, even if all is not yet perfect. Sometimes I think Banks is asking what shape the problems we now consider to be most central to our existence were to be -- if not eliminated -- worn away by centuries of geometrically increasing technological progress. In practice, that means that the Culture is often a fun place to spend your time. Heck, I'll probably read the next one.
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battles. The book's plot revolves around the sudden appearance of an impossibly ancient object that may -- or may not -- give whoever controls it unimaginable power. The hook here is that this is an "out-of-context problem", like the appearance of the Mule in Asimov's foundation series, a freak occurrence that even an impossibly advanced, supremely rational civilization like the Culture would have difficulty planning for. In practice, though, "Excession" plays out a lot like a Cold War spy novel, with lots of teletype communications between field agents who all seem to be unwaveringly British in both diction and outlook. These dialogues are oddly formatted and are occasionally tiresome to get through, though Banks's prose is, as usual, dense, intricate, and perfectly pitched everywhere else in the novel. The uh, interpersonal, communications between the ships that we're privy to reveals their odd attitudes toward the humans they care for, which run the gamut from genuine affection to mild disgust. Even though we see human creativity flourish in many of this novel's scenes, Banks's attempts to gently nudge humans out of the center of the frame, so to speak, is surprisingly successful. A case could also be made, I think, that Banks might also be playing with extremes here. "Excession" introduces us to the Affront, a race whose entire culture seems to be built on cruelty and who might be the least pleasant bunch of aliens I've met since encountering the Vogons in the "Hitchhiker's Guide" books. The Affront -- boorish, mean, physically repulsive and apparently incorregible -- are so awful that I often found the parts of the book that they are in genuinely difficult to read. At the same time, he devotes more time in "Excession" describing the fun -- sexy and otherwise -- that the Culture's innumerable citizens get to have. It isn't that the Culture doesn't face the sort of moral dilemmas that people who consider themselves "civilized" often run into when they come face to face with something truly alien. The line between a belief in galactic progress and bloody expansionism is, as ever, dangerously thin. Even so, the stark differences between the two modes of being epitomized by the Culture and the Affront made me wonder if it wasn't abundance itself -- of materiel, of spirit, even of time -- that makes the Culture novels so much fun to read. Banks has conceived of a world where spaceships build other spaceships and design custom-made habitants for specific humans. Much of human life seems to have become a festival of light and color that often goes on for a cool couple of centuries. A lot of it sounds delightful, even if all is not yet perfect. Sometimes I think Banks is asking what shape the problems we now consider to be most central to our existence were to be -- if not eliminated -- worn away by centuries of geometrically increasing technological progress. In practice, that means that the Culture is often a fun place to spend your time. Heck, I'll probably read the next one.
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LibraryThing member RobertDay
A return to the Culture for Banks after an absence of some years. This is also his first Culture novel to employ multiple viewpoint characters, and so it has to be said that the characterisation gets spread a bit thinly. But the sheer novelty and multi-coloured experience that is the Culture more
Stars of the show are doubtless the alien race known as the Affront - who adopted the name because they liked the critical tag applied to them after some atrocity or other of theirs which they thought merely harsh but fair (I suspect that in the unrolling film of the book in Banks' mind's eye, the main Affront character was voiced by Brian Blessed!) - and the ship Minds who are as much characters as any of the biologic players. Indeed, some of the biological characters are far less interesting and some of them are not particularly nice, being far too self-centred; but you get the feeling that the opportunities the Culture offers does allow most biologicals the golden opportunity to be just that.
The Excession itself seems very much like a MacGuffin to allow the practice of politics both within the Culture factions and between the Culture and the Affront; but right at the end, Banks gives us a hint of what the MacGuffin was there for, and it opens up the universe of the Culture far more than previously.
There is more development and less goshwow action in this book than in previous Culture novels, but it's a worthwhile read nonetheless.
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than makes up for this.Stars of the show are doubtless the alien race known as the Affront - who adopted the name because they liked the critical tag applied to them after some atrocity or other of theirs which they thought merely harsh but fair (I suspect that in the unrolling film of the book in Banks' mind's eye, the main Affront character was voiced by Brian Blessed!) - and the ship Minds who are as much characters as any of the biologic players. Indeed, some of the biological characters are far less interesting and some of them are not particularly nice, being far too self-centred; but you get the feeling that the opportunities the Culture offers does allow most biologicals the golden opportunity to be just that.
The Excession itself seems very much like a MacGuffin to allow the practice of politics both within the Culture factions and between the Culture and the Affront; but right at the end, Banks gives us a hint of what the MacGuffin was there for, and it opens up the universe of the Culture far more than previously.
There is more development and less goshwow action in this book than in previous Culture novels, but it's a worthwhile read nonetheless.
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LibraryThing member Black_samvara
Science fiction, part of the Culture series and methinks one best approached via the first three books. Big and complex; this ties in a massively complex plot focussed on the nature of the universe, with a love affair gone bad and its 40 year consequences. I suspect you have to have a certain type
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of patience to read this happily as the threads take ages to come together. I think this novel’s strength is less in the overall plot, than in what it says about the characters involved. I love it for focussing on the giant Minds (AIs) and their complex philosophising. I love that they are simultaneously incredibly advanced and just as creepy, manipulative and self-reflective as everyone else. Show Less
LibraryThing member m.a.harding
My favourite Banks novel to date. Aren't the Affront great? Great the way the situation matches our own politics. Great AIs. Stunning imagination and realisation. Great plot. Nobody does computer gibberish more exciting than Banks. There is not a page that is not a delight. The names of the space
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ships alone is better than most people's poetry. Rather than just list great things it is easier to say it is just a faultless space opera. Show Less
LibraryThing member Angharan
For me this is the high point of Iain Banks generally amazing Culture series and a candidate for my favourite book of all time. With a multi-threaded swiss-watch of a plot I'd have to admit this won't be for everyone, but I find the scale of imagination and sheer authorial confidence on display
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here mesmerizing. Simply wonderful. Show Less
LibraryThing member llasram
Loved the AI "Minds" as primary protagonists, although they were a bit too human for my taste. Banks tries to explain it away with some handwaving about "pure AI"s immediately "Subliming," but given that I think Subliming is already the silliest aspect of the Culture universe... Unlike in /Look to
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Windward/, this novel was tightly plotted, with every element seeming either necessary or the sort of misstep/indirection one might expect to occur when a group of AIs conspire. Since I haven't read all the Culture novels yet, I'm not sure when Banks started to retcon in some human-digital-consciousness ideas like mind-image backups etc, but the unevenness of it here makes me guess this as a likely candidate. Not a lot of deep thought here (good name for a Culture ship?), but a fun ride. Show Less
LibraryThing member cajela
A Culture novel, and that says most of it already to Banks fans. If you're not - think very far future, unimaginably high tech, where spaceships are one of many kinds of intelligent sentient AI beings; many alien species are about; and humans live for hundreds of years and can change their bodies
The focus here is the "excession" - a mysterious something, an apparently impervious sphere. Is it from another universe? Several cultures are interested in gaining possession, or access, and/or preventing others from doing likewise. The Affront are one of these groups, a rather nasty species although oddly almost likable despite their cruelty. They'd very much like to score one on the morally self-righteous Culture - fun with cultural relativism! If you know Banks, you know they probably won't win. But who will, and what is this thing anyway?
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more or less at will, or go into suspended animation waiting for something interesting to occur. The focus here is the "excession" - a mysterious something, an apparently impervious sphere. Is it from another universe? Several cultures are interested in gaining possession, or access, and/or preventing others from doing likewise. The Affront are one of these groups, a rather nasty species although oddly almost likable despite their cruelty. They'd very much like to score one on the morally self-righteous Culture - fun with cultural relativism! If you know Banks, you know they probably won't win. But who will, and what is this thing anyway?
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LibraryThing member isabelx
The nest space was hemispherical in shape and easily a hundred metres across. It was used mainly as a regimental mess and dining hall and so was hung with flags, banners, the hides of enemies, bits and pieces of old weapons and military paraphernalia. The curved, veined-looking walls were similarly
Genar-Hofoen had visited this particular nest space before on a few occasions. He looked up to see if the three ancient human heads which the hall sported were visible this evening; the Diplomatic Force prided itself on having the tact to order that the recognisable trophy bits of any given alien be covered over when a still animate example of that species paid a visit, but sometimes they forgot. He located the heads - scarcely more than three little dots hidden high on one sub-dividing drape-wall - and noted that they had not been covered up.
The chances were this was simply an oversight, though it was equally possible that it was entirely deliberate and either meant to be an exquisitely weighted insult carefully contrived to keep him unsettled and in his place, or intended as a subtle but profound compliment to indicate that he was being accepted as one of the boys, and not like one of those snivellingly timid aliens who got all upset and shirty just because they saw a close relative's hide gracing an occasional table.
That there was absolutely no rapid way of telling which of these possibilities was the case was exactly the sort of trait the human found most endearing in the Affront. It was, equally, just the kind of attribute the Culture in general and his predecessors in particular had found to be such a source of despair.
When a mysterious black sphere 50 km in diameter, appears on the edge of Culture controlled space, the Culture describes it as an Excession, which means something excessive, whether excessively powerful, excessively aggressive, or excessively mysterious. An Out of Context Problem, is one that happens when a (small 'c') culture encounters something that it is completely outside its experience, and the Excession is is most definitely an Out of Context Problem.
A group of ancient Minds who call themselves the Interesting Times Gang take control of organising the Culture's response to it. It isn't long before some of the Minds start to believe that there is a conspiracy among others in the group, and suspect that they are manipulating events for a purpose unrelated to the appearance of the Excession. And what does all this have to do with the Affront, a species whose name started as an insulting nickname given by an appalled neighbouring species, until the Affront embraced the name as being so much more 'them' than being boringly named after their planet of origin?
The Minds and the Affront are the most interesting thing about this book; I could have done without the humans, especially the vain, pretentious and extremely spoilt Ulver Seich, and the tediously self-absorbed Dajeil Gelian with her everlasting pregnancy (even the Sleeper Service thought that sulking for forty years was overdoing it). So I can safely say that "Excession" isn't my favourite book of the series so far.
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adorned with plaques, company, battalion, division and regimental honour plaques and the heads, genitals, limbs or other acceptably distinctive body parts of old adversaries.Genar-Hofoen had visited this particular nest space before on a few occasions. He looked up to see if the three ancient human heads which the hall sported were visible this evening; the Diplomatic Force prided itself on having the tact to order that the recognisable trophy bits of any given alien be covered over when a still animate example of that species paid a visit, but sometimes they forgot. He located the heads - scarcely more than three little dots hidden high on one sub-dividing drape-wall - and noted that they had not been covered up.
The chances were this was simply an oversight, though it was equally possible that it was entirely deliberate and either meant to be an exquisitely weighted insult carefully contrived to keep him unsettled and in his place, or intended as a subtle but profound compliment to indicate that he was being accepted as one of the boys, and not like one of those snivellingly timid aliens who got all upset and shirty just because they saw a close relative's hide gracing an occasional table.
That there was absolutely no rapid way of telling which of these possibilities was the case was exactly the sort of trait the human found most endearing in the Affront. It was, equally, just the kind of attribute the Culture in general and his predecessors in particular had found to be such a source of despair.
When a mysterious black sphere 50 km in diameter, appears on the edge of Culture controlled space, the Culture describes it as an Excession, which means something excessive, whether excessively powerful, excessively aggressive, or excessively mysterious. An Out of Context Problem, is one that happens when a (small 'c') culture encounters something that it is completely outside its experience, and the Excession is is most definitely an Out of Context Problem.
A group of ancient Minds who call themselves the Interesting Times Gang take control of organising the Culture's response to it. It isn't long before some of the Minds start to believe that there is a conspiracy among others in the group, and suspect that they are manipulating events for a purpose unrelated to the appearance of the Excession. And what does all this have to do with the Affront, a species whose name started as an insulting nickname given by an appalled neighbouring species, until the Affront embraced the name as being so much more 'them' than being boringly named after their planet of origin?
The Minds and the Affront are the most interesting thing about this book; I could have done without the humans, especially the vain, pretentious and extremely spoilt Ulver Seich, and the tediously self-absorbed Dajeil Gelian with her everlasting pregnancy (even the Sleeper Service thought that sulking for forty years was overdoing it). So I can safely say that "Excession" isn't my favourite book of the series so far.
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LibraryThing member geertwissink
Finally again a true Culture novel .. I've been reading them in chronological order. Didn't really get into to number 3 (short stories) and 4 (Use of Weapons). This one is more about the distortion about the space-time continuum, Culture vs totally sadistic species and even the main person(s) are
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more easy to relate to than in Banks' other Culture novels. And there's epic space battle! The end is somewhat disappointing. All the threads Banks has been weaving do come together, but a lot remains unanswered. But the journey to the end is more than pleasant. Show Less
LibraryThing member booooo
Some strange phenomenon is discovered in the univers. it shows signs of technology everybody could until now only dream about.No wonder all the major players want to claim it...
the story itself shows a lot of promise, just as the various characters do. but sadly Banks is not able to keep in my
there are a lot of ships involved, all with funny names. but because the ships do not need to be in the same scene to communicate i just couldnt remember who is who. in the whole book Bank attempts to adapt a lot of different styles, but just doesnt quite manage to make them convincing. or different enough. a lot like a first novel, of a new author just discovering his tools... but it isnt...
the story itself shows a lot of promise, just as the various characters do. but sadly Banks is not able to keep in my
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opinion his choise of opening sequences is a little unlucky. it just doesnt let you "dive" in to the story. but it gets a lot better after about 30 pages.there are a lot of ships involved, all with funny names. but because the ships do not need to be in the same scene to communicate i just couldnt remember who is who. in the whole book Bank attempts to adapt a lot of different styles, but just doesnt quite manage to make them convincing. or different enough. a lot like a first novel, of a new author just discovering his tools... but it isnt...
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LibraryThing member grizzly.anderson
Excession is a story of The Culture,and an encounter with an artifact/intelligence/culture completely beyond their comprehension. It is also a story of how The Culture itself, or at least parts of itself, goes to extremes in pursuit of their various goals.
In this particular book the human members
In this particular book the human members
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of The Culture play a secondary role to the Ship Minds. That aspect of it, and the way the communication among the Minds is handled in the text reminded me a lot of Vinge's Fire Upon The Deep, which also shares a threatening boojum out there. Which is not to say that Banks has lifted any of his story. Just that there were enough similar elements, that part of my mind kept trying to bring remembered elements of Fire into alignment with Excession to predict what would happen next. It never worked. Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlstar
Excession is typical Banks, very thorough and well written, an excellent example of hard science fiction.
LibraryThing member xnfec
I love Banks's creation, the Culture. When I read this book, it was the first book of his that I had read. I found it difficult to follow, but at the same time I fell in love with the ships. It is the one book of his that I feel I would re-read
LibraryThing member rufty
A culture novel. A post scarcity society - so always interesting there.
The idea in this novel is that an excession event is one where a society comes across something so advanced, so far outside it's experience that it is destroyed by it. An example given is that tribespeople experience an
The culture believes it has spotted a galleon homing into view and is understandably concerned.
It's great, read it.
The idea in this novel is that an excession event is one where a society comes across something so advanced, so far outside it's experience that it is destroyed by it. An example given is that tribespeople experience an
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excession event when European visitors turn up on your island and come and introduce you to things like Christianity and taxation and smallpox.The culture believes it has spotted a galleon homing into view and is understandably concerned.
It's great, read it.
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LibraryThing member psiloiordinary
A culture novel.
Stylish, intelligent, sophisticated space opera with human weaknesses thrown into the mix.
Perhaps the biggest, quickest and least bloody intergalactic battle I have come across.
Another good innings from a consistently good author.
Stylish, intelligent, sophisticated space opera with human weaknesses thrown into the mix.
Perhaps the biggest, quickest and least bloody intergalactic battle I have come across.
Another good innings from a consistently good author.
LibraryThing member manque
An outstanding imaginary universe, complete with AI (artificial intelligences) that are believable and *at least* as interesting, and as distinctly personal, as human beings. The language is crisp and careful, the ideas are either fresh or freshly executed; there is little to mar this novel. A fine
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balance in plotting, a fine collection of subplots and schemes that fail or go awry. Show Less
LibraryThing member TuanJim
This is the first book I've read by Banks, and I look forward to checking out his other works - they came highly recommended from a friend. That said, much of this book (although certainly not all of it) feels very similar to Vernor Vinge's work - particularly "A Fire Upon the Deep" - both in plot
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and characters. As some other reviewers mentioned as well, despite the galactic-scale plot, the actual human characters seemed to have a lack of purpose and comparatively little to do with anything that happened (not to mention evoking absolutely no sympathy from the reader). Show Less
LibraryThing member mgreenla
A grand conspiracy amongst the Minds (super smart AI) combined with a mysterious device from some other dimension lead to conflict between the Culture and the Affront.
At times I felt like I needed to take notes to keep track of the ship names, who was on which side, and where things were. The
At times I felt like I needed to take notes to keep track of the ship names, who was on which side, and where things were. The
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characters of the ship AI Minds were much more interesting than most of the humans featured. Probably not the place to start if you have never read a Culture novel before. Show Less
LibraryThing member nmele
So far, one of the best of Iain M. Banks's science fiction novels.
LibraryThing member Ma_Washigeri
Not my favourite. Love the storyline but couldn't really keep track of all the ships and conspiracies. I'm not sure I ever did get it straight even though I went back through the book scribbling flow charts and names all over the place. But still enjoyable.
LibraryThing member jessicariddoch
I am selling this book and the worst thing is I cant remember the slightest thing about the story - still it is a signed copy so it should make some book token for me
LibraryThing member ben_h
I haven't read any Iain M. Banks before, and I really enjoyed this. Hard SF, but with more of an action novel than a science fetish feel. Plenty of sex and drugs, though mostly vanilla.
Subjects
Awards
British Fantasy Award (Nominee — August Derleth Fantasy Award — 1997)
British Science Fiction Association Award (Shortlist — Novel — 1996)
Otherwise Award (Long list — 1996)
Italia Award (Winner — 1998)
Kurd Laßwitz Preis (Winner — 1998)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1996
ISBN
0748110003 / 9780748110001
Other editions
Excession by Iain M. Banks (Hardcover)