This Culture novel was the most difficult and most puzzling in my experience with Iain Banks’ writing, so far, and still I am not sure about my feelings, if I truly liked it or not. The novel was enjoyable, of course, and it also was a quick read, its momentum provided by the rapidly advancing plot, but still it seemed as if something was missing: certainly I did not feel as invested in the characters as I was with previous books, and this might be the reason for my faint dissatisfaction, considering that characterization was the strongest point of the novels I read before this one.
An Excession – or out-of-context problem – is an event without precedent and without predictable outcome: in this case it’s a mysterious black body suddenly appearing in space near the star Esperi, doing nothing, but still representing a menace, if nothing else because of its inscrutability. The study of the Excession is carried out mostly by the Culture’s Minds – the vastly evolved artificial intelligences residing on huge ships, or in the orbitals: they appear here as the true movers and shakers of the galaxy, even more than humans who seem far less preoccupied with the strange phenomenon than their cybernetic counterparts.
In a way, this novel is about the Minds more than it is about the mysterious object at the center of the story: I already encountered some Minds in my previous “travels” in Banks’ Culture, but they never took center stage as they do here, and this gave me a new perspective on the Culture itself. As a society that can offer its citizens everything they want, with easy and ready access to any kind of physical resource and where the word “impossible” seems to have no place anymore, the Culture might look like the perfect Utopia. The Minds have evolved to the point where they can build each other in a sort of mechanized parthenogenesis, and they are the true managers of society, while humans can freely pursue their diverse goals.
Minds are not coldly perfect, though: some of the human traits they acquired along the way surface through the messages they exchange with each other (one of the most enjoyable parts of the story), and these exchanges are both amusing and illuminating, showing how the degree of evolution the Minds reached has endowed them with the equivalent of a soul, besides their distinctive personalities. The other side of this coin is that the Minds can also fall prey to human flaws, and errors: as the story develops we understand there is a conspiracy, brewed by a group of Minds, to start a war between the Culture and an alien civilization, so that the Culture might finally impose some more enlightened rules on the wayward Affront (I’ll come back to them in a moment…).
Here resides one of the reasons for my puzzlement with this novel, if not the main one: confusion. The huge number of Mind-ships’ names, most of them quite bizarre (like Not Invented Here, Shoot Them Later, Anticipation for a New Lover’s Arrival, just to name a few) made it difficult for me to keep track of who was who and what faction they belonged to. Much as I enjoyed their witty exchanges, after a while I gave up trying to keep them straight, and let myself go with the flow, in all probability missing some important clues. I thought more than once that maybe the author had given in to his own desire to showcase these amazing intelligences, and in so doing made life difficult for his readers…
Another point of contention with this story comes from the human characters: while I understand that the Minds needed to take the center stage here, I can’t accept that the flesh-and-blood people called into play are never developed as much as they were in the other books, and at times they look more like props than anything else. For example, Byr Genar-Hofoen, Culture envoy with the Affront, is recalled from his post and tasked to reach the ship Sleeper Service to retrieve the conscience of a person who was Stored there: along the way we are given Genar-Hofoen’s back story, and many details about his past liaison with Dajeil Gelian, who is the Sleeper Service’s only passenger and has been keeping her pregnancy in stasis for forty years. As the past they share is slowly revealed, it becomes clear that the Sleeper Service is doing all it can to help them reconcile their differences, and to overcome the tragic circumstances that brought on their separation. And yet, when the moment comes, it also seems to pass in a manner that’s way too subdued in respect of the huge anticipation that was built until then.
In the same manner, I’m still wondering what was the purpose of the young spoiled brat Ulver Seich, who is enrolled by Special Circumstances (the Culture’s equivalent of a secret service) to expedite Genar-Hofoen mission: much space is given to the girl’s self-centered character, and her dismay at the physical changes she undergoes to resemble Dajeil Gelian and therefore to better ensnare Genar-Hofoen. And again, it all boils down to practically nothing… There is something I’m missing, I’m certain of it, but for the life of me, I’m unable to see what it is.
On the other hand, the depiction of the Affront, a neighboring civilization that is totally alien both in appearance and in outlook, and that looks like the Culture’s polar opposite, is one of Excession’s best features: imagine a race of floating octopuses, gifted (so to speak…) with congenital bad manners and the boisterousness of unruly students on spring break. And still that would be too weak a description: the Affront are by turns amusing and outrageous, the details we learn about their culture made me hate them, while their unabashed enjoyment of life made me smile with the tolerance reserved for rambunctious kids. I can see, with hindsight, how some of the Culture’s Minds saw such a danger in the Affront and its cruel values, so that they decided to start a war (something the Culture avoids studiously, preferring a more subtle integration) rather than risk a long-term contamination of its status quo.
Still, it’s not enough: I was fascinated by Player of Games; soul-wrenched by Use of Weapons; and poignantly affected by Look to Windward, but I could not summon any strong emotion with Excession, and it left me with a pervasive sensation of incompleteness, which feels very strange for a book by Iain Banks.
This “Culture” sounds a lot like Neal Asher’s Polity universe. Have you read any of his stuff? If so, how does it compare to this? I love Asher’s stuff but have not dipped into Banks’ stuff because it never sounded interesting. But this, advanced AI’s, sounds intriguing.
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I have the first one of Neal Asher’s Polity books lined up, since I wanted to sample something from this author: it will be interesting to compare the two!
And Banks is interesting, indeed: the universe he depicts is quite fascinating.
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Just be aware that Asher can include quite a bit of violence. I never know if that’ll bother people, so I mention it just in case…
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Thank you for the warning: I can take violence when it’s not gratuitous and it’s finalized to the story (after all I read GRR Martin without excessive qualms! 🙂 ), but it’s good to know and be prepared…
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This sounds like a very unique read, and I can see where it ight be tough to keep some of those names/ personalities straight. Sorry to hear it wasn’t quite as compelling as the earlier installments. It does sound interesting with the AI manipulations and the very alien race…
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I think this is the kind of book that could benefit from a re-read: once I’m not “distracted” any more by the story itself, I might be able to focus on other details and understand what I previously missed.
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I still haven’t read Banks – I think I’m almost scared to do so because they’ll just be too much for me somehow! Maybe this one wouldn’t be the best place to start ??
Lynn 😀
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You shouldn’t be scared! He’s fun! It’s not heavy handed at all. Banks has a humour to him that is pretty unique. I don’t think there is better space opera out there. As for were to start, check my post below…
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Thanks – I will make a note of Player of Games as the best place to start.
Lynn 😀
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And I’ll look forward to your thoughts!
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This one would be a terrible place to start 😉
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Bormgans is right, there is no need to feel intimidated: Banks can be complex, and multi-layered, but reading his books is always a fascinating experience. I started with Player of Games, since everyone agrees it’s the best place to “dive in”, and I’ve never looked back. 🙂
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Still haven’t read Banks either, but his Culture series is where everyone tells me to start. And recently, I found out that all the books are in audio, narrated by one of my favorite audiobook narrators (Peter Kenny) no less, so that’s great news for me!
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Ah, since you are quite partial to audio – and considering your favorite narrator is reading these books – you have no more alibis 😀 😀
I hope you find the journey as fun and intriguing as I am…
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This is my favorite Culture novel. I liked it so much because of the Minds & their characterization. They always were the most intriguing part of Banks’ world, and here they take central stage. Their eccentricities provide Banks with the opportunity to let his creativity go through the roof… I also thought the central mystery was compeling.
For those who haven’t read Banks Culture novels: my advice would be to start with Player Of Games, and afterwards read the rest in publication order.
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I did indeed start with Player of Games – after a false start with Consider Phlebas, to which I intend to return later – and it was a great book to begin my journey in the Culture series. The mystery of the Excession was indeed fascinating, and I think I would have liked to see more about it (and the Affront) than the rest of the story-lines.
Next one will probably be one of the non-Culture books – Against a Dark Background: the synopsis looks interesting 🙂
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Yeah, Consider P is hard to get into. It’s my least favorite. Against… is surely recommended.
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Ah wonderful! The combination of the quest with the run from the pursuing cult sounded intriguing, so it’s good to know I have a great read in my sights 🙂
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From what I’ve read online it’s safe to say the Asher’s universe is a popcorn version of Banks. Banks’ Minds are a feast of the imagination.
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Thanks…
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Uh-oh…. “popocorn version”? Now I’m more curious than I was before! 😀
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I’ve read Excession three times, and had a different response every time. I hated it the first time. I couldn’t understand why my friends told me it was the best Culture novel (I much preferred the first three – I still do). I loved it the second time around, although I couldn’t tell you why now; I just remember thinking I’d misjudged it. And most recently I realised that both positions were true. I love the Mind story, and – like you – am utterly frustrated by the human stories, to the point that I’d cheerfully reread the book and skip every chapter from the human POV (I similarly skipped Iron Islander POV chapters last time I reread ASOIAF and it made me a happier reader, although I acknowledge that may bite me in the ass by the time GRRM finishes the series 😉
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So you just confirmed my theory that Excession needs a re-read to be truly appreciated, which is comforting, because I felt bad about not being completely blown away by a Banks book! Maybe I will even change my mind about the… romantic troubles of Genar-Hofoen and Dajeil, who knows? 😉
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I don’t know if I’d go that far 😉 I got as far as acknowledging that they brought a humanity and pathos to the party, but at the cost of an awful lot of whinging (everybody’s), sulking (Dajeil’s), and irritation (mine)!
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LOL
I can sympathize with the irritation, indeed! 😀
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