Iain M. Banks' Use of Weapons: A Review(keepingthedoor.com)
keepingthedoor.com
Iain M. Banks' Use of Weapons: A Review
http://www.keepingthedoor.com/2009/09/06/banks-use-of-weapons-a-review/
5 comments
Between Banks and Alastair Reynolds, I think that Welsh SF has hit a great stride in the last few years.
I wouldn't normally say something so vacuous but I'm compelled to: I agree with everything you said, Hast.
I wouldn't normally say something so vacuous but I'm compelled to: I agree with everything you said, Hast.
This would be a good point, except that Banks is Scottish.
But let’s not pretend Banks didn’t have quite some development to go as a writer when he put it together in the late 1980’s
Considering how crap his review was this closing remark is staggering.
He should read the Wasp Factory and then for the benefit of all of us he should not write a review about it.
Considering how crap his review was this closing remark is staggering.
He should read the Wasp Factory and then for the benefit of all of us he should not write a review about it.
Banks writes under Iain M. Banks when he writes sci-fi, and just plain Iain Banks when he’s not. We also found this confusing.
If this is confusing, then you're a bit dim...
If this is confusing, then you're a bit dim...
great book by a great writer but flagged it anyway...
It's been a while since I read Use of Weapons, and when I did I had already read a few of the culture books before so I had some understanding of the universe.
The plot is "confusing" since it tells two stories interleaved between the chapters. One story goes from the chronological end of the story backwards, telling the story of Zakalwe's work with Culture. The other story tells the story of Zakalwe's origin. The two stories meet at the end of the book in the defining moment of the book.
Personally I prefer books (and stories) that are not obvious and require some work for the reader. But most of Bank's other Culture books are easier to follow, such as the first one Player of Games. These will also tell you more about why Culture acts the way it does and doesn't always take the "short cut" of nuking everything until it glows.
Besides Player of games I think Consider Phlebas and Excession are some of the really good ones. A lot of the other books are much slower paced and read more like dramas than "Syfy" space action.
Personally I find the universe of Culture to be one of the most interesting in SF literature. The books are also independent on each other and can be read in any order. Since characters don't really go on from one book to another you're never sure who'll die, which I find heightens the tension.
Many of the books also read like a bit of a puzzle. This may be frustrating for some readers, but for those who enjoy books like that it can be fun. (Personally I tend to find them a bit slow.)
I've long wished that there would come a movie or game set in the Culture universe. Since the stories are independent they could make one without "destroying" any of the characters or books which already exist.