‘Matter’ reviewed for Wired.com’s GeekDad blog
April 29, 2008Over at blog.wired.com/geekdad/, reviewer John Baichtal takes a look at Matter and definitely likes what he sees: "By the time I'd read fifty pages, not only was I hooked, but I was sure Matter was this year's Hugo award winner."
Well, I think that's the sort of sentiment we can all get behind. But wait, there's more:
"The fact that so much of the background info is difficult to parse, and yet the book is so readable, demonstrates Banks' writing skill. The characterization is complex and unexpected, and the setting, despite its complexity, is totally consistent and believable. Banks has a gift for apt phraseology, especially the courtly speech of the principal characters. But it's the subtle touches that make this setting so rich."
Nicely put, Mr Baichtal. Read the full review over at blog.wired.com/geekdad/.
Bloomer, Harrison, McCalmont and Raven on ‘Matter’
April 24, 2008Four of the UK's top genre bloggers / reviewers / commentators - James Bloomer, Niall Harrison, Jonathan MacCalmont and Paul Raven - have been holding a round-robin discussion of the latest Iain Banks Culture novel, Matter.
The team-review starts with a general over view of Iain Banks' place in the respective reviewer's hearts and libraries in Part One, before moving on to the meat of the Matter at hand as they discuss the novel itself in Part Two and then concluding with an analysis of the novel's major thematic elements and central message in Part Three.
Part One - does it Matter to you?
Part Two - mind over Matter
Part Three - the heart of the Matter
Comments are enabled on all three posts (they've been posted across three of the contributors' blogs to maximise the link-love for all, which is a nice touch) so do feel free to join in and let the contributors know what you think of their conclusions.
Gwyneth Jones reviews ‘Matter’ for Strange Horizons
April 16, 2008Award-winning author Gwyneth Jones has penned a long, thoughtful and insightful review of Matter, which has been posted online at Strange Horizons.
Gwyneth draws intriguing parallels between certain plot elements the new Culture novel and a certain ring-themed classic of the fantasy genre and also makes some interesting observations on the nature of Space Opera and the way in which Iain - whose left-wing political views are well known and thoroughly documented - handles the more violent tropes of the sub-genre:
"Space Opera is no longer out of fashion, but what about the other problem, the moral issue? There’s no denying that this sub-genre glorifies war. Worse, it tends to position the reader back at the chateau with the generals, being pragmatic about those casualty figures. ... Banks is certainly aware of the difficulty, and always runs damage limitation alongside the joyous mayhem. This is the difference between Old Space Opera and New Space Opera, after all. It’s about having fun in permanent warfare world, without supporting the Military Industrial Complex in real life: about having liberal, enlightened values and enjoying the odd Death Star Demolition Derby."
Well worth reading the full review over at www.strangehorizons.com, and the associated comments thread is shaping up nicely as well.
‘Matter’ reviewed by Nick Ryan for The Daily Express
April 14, 2008Nick Ryan has reviewed Matter for UK newspaper The Daily Express. As well as describing Iain as "quite simply, a prodigy", he concludes his review with a ringing endorsement:
"It's grand, stirring stuff with a hint of the space opera to it. A more than welcome return of the master of sci-fi."
Read Nick's full review at www.express.co.uk.
Iain Banks’ ‘The Steep Approach to Garbadale’ reviewed for Readers in the Mist
April 11, 2008Via Google Alerts, we learn that 'Readers in the Mist', a blog set up to allow for Blue Mountains (New South Wales, Australia) city council libraries members to share news and book reviews, has posted a short but concise review of The Steep Approach to Garbadale by contributor Vikci ('Alba'), who says:
"Alban's story unfolds with flashbacks and revelations by dotty aunts and there is a wonderful twist at the end. Family secrets, divisions and machinations are deftly described with a wee dig at corporate America."
Read the full mini-review at readersinthemist.blogspot.com.
Quickfire Iain M Banks interview online at SciFi.com
April 10, 2008John Joseph Adams talks to Iain [M] Banks about Matter, over at SciFi.com.
[Thanks to Gary W for the heads-up]
‘Matter’ reviewed for GlobeandMail.com
April 10, 2008Matt Kavanagh dropped us a line to say that his review of Matter has been posted on the Globe and Mail website. Here's what he said in his introduction:
"Named one of the top 50 writers in postwar Britain by The Times of London, Iain Banks boasts the greatest range of any of his contemporaries. Celebrated for his shocking experimental narratives (The Wasp Factory), gripping family sagas (The Crow Road) and witty dissections of life in executive class (The Business), Banks has also mastered the art of the ripping space yarn.
"In Matter, he returns to form - and the Culture - of the far-future, space-faring civilization that is the subject of his best work. Taken as a whole, Banks's sequence of Culture novels are among the most important science fiction written by anyone, anywhere, in the past 20 years."
If you want to read the full review you'll have to cough up a few Canadian dollars. We have asked Matt if he's posted the full text anywhere else, maybe on a blog or forum, but he hasn't gotten back to us just yet.
Download ‘The Wasp Factory’, FREE, via The Independent and Audible.co.uk
April 8, 2008The Independent and Audible.co.uk have teamed up to bring you a free, yes, that's right, a completely FREE - audio download of the new audiobook version of The Wasp Factory.
The Independent explains:
"Over the course of the week [the offer went live on April 2nd*] you will be able to download the chapters from this celebrated novel and by Friday April 11th you will have all of the parts you need to make up the complete 6-hour audiobook."
Full details of the offer are available from www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books.
And check out www.audible.co.uk/iainbanks for a special offer on a range of Iain Banks audio titles from Audible.co.uk, which are available at a 30% discount until April 18th.
*Apologies for the late posting of this one, folks... if you're quick, you can still catch it!
Sue Arnold reviews the new audiobook of ‘The Wasp Factory’ for books.Guardian.co.uk
April 7, 2008Sue Arnold really likes the new audiobook of Iain's classic debut novel The Wasp Factory. In her review for books.Guardian.co.uk Sue says:
"At last, only 24 years after it was first published, I've finally got hold of a version of Banks's extraordinary first novel with a reader who does it justice ... Peter Kenny is the one reader (I've heard five) who brings out Banks's glorious sardonic wit. Good things are worth waiting for."
[Thanks to Gary W for the heads-up]
Adrienne Martini reviews ‘Matter’ for the Baltimore City Paper
April 3, 2008Alongside some familiar musing on Iain's bemusingly low profile in the US market, reviewer Adrienne Martini says in her piece for the Baltimore City Paper:
"Like most other [Iain] M. Banks books, Matter twists in completely unanticipated ways and offers up ampules of philosophy along with its plot. His characters - even the most minor - are fully drawn and fascinating. A reader can feel her mind twist around Banks' more fantastic ideas and marvel at the complicated whimsy he creates. That alone is worth the price of admission."
