‘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.
‘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.
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."
‘Matter’ reviewed by Mutable Matter blog
March 31, 2008Mutable Matter is "an interactive project about our relationship with matter – the stuff that surrounds us, that we are made of and that increasingly comes up in public debates around new technologies."
In a recent entry, the blogger, Angela, who is writing Mutable Matter as part of the research for her Open University Phd course, muses on the nature of matter in Matter, concluding:
"...in a way, Matter really is the parody of heroic fantasy/science fiction it appears to be at the beginning (only much darker and despite bouts of heroism from some of the characters) where the futility of war (especially upholding ‘noble aims’ in war), excessive monitoring and destruction with increasing levels of technologies, and the disturbingly purpose-giving, intoxicating effects of war are painfully rendered. Yet what happens in the novel is only painful, because the scenarios and wording ("appropriate level of interference") trigger parallels with past, but especially current, events: computerised warfare, monitoring of wars in 'less developed' countries (Rwanda is just one example), war-promoting regents with 'noble' intentions (e.g. George W. Bush) are just some examples.
It definitely makes for an interesting take on the book. Go, read, leave a comment if you feel so inclined. I'm sure Angela would appreciate the feedback.
‘Matter’ reviewed by RJ Barker for SFCrowsNest.com
March 23, 2008In a lengthy and detailed review for www.computercrowsnest.com, RJ Barker says:
"Dipping back into 'The Culture' felt like a joyous return to a long missed and familiar place. Banks has such a clever way with words that he makes it seem effortless and you don't realise how cleverly he constructs brilliantly clear images."
‘Matter’ review posted on Slashdot
March 19, 2008Reviewer Simon DeDeo has posted a review of Matter up on Slashdot. Simon makes a very intriguing point about the underlying 'Britishness' of The Culture:
"Banks' prose is free-flowing and liberally dosed with a kind of cynical, post-colonial British humanism; as the Culture meddles and blunders Banks' narrators look on with a sad half-smile. The British charm appears also in his characterization of the artificially intelligent machines, who often play Jeeves to more fallible, biological, Bertie Woosters."
Read the full review over at books.slashdot.org. And check out the (long and mighty) comments threads that ensue for a wide-ranging discussion on Matter, The Culture, the best Culture books to read, other space opera authors to try, all sorts of good stuff...
[Thanks to Gary W for the heads-up]
SFX Book Club: Tom Holt on ‘The Player of Games’
March 14, 2008SFX has posted an archive of Book Club articles from the print edition of the magazine, which includes author Tom Holt's notes on The Player of Games.
Mr Holt sums up the book: "By Banks's standards it’s a conventional book (because what’s a game except a set of
conventions?) but within its self-imposed limits it's perfect, a flawless exhibition by a master at the top of his game."
[Thanks to Gary W for the heads-up]
Donna Bowman reviews ‘Matter’ for The Onion’s AVClub.com
February 29, 2008Another terrific review of Matter, this time over at The Onion's A.V. Club. Reviewer Donna Bowman really gets under the skin of the novel's over-arcing plot devices in Matter, concluding that with Matter, our author:
"...achieves an urgency born of fascinating, fallible, but always relateable characters in microcosm to balance his enormous science-fiction edifice in macrocosm. Then he refuses to settle for the easy answers and predictable arcs that his adventure-genre plotting would lead readers to expect."
Read the full review over at www.avclub.com. Many thanks to Alex Lencicki of Orbit's US office for the heads-up.
io9.com Iain Banks interview + ‘Matter’ review
February 20, 2008io9.com blogger Annalee Newitz posted a double-dose of Banks-related content yesterday.
In her interview with Iain Banks Annalee asks questions like: "Do you suspect that a little weirdness is a necessary component of longevity for a species or civilization?" (answer: "Absolutely...") and in her accompanying review of Matter, she declares:
"Told with Banks' usual nihilistic humor and flair for outlandish description, this is a novel that will grab you by the shorthairs, scream at you about realpolitik, and then smack you on the head with a laser blast. And of course, you'll love every minute of it."
Head on over to io9.com to read the full interview and review.
James Lovegrove reviews ‘Matter’ for The Financial Times
February 19, 2008Author James Lovegrove was suitably impressed with Matter and said so in his Financial Times review last week. He begins:
"When Iain Banks slots the middle initial between his forename and surname, you can expect science fiction on a grand scale, replete with brain-busting concepts and a dry wit..."
and concludes:
"Does Matter matter? Matter of fact, it does, and its action-propelled narrative means that any newcomer to Banks's universe could do worse than start here. The already initiated will be anything but disappointed."
Read the full review over at www.ft.com.
Iain Banks interviewed for The Socialist Review
February 13, 2008The February 2008 issue of The Socialist Review carries an interview with Iain, conducted by Patrick Ward. As you'd anticipate, there's plenty of political discussion, along with questions about both Matter and The Steep Approach to Garbadale and some thoughts on 'The Culture as Utopia'.
Iain also talks about his current plans for the next book...
"I'm thinking about thinking about the next book. I'm going to start typing it in October. So I'm not thinking about it. I'm thinking about thinking about it. There's a distinction I hope you appreciate."
...just in case you were wondering.
You can read the full interview at www.socialistreview.org.uk, as well as Patrick Ward's (brief) review of Matter.
Andrew McKie reviews ‘Matter’ for the Telegraph
February 10, 2008Andrew McKie sounds like a dyed-in-the-wool Culture fan (good man!) who says, at the conclusion of his Telegraph.co.uk review of Matter:
"I have returned repeatedly to the early Culture novels, particularly Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games. This is a major sequence for anyone who cares about science fiction, and I recommend it to all but those seriously allergic to spaceships."
Read the rest of Andrew's review at www.telegraph.co.uk.
‘Matter’ reviewed by Lisa Tuttle for The Times
January 17, 2008Highly-respected SF author Lisa Tuttle has reviewed Matter in The Times and had the following to say about the new Culture novel:
"The usual ingredients of a Culture novel are all here: lots of action, snippy drones, believable people, bizarre aliens, extreme violence, awesome weapons, silly names and sly jokes ... The conclusion is unexpectedly savage, emotionally powerful, and impossible to forget. Matter, it turns out, is not so much about the physical stuff as it is about what truly matters."
