Gwyneth Jones reviews ‘Matter’ for Strange Horizons

Award-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