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Excession [Paperback]

Iain M. Banks (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 15 May 1997

Two and a half millennia ago, the artifact appeared in a remote corner of space, beside a trillion-year-old dying sun from a different universe. It was a perfect black-body sphere, and it did nothing. Then it disappeared.

Now it is back.

'Banks is a phenomenon ... wildly successful, fearlessly creative' William Gibson

'Thrilling, affecting and comic ... probably the finest science fiction he has written to date' New Scientist

'Banks has rewritten the libretto for the whole space-opera genre' The Times

Frequently Bought Together

Excession + Inversions + Look To Windward
Price For All Three: £19.77

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  • Inversions by Iain M. Banks Paperback £6.29
  • Look To Windward by Iain M. Banks Paperback £6.29

Product details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Orbit; New Ed edition (15 May 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 185723457X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1857234572
  • Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 3.5 x 20 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 9,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon Review

It's not easy to disturb a mega-utopia as vast as the one Iain M. Banks has created in his popular Culture series, where life is devoted to fun and ultra-high-tech is de rigueur. But more than two millennia ago the appearance--and disappearance--of a star older than the universe caused quite a stir. Now the mystery is back, and the key to solving it lies in the mind of the person who witnessed the first disturbance 2,500 years ago. But she's dead, and getting her to cooperate may not be altogether easy. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Gripping, touching and funny (TLS )

The story is vital and urgent and has a brilliantly subtle resolution ... wildly enjoyable (INTERZONE )

A dizzying adventure (DAILY MAIL )

Explosive but tender (SUNDAY TIMES )
See all Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Rise of the Machines 13 May 2003
By Dr Frazer Anderson
Format:Paperback
In this book, for the first time in Iain M's work, the people are clearly less important than the machines. But who cares when he writes such brilliant machines? Let's face it, the amount of detailed characterisation Banks puts into the principal players - mainly spaceship Minds and a few drones - hugely exceeds that which most writers of self-consciously "literary" fiction bother with for their human characters. Even the opening few pages of rather off-putting and heavily cryptic inter-ship communications turns out to be useful and entertaining a few chapters later. As always in Banks he invents an alien species who play a critical part in the plot but are probably there mainly to allow him some extremely funny scenes - the story of how this species came to be known as "the Affront" is one of his best.
The Excession itself - a powerful artefact beyond the Culture's understanding - is a bit of a McGuffin, because the main story is about how the Culture behaves when it wants something really badly.
Overall, Excession is a highly entertaining read, probably second or third place in his output - which means better than most other science fiction writers could ever manage.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Very sophisticated reading for very demanding readers 21 Sep 2007
By ANNA OIKONOMAKI
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I hadn't read a Culture novel in a long time. Searching through my Amazon recommendations, I saw the title and immediately remembered the impression books like "Consider Phlebas", "The player of Games" and "Use of Weapons" (but also his non-sci-fi "Wasp Factory") had made on me years ago. So I bought it... and now I am hooked again. Banks is a great writer. His books are entirely believable, the language and general writing style is masterful and the plots are deliciously convoluted. You can't read Excession absent-mindedly, you need to devote your attention to it, but the resulting reading pleasure more than compensates you for the effort.

What I particularly liked about this book was that the moral/ethical dilemmas of war vs peace, action vs inaction, secresy vs publicity, the good of one vs the good of millions faced by the protagonists of the book were extremely interesting, very well incorporated in the plot without being thrown at our faces but also, thankfully, their "judgement" was left to us readers, as Banks kept his opinions to himself, although of course we are free to guess them. I also immensely enjoyed his non-human and yet so human protagonists, the Minds and Ships... If this is what the future holds in store for us, then I can only use Shakespeare's words "oh brave new world that has such creatures in it"!

I didn't give Excession 5 stars, which I reserve only for masters such as Herbert and, in another genre, Tolkien, but I do wish Amazon allowed a 4.5 rating. Overall, this is a great book, and, for me, a reason to re-read my old copies of other Culture books and, in general, re-start reading Banks. If you like books not only for the plot, the imagination, the characterisations and the amusement, but also for the sheer pleasure of reading, I suggest you do the same.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars His finest SF work to date 17 Jan 2005
By the brain specialist
Format:Paperback
I may be slightly biased towards Excession, as it was the first Banks SF novel i read (i have since read them all).

As it was my first (and hence i had no idea what 'The Culture' was or what it was about), the first few pages completely baffled me. However, sticking with it, i was blown away.

There is no doubt that the minds are the stars of the show, so to speak. I found it warming that entities of such immense power that can think millions of times quicker than humans can be petty, vindictive and deceitful (and above all, they just 'wanna have fun' (The land of IF)). The human/alien characters, taking something of a lesser role, were also excellent. Byr/Ulver/Gestra, whilst living in a perfect society, all have their own little quirks. The Affront are a creation of genuis (i loved the history of how they got their name). The Excession itself remains an enigma throughout, with only cursory details of its abilities. Banks plays his cards very close to his chest here.

To sum up. The plot is tight and intricate, and the dialogue is excellent (not to mention, very witty). Above all though (and for me, this is the marker of any great book), i approached the last few pages with a feeling of impending dread, because i didnt want the novel to end.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Some interesting ideas but doesn't push my buttons
Is readable but can't really see where its going. A lot of fancy machine speak. Too disjointed for me. Sorry.
Published 9 hours ago by Ms. C. A. South
5.0 out of 5 stars space is deep
what a fantastic book this is. Mr Banks really knows how to write space epics. balls to the Culture, bunch of stuffy perverted know-alls. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Eddie
5.0 out of 5 stars Massive engines
I love this book. The scope is truely awesome. Yes it is complex, so much so that some reviewers clearly are not adequately mentally sufficient to cope with it. Read more
Published 25 days ago by Richie
5.0 out of 5 stars Top Class Banks
I love the culture novels and this is just as good as the better ones like Player of Games and Use of Weapons
Published 1 month ago by Peter O'rourke
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Bank's
Beautifully written. he will be sorely missed. The culture series are stunning, graceful and occasionally brutal. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mark taylor
4.0 out of 5 stars A riveting read
Banks creates an immense and detailed universe to tell his compelling story. A truly riveting read but falls a little short of Banks own extremely high standards set by some of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dave
5.0 out of 5 stars A modern sci-fi master piece
Some of Ian Bank's culture novels can be a little ho hum, and a new reader would be left wondering what all the fuss was about. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Dr Ward
2.0 out of 5 stars Not Mr Banks's best
To many things going on, too hard to work who is who and just simply too many characters with weird names who have such long conversations it is difficult to keep track of who is... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Geoff
5.0 out of 5 stars Complex and clever SF, but with a human side as well
Thousands of years ago, the Culture encountered an Outside Context Problem. A perfectly black sphere materialised out of nowhere next to a trillion-year-old sun from another... Read more
Published 3 months ago by A. Whitehead
2.0 out of 5 stars a slog
Wow! I really found this much more hard-going that I had anticipated. I read Consider Phlebas (the first Culture novel) on publication (1987) and likewise the next two. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Philtrum
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