The Hydrogen Sonata (A Culture Novel) [Hardcover]

As a long time Iain M. Banks fan I must admit I have been a bit disappointed with some of his latest stuff. For example Surface Detail and Matter, while good reads, left me feeling like maybe the prime had been passed. So I didn't have huge expectations for this latest Culture novel. However I was very relieved to find that The Hydrogen Sonata was what might be described on a back cover as a rip-roaring return to form for this master of whatever it is he does when he writes a good Culture Novel.
In Short, if you loved 'Excession' and 'Look to Windward', if you love the way Mr. Banks can craft a single paragraph that somehow manages to take the plot forward, deepen the mystery, enrich the characters and be an elaborately crafted joke while commenting on the contrasts between The society of the Culture and our own, then don't be afraid to go into this book with high expectations.

....Well, I liked it anyway.

Mundane disclosure first: I have been a huge Iain (M) Banks fan for a long time, so I won't pretend full objectivity. In fact, had this been a new author's work it would have been a 5 star review. Banks novels set the bar so highly for me that I may be slightly more critical of them than I would be otherwise.

For fans of the Culture series, however, this is a worthy addition: not quite the best (Player of Games remains my all-time favourite, followed closely by Consider Phlebas and Look to Windward - the latter not shared by everyone, I know, and I also have a lot of time for Surface Detail). I found myself, however, looking for any opportunity to return to this whenever possible and, as so often with Banks's novels, am disappointed it's over.

The humour of the Minds is sparkling in this book - Banks's gods in the machines (literally) always remind me of slightly squabbling Olympians, with all those human foibles the Greeks projected onto their deities. However, there is one element that does grate with regard to the book: lots of people die in this novel - including some significant characters (no spoilers) - but the culture of the, ah, Culture is such that the major ones are pretty much all backed up (there is one exception to this, but even that is not, in the end, completely final). I offer this in contrast to the (early) George R R Martin novels, where you come to feel greatly for major characters who then die. Gone. That's it - no coming back (and even Martin baulks at this in later novels). Banks seems to have written himself into a tight spot re. tragedy where the Culture series appears unable to deal with it on the profoundest level. And yet, in Consider Phlebas I really felt the waste and tragedy of the Idiran war.

One note re. pricing: the 1 star "reviews" are extremely annoying, particularly as they are by people who have not read the fracking book! However, I do want to record a milder protest to the publishers. Publishers have to make money - sure - and the costs of production are much, much more than printing a book and distributing it, but I did feel ever so slightly ripped off reading this. Obviously Amazon is hugely discounting the hardback version, but I like reading novels on Kindle and wish they were in the same position to discount the ebook should they so desire. When I saw a new Banks coming out at this price, I thought I'd wait till it dropped. I held out for a day (more fool me, I guess!).

This latter comment has *not* influenced my star rating - in fact, I nearly made it 5 stars to counter the 1 star reviews. This is genuinely a 4 star book for me, though I do feel that unfortunately the price will put off a lot of readers who would really enjoy this novel.

I'm really sorry to write what will be a fairly negative review of this book. I have greatly enjoyed many of Banks' previous works - particularly his sci-fi and I absolutely feel that he helped to create a genre within the genre as the uncontested king of space opera. Despite my growing preference for his earlier works - some of which constitute masterpieces in my view - I was still excited to get the newest offering. Unfortunately I was ultimately disappointed.

I can't deny that the writing style remains almost as good, but for me, there is none of the passion and conviction that Banks used to demonstrate. The characterisation is weaker, the narrative / plotting equally so -I got to the end of the book and thought - "Well, so what? I don't care!". Which is really sad. I think ultimately, this book explores a topic that possibly merited a short story and with a braver editor it may have made a great novella - instead I found myself reading what is essentially technical rhubarb and - shock, horror - skim reading pages. If I want weapons specs there are better authors out there for that type of sci fi - what I want from Banks is the grandiose - the awesome. I think perhaps the attempt to cover the issue of subliming is meant to cover that from a philosophical perspective - but I don't think he achieved it. The eventual denouement is practically 'phoned in' I'm afraid.

I've read earlier books several times each, connected with the characters, thrilled at the plotting, held my breath at the amazingly complete, exciting - stunning worlds (galaxies/ universes / realities) that Banks created. I will absolutely continue to read anything that this man writes (sci fi - gave up on his fiction some time ago) but I really hope that he gets some new inspiration - and I say this with utter awe for the ability to stay with a creation for as long as Banks has done.

My overriding sense is that where Banks was great was in the creation of a context - and what he achieved there was completely impressive. Maybe it is impossible to do it again... maybe having done it once and in doing so setting the standard for everyone else, he has created a definitive and final 'other'... if that is so then all credit to him for his original creative work - but my hope and belief is that Banks will create some new context to get his teeth into. If that isn't possible there would be no shame in it - but then I hope that he can get back to writing characters that I give a damn about - the ships are funny and clever, but they lack the humanity that generates common feeling for the reader... think back to the first time you fully understood how complete and brilliant the vision was, to the chair made of bones, whatever your own favourite moments are - how much more did you engage with those characters and those stories? How much more complete were the journeys you went on with Banks?

Genuinely - I love this author - I am not fit to clean his literary shoes - but right now my sense is that I would rather read the early books again than the ones to come. Fingers crossed for renaissance and sorry if I have offended. All just my opinion.