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Matter
 
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Matter (Hardcover)

by Iain M. Banks (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 608 pages
  • Publisher: Orbit (27 Feb 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0316005363
  • ISBN-13: 978-0316005364
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.7 x 4.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,292,254 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #40 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > B > Banks, Iain M.
    #99 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > B > Banks, Iain

Product Description

Review

'You can always expect the unexpected with an Iain M. Banks novel. So sit back and enjoy a tale with more than a twist or three in Matter. For a start, it's a rattling good story: a man accused of something he didn't do. Lots of action, lots of mind-boggling imaginative thought in this excellent piece of SF, read by Toby Longworth' Daily Express 'You can, if you must, draw clever comparisons between the conflicts in Matter and what's happening in Iraq. Or you can just sit back and listen to Toby Longworth's tongue-in-cheek reading of a very funny book' The Guardian 'There is now no British SF writer to whose work I look forward with greater keenness' The Times 'Confirms Banks as the standard by which the rest of SF is judged' The Guardian 'Explosive' Sunday Times 'Gripping, touching and funny' T.L.S. 'A wild imagination' Mail on Sunday 'Captivating' Time Out 'Spectacular ... the field needs his energy' The Scotsman 'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson 'Beautifully written and filled with memorable characters and startling technology, this tale of intricate politics and intersteller warfare ably demostrates that Banks is still at the height of this powers' - Publishers Weekly 'Banks can bring across the essence of a character with one sentence where others might hammer things home over the course of a chapter. . .Matter is as engrosing as you'd expect a Banks book to be' - Starburst 'Unexpectedly savage, emotionally powerful and impossible to forget' - The Times 'Set in an intricate, yet wonderfully realised world, this latest Culture novel will pull you in and keep you hooked right up to the explosive finale. Matter cannot fail to captivate established fans and newcomers alike' - Waterstone's Books Quarterly 'This long-awaited return for both a writing legend and his finest creation is a delight' - SFX 'A searing inquiry into justified warfare and the dangers of imposing your ideas of civilisation, told at a rattling pace with breathtaking set pieces and oddles of wit and charm. ..It's exhilarating to see what he can do when he goes full-throttle into the form: to my mind, he's simply the finest and most consistently challenging writer in that genre' - Scotland on Sunday --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

GUARDIAN

'Sit back and listen to Toby Longworth's tongue-in-cheek reading of a very funny book'
--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Customer Reviews

132 Reviews
5 star:
 (24)
4 star:
 (41)
3 star:
 (36)
2 star:
 (24)
1 star:
 (7)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (132 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A book of two halves, 21 Feb 2008
By J. Heaver (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Matter (Hardcover)
I would agree with those who have said that this one's slow (by Banks' standards) until the last couple of hundred pages (when it focuses more fully on the Culture's involvement in the plot) in which it absolutely zips by. In the first section of the book, detailing the goings on on the Eighth level of the Shellworld, we have to make do with short interludes and the descriptions of the Shellworlds themselves for our dose of Hard Sci-Fi - the rest of it is all a bit 'swords and chainmail'.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a decent read, but Banks' Sci-Fi will always, for me, be marked against his very best Culture work, and against those standards it falls a bit short, hence only three stars.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A wasted opportunity, 13 Oct 2008
This review is from: Matter (Hardcover)
This book holds such promise. The Sarl are manipulated by the Oct, who in turn are manipulated by the Nariscene, who it turn dance to the tune of the Morthanveld. The Culture are (reasonably) peripheral plays in this complex dance, or so it seems.
The reader's mind starts to buzz with the possibilities (remember Use of Weapons!). Who works for who? Who is being double, treble, or even quadruple-crossed??
Unfortunately it all comes crashing down, like Banks (or the editors) got bored, and everything gets tied up in a trite and unsatisfying way.
Damn.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Could do better..., 8 April 2009
This review is from: Matter (Paperback)
I've read most of IMB's SF writing and all of his 'Culture' novels but, unfortunately, this isn't one of the best of either.

"Matter" is big (almost 600 pages), engrossing, enveloping and extremely intricate; all of which make it an excellent read. However, there are some pretty big problems...

It's very slow to get going and then practically rushes along as if IMB realised he'd mis-read his publisher's deadline. As others have said, there's just not enough 'Culture' in this one and too much of what feels simply like filling, just to pad it out; you could actually argue that this needn't really be called a 'Culture' novel at all. Plus, the many parallel plot lines only serve to dilute the entire narrative, which is a shame.

However, the biggest problem with this book (and it's a big one), is the ending. I won't spoil it for you (like at least one other reviewer here has done by spelling out exactly what happens) but it's one of the feeblest, most ridiculous endings of any book I can remember reading. The story goes from being in full flow, with any possible conclusion a mystery, to having ended in literally less than a single page. The only way it could have been worse was if it had finished on "I woke up and it was all a dream!" It's such a cop-out and leaves you feeling conned and let down.

There's an interview with IMB in the back of 'Matter', taken from a SciFi publication (the name of which escapes me) where he explains that he almost stopped writing SciFi because he thought he'd run out of ideas but then after writing the Algebraist, decided he'd still "got it". Well, based on this latest offering, maybe he should reconsider.

If you're after a much better 'Culture' novel, then read "Against A Dark Background" which is one of my favourite books of all time regardless of genre.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Culture becoming too textured?
I struggled a little with this one, though I love Banks' Culture novels. Partly I struggled to find the time to read it, which is about me rather than Banks, but partly I... Read more
Published 3 days ago by Dr. Laurence Baldwin

4.0 out of 5 stars You can't go wrong with Iain M Banks
I wouldn't dispute some of the other reviews that point out this isn't one of Banks' best, and that other Culture novels in particular are a bit more well thought out. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Z. Anthony

4.0 out of 5 stars I would say it does.
I've read most of his stuff - this is very good tho not quite up there with the best. Yes it has a long and complex build up but that's part of the appeal, i did find myself... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. C. Hodgskinson

4.0 out of 5 stars Title
This is a fantastic book, it had me gripped from start finish.

The reason I've knocked a star off is because there are so many questions left unanswered at the end,... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Paul Mcelroy

3.0 out of 5 stars Good to the last drop - not
He butchered the ending. I felt very let down. It was a wonderful read until the violent finale, for which the only word is "nonsense". Read more
Published 2 months ago by W McClintock

3.0 out of 5 stars Better than most..... but dosn't beat Banks at his best.
I enjoy all of his books but this like other recent books this leaves me disapointed. Compared to Player of Games, Use of Weapons and Against a Dark Background it's light. Read more
Published 2 months ago by I. M. Bailey

2.0 out of 5 stars Almost a Culture Novel
But not quite.

I loved the 150pp or so where we saw some new and vibrant story about SC - there's no doubt about it: when Banks does it properly, no one can match... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. Paul A. Scholey

1.0 out of 5 stars A very disapointing read
This is the first review that I have posted on this site and unfortunately my main motivation is to express a feeling of being let down by a 'hodge podge' of a novel that doesn't... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Robert Coward

5.0 out of 5 stars BECOMING A CULTURE ADDICT
What makes Ian.M.Banks "culture stories" so memorable a read, is that he blends the very personal experiences of the characters with environments and cicumstances that are simply... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. H. Wigham

2.0 out of 5 stars Did this book have an editor?
I'm so relieved to have finally got to the end of Matter.
Having enjoyed many other Culture novels, I was disappointed to find an absence of the wit, humour and delight that... Read more
Published 4 months ago by MacPablo

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