Customer Reviews

The Hydrogen Sonata (A Culture Novel)

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(70)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

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.

I love the Culture universe and series, and this book is a worthy addition to it. However, I can't shake the feeling that the author either isn't trying very hard, or has run out of new things to say about the Culture. I found it much more predictable than any other Culture novel.

If you haven't yet read any of the Culture novels, I think this is a good one to start with as it has it all and there is little assumption that the reader knows anything up front; it is all explained as if it's a stand-alone book. Don't be put off by the fact that the first page is hard to get through; it gets easier later on, and Banks' style is a delight :)

Several times, the characters discuss whether there is any Meaning to it all, and I get the sense that Mr Banks himself isn't quite sure there is meaning in more Culture books; it in fact almost feels like a parody of itself in some ways.

The Culture series can always be counted on for showing Iain Banks' writing at its best and the Hydrogen Sonata proves to be no exception to the rule. If we haven't really had the full-on science-fiction ideas combined with explosive action experience since Excession, the series thereafter has shown a certain maturity, slowing down the pace to consider philosophical and metaphysical questions brought up in that book relating to the Other Side, on questions of Life, Death, Oblivion and the nature of what lies beyond the material world. Those questions are to the fore again in The Hydrogen Sonata, thoughtfully considered and brilliantly interweaved into the whole culture of the Culture, but happily Banks' writing and the plot surrounding the story is once again at a dazzling level of wit and brilliance that we haven't seen from this author for a long time indeed.

You might not expect that from the initial premise, where yet another civilisation, the Gzilt, have reached that stage in their evolution where, tired of existing with the mundane realm of matter and energy, they've made the collective decision to Sublime, crossing over to that indefinable place (between the seventh and eleventh dimensions we discover here) where all advanced cultures and civilisations eventually accede and effectively retire. Some are surprised that the Gzilt have decided to make the big jump at this stage in their development, but with only 23 days left until the Instigation, many have already crossed over, leaving only a small remainder of their people to take care of the final ceremonies and housekeeping formalities, fending off Scavenger races and generally dealing with any last minute business that might crop up. Inevitably, one ship turns up with a big surprise for the Gzilt, and suddenly chaos erupts. The ship Minds of the Culture, and undoubtedly Special Circumstances, are of course very interested in the rumours that abound around the incident and send ships in to observe the final frenetic days of the Gzilt.

Well, "observe" is of course a vague and rather passive term for the inquisitive intervention of the Culture, and of course it involves them gathering intelligence, searching for certain artifacts, transporting and in some cases reanimating stored individuals who might be able to satisfy their curiosity. If I'm totally honest, there's nothing new in this - there's a lot of running around and a lot of confusion where you aren't quite sure what's going on sometimes, the usual conspiracies, bad guys and big secrets which may or may not prove to be anything more than a red herring (I hate it when he does that), and some usual gung-ho intervention - sorry, observation - from the Culture ships and SC operatives (presumably, but who knows?), with an innocent - usually female - figure caught up in it all. It doesn't matter in the slightest when Banks has a concept as good as that of the Culture to play around with (if you haven't read a Culture book before, it won't matter either, because the author sums up the ideas concisely very early on, before getting straight on to business with little formality) and when his writing is as polished and witty as it is here, principally in all forms of interaction between the characters and, as you would expect, between the ship Minds.

After the rather serious and grim tone of more recent Culture books - fine though most of them have been - and great as it is to see Banks' writing at his funniest, it's the intelligence of the ideas underpinning the work and the deeper questions that they raise that make this science-fiction writing of the highest order. Since Look to Windward, the author has spent a great deal of time exploring these concepts relating to the non-material world beyond the Culture universe and offered tantalising glimpses of another reality, and he takes that another step further here in The Hydrogen Sonata, leaving just enough in reserve for further expansion. I'm not sure how long he can continue to draw this theme out, and indeed the latest book is somewhat repetitive of a formula established in all his recent SF books, but the richness and intelligence of the Culture concept still seems to inspire the author's best writing and The Hydrogen Sonata is the most entertaining work we've had from Mr Banks in a long time.

Very sad to think that there is unlikely to be any more Culture novels, Iain M Banks back to the Culture best.

Every time I read a Culture novel I am worried that the whole idea is getting stale, becoming overstretched, that it won' t quite live up to the hype that I have attached to it. Once again my fears
are unfounded. This book is (quite literally) sublime.

New characters that leap out of the page and are truly multi-dimensional underpin the history of the Culture and their erstwhile friends the Gzilt. Some secrets are worth keeping and people will go to extraordinary lengths to keep it that way.

A few loose ends/ characters that were not fully explored and I would have expected a little more plot line action from the arbite stuck in SIM. However a thoroughly enjoyable yarn from cover to cover.

Great story - and works well on the kindle version.

I would was looking forward to another good Culture novel but it was just very unexciting and really nothing much actually happens. No interesting concepts at all. Not recommended!!

I have read all of Iain M Banks books so you can consider me a fan. I enjoyed The Hydrogen Sonata but not for the first time with his books I found the ending somewhat abrupt and unsatisfactory. I felt there could have been so much more but the ending felt rushed as if a deadline had to be met and was more important than taking the story further. Iain M Banks is a great writer but sometimes I think it would be better if he spread the story across two or three books allowing greater depth. All to often the lead up is great and the nearer you get to the end it starts to fizzle out.

Don't get me wrong as I stated earlier I enjoyed it and don't regret buying it but it's not one that I will be reading again unlike the 'Player of Games' which I have read several times.

Have read a lot of Sci fi recently, and in the reviews people have critcised the cost, but i have to say Mr Banks latest pricey tome is worth the money.
If it had not been of the best quality i would not have given it 5 stars, true quality is always worth paying for and this is the best i have read this year by a mile. This man is simply the best sci fi author around at the moment,love the whole culture thing and it is laced with sharp humour and sarcasm from the interacting ship minds,very well written and entertaining.
Thanks very much, next please.