It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters. It begins with a murder. And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself.

Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.

Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far-reaching - is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality.

It started in the realm of the Real and that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilizations, but at the centre of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether.

Print length

640 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Orbit
Publication date

7 Oct. 2010
Dimensions

16 x 5 x 24 cm
ISBN-10

1841498939
ISBN-13

978-1841498935
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Product description

Review

Balances high concepts and macrocosmic scale with deft characterisation and the kind of excitement expected from his acclaimed Culture series (SciFiNow)

Book Description

SURFACE DETAIL is Iain M. Banks' new Culture novel, a breathtaking achievement from a writer whose body of work is without parallel in the modern history of science fiction.

Start reading Surface Detail (Culture series Book 9) on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orbit; 1st edition (7 Oct. 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 640 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1841498939
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1841498935
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16 x 5 x 24 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 730,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 2,713 in High Tech Science Fiction
- 2,718 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)
- 3,992 in Space Fleet

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Mark S

A brilliant read, and a dark prophesy of the perils of virtual reality.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 July 2018

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This isn't the best of the Culture books, there are two or three passages in need of a thorough edit for that. However, I would highly recommend anyone to read this book.

Like most of the other Culture books, it's complex and multi-threaded. But all threads very neatly come together - they never seem pointless or contrived.

At the heart of this book is an examination of the consequences of backing-up an individual's soul, personality and memories and restoring them into any number of possible virtual realities. This allows, after death, for virtual heaven or virtual hell. Indeed, the ability to force a person against their will into a virtual hell to be eternally tormented is a terrifying thought.

A brilliant read, and thoroughly thought provoking. Mr Banks, we miss you.

3 people found this helpful

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Richard Bagshaw

An Enjoyable Space Opera, But a Little By the Numbers

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2014

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As a teenager, I fell in love with Iain M. Banks' Culture series. There is something compelling and uplifting about his idiosyncratic brand of swashbuckling space opera. The struggles of the human citizens and the benevolent, Godlike AI Minds of the Culture, a post-scarcity society, in a galaxy teaming with often unpleasant civilisations and alien species, allows Banks plenty of room to spin entertaining yarns. Yet in his commitment to solid characterisation, and touching on some weighty issues with real-world resonance, Banks prevents the enterprise from feeling too self-indulgent; offering depth as well as entertainment.

I would, in short, highly recommend all readers with a passing interest in sci-fi give the Culture series a read. Surface Detail, however, is perhaps not the best place to start. Whilst its plot stands alone, as do all of the Culture novels', it assumes a degree of prior knowledge about the universe that new readers may find offputting. Combined with a slow start and Banks' trademark multi-stranded, complex plotting, Surface Detail could prove a slog. A better introduction for interested readers would probably be Excession or Use of Weapons.

Established fans, however, will find Surface Detail comfortingly familiar. Droll and eccentric Minds are again at the forefront of the ensemble cast, including a brilliantly psychotic, bloodthirsty warship which must rank amongst the finest of Banks' creations. A thoroughly despicable, love-to-hate villain and his strong female antagonist again also feature prominently. And Banks does a superb job, as ever, of vividly imagining a political quagmire into which the Culture is drawn, and in which its altruism runs afoul of the law of unintended consequences. For all of the ultimate moral simplicity of Surface Detail's plot, Banks does not shy away from tragic flaws in his heroes, or ambiguity in their circumstances.

The novel's familiarity perhaps begs the question; what does Surface Detail add to the Culture canon? One cannot escape the feeling when reading the novel that perhaps Banks has already realised all of the big ideas this universe can accommodate. Long-time fans will recognise many elements of the plot, from the Culture citizens' anarchic hedonism and their AIs long-suffering indulgence, to the Minds' eccentric avatars and Special Circumstances' ruthless cool, that the book can feel redundant. What sets Surface Detail apart is the prominent role afforded virtual realities and their interaction with the 'Real'. In particular, the virtual Hells of fundamentalist civilisations are magnificently realised; and truly, shockingly ghastly in their horrific ingenuity. The novel is most successful when it thrusts its characters into these virtual worlds, and fully explores their possibilities. One of the most memorable and rewarding character arcs, for instance, is that of Chay. An academic on an undercovering factfinding mission to her civilisation's officially-nonexistent Hell, she becomes trapped there. In the novel's few weeks of real-time action, Chay loses her mind, lives a quiet life of monastic ascetism in an imagined mediaeval world, and is reborn as an Angel of Death. Her sorrow for the life she has left behind, and her endurance in the face of unimaginable suffering, offer Surface Detail's most touching moments. However, whilst interesting and beautifully-realised, this is territory which has been ably covered by other SF writers, and Banks has little new to add.

Looking beyond Surface Detail's intricate plotting and lively, engaging prose, some structural flaws also become apparent. The human characters are eclipsed by the Minds not only in their relevance to the plot - beside these supremely intelligent, powerful machines, mere mortals have little heft - but also personality. The Quietus agent Nsokyi in particular feels underwritten, and her plot strand ultimately proves to be of little relevance to the denouement. Many of Banks' creations, too, feel superfluous; there are perhaps a few exotic alien species and ancient artefacts too many. This is not a short book, and better editing could have produced a leaner, faster-paced novel without sacrificing any of its depth.

With that said, a solid effort from Banks is more intriguing, thought-provoking and downright enjoyable than many writers at their best. As such, Surface Detail is well worth a read, but fans may find it a slightly by-the-numbers addition to the Culture series.

6 people found this helpful

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Julia

Wasted Potential

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 January 2016

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Wasted potential - that is how I would sum up this book.
Lets start with the Hells (and yes, that is plural). I thought initially that the depiction of the one that we saw was fantastic, and he really took the ''fire and brimstone'' concept beyond anything that I have ever seen. But why do we only ever see one Hell? Seems to me that all of these thousands of alien races with their thousands of different concepts of what constitutes horror could have made for some truly varied environments. Because of this, the Hell that we see ends up becoming repetitive as the same scenes of torture are replayed over and over again with only slight variations.
The ideas relating to transhumanism and virtual Heaven and Hell could easily have carried a whole book, but the whole revenge plot and the (ill- thought out) reintroduction of a past main character seems tacked on as most of his previous personality simply was not there. I found Ladeje to be a very blank, uninteresting character and Veppers had little characterisation beyond ''wealthy rapist.'' The psychotic AI warship was easily the best character - in that he actually had one.
I hate to say it, (especially as his cancer may or may not have been affecting him yet) but this seems like a very paint by numbers Culture novel. It is better than ''Inversions'' but a million miles off the ''Player of Games''.

2 people found this helpful

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At the heart of this narrative is a tale of a young woman's need for revenge

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 April 2015

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.
Iain M Banks crafts fantastic worlds where he doesn't simply look to the future but takes possibilities to their most grand, if not a times most extreme. In this book the main protagonist is Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body an illustration of her family’s shame. For her life belongs to a man whose hankering for power is without end. She will do anything for her liberty, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture; an anarchist utopian society that transverses space on planets, huge space orbitals and various space faring vessels. They can be considered munificent, progressive and almost infinitely ingenious though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any single person. With the backing of one of its most potent AI minds - and arguably unbalanced - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a war zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far-reaching - which is already raging within the digital realms such as virtual heavens and hells that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality. For physical death doesn't have to be fatal. It's a simple matter to upload your mind regularly and if your physical body suffers an accident, then a new one can be cloned and your mind popped back into it.

When you read Iain M Banks Culture novels you will realise that space opera can be so, so much more, and it's all done with a razor-sharp black humour – but always with such intelligent style.
.

One person found this helpful

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