"Surface Detail" - IMB's Next Culture Novel [Spoilers].

[Big Orange]

OK, Banks has done a new Culture novel, which titled Surfact Detail, here's an article on book (which has an interesting art cover) and here's the blurb:

It starts with a young woman being murdered. Miraculously, a secret deal means she lives again within the Culture. Now, she vows to return and kill her own murderer. Meanwhile, a war in heaven is brewing. Or rather a war between the Heavens. Heavens are the network of uploaded consciousnesses - a cyber life after death. But where there are Heavens, Hells soon follow. Wars between these realms are formal digital affairs, but now there are rumors of secret factories building warships and all signs point to the factions of the long-dead and digitized. One man holds the key to making this war manifest in the Real. And a young woman wants her revenge on him.

Sounds promising and I didn't get the negative fuss around Matter, but I'm also getting into Alastair Reynolds in the last couple of years.

[Crazedwraith]

Going to take a good look at the length of this novel before thinking about buying it. If its a similar length to Matter than probably not. That book had a serious noise to content ratio problem.

[CaptJodan]

I'll probably pick it up as I did Matter once it comes out in soft cover. I like the Culture too much not to. I, too, don't get the hate of Matter. Yes, it does drag some in places, but it's still an easier read than UoW (I know, I know, sacrilege). More fun tech too.

[Vendetta]

I didn't think Matter was bad, but it wasn't great, and it did tend to go off into mad inventive digressions that were fun but didn't impact or add to the story.

OTOH, I thought Transition (the latest non-M, though it could have easily had the M) was fantastic.

[Marcus Aurelius]

I'll probably pick it up as I did Matter once it comes out in soft cover. I like the Culture too much not to. I, too, don't get the hate of Matter. Yes, it does drag some in places, but it's still an easier read than UoW (I know, I know, sacrilege). More fun tech too.

Of course Matter is easier read than Use of Weapons, but admitting that does not mean that UoW is not the better novel. War and Peace is pretty difficult to read, but after you have done it you can fully appreciate what an excellent piece of historical fiction it is. Genuinely good novels are rarely very easy to read on the first time and there is absolutely nothing pretentious in thinking so, unless you start to think that all difficult to read novels are good, which of course is not true.

[Starglider]

Matter spent half the book faffing about with uninteresting characters in pseudo-medieval-fantasy-land, and the rest of it was by Banks standards unoriginal. Look to Windward also had pacing issues although it was consistently interesting. While I am not expecting another Use of Weapons, hopefully this will be more in the vein of Excession.

[CaptJodan]

Of course Matter is easier read than Use of Weapons, but admitting that does not mean that UoW is not the better novel.

Can you please point out where I said Matter was the better novel? Oh wait, you can't.

War and Peace is pretty difficult to read, but after you have done it you can fully appreciate what an excellent piece of historical fiction it is. Genuinely good novels are rarely very easy to read on the first time and there is absolutely nothing pretentious in thinking so, unless you start to think that all difficult to read novels are good, which of course is not true.

As I said, sacrilege. Heresy. I make a simple comment that one is easier than the other, and suddenly it's that I'm actually comparing quality of story, that you must now defend. Calm down, I'm not butchering your sacred cow.

While I am not expecting another Use of Weapons, hopefully this will be more in the vein of Excession.

I second this.

[Zac Naloen]

I really enjoyed Matter, I didn't notice any drag at all really, I was totally absorbed in the world and what was going on.

Use of Weapons was equally engaging for me but the ending was gut renching.. there isn't anything close to that level of story-telling in Matter.

I'm looking forward to this one in a big way, if it has the characterisation of his earlier novels mixed with the ideas of the Excession, Matter etc then it could be fantastic.