Compare Prices
Postage & Packaging: £2.​75
Postage & Packaging: £2.​75
Postage & Packaging: refer to website

Excession - Iain M. Banks

from (5 offers) · Product Information

Excession - Iain M. Banks

Quote-start

Space opera par excellence.

Quote-end

4 Jun 12th, 2003 

7 Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful

Advantages:
Great plot, good characters .

Disadvantages:
Technical, requires prior experience .

Recommendable Yes:

Detailed rating:

Would you read it again?

Story

Characters

Readability

How does it compare to other works by the same author?

LeckyT

LeckyT

About me:

Casual gamer, author of books about video games, online course instructor with a day job.

Member since:11.01.2001

Reviews:19

First, a slightly contraversial statement. Do not read this book if you are not a SciFi Banks fan. Not understanding the difference between Iain M. Banks and Iain Banks (of Wasp Factory fame) will cause extereme bewilderment.

That said, this book caused me genuine emotion - largely complete and utter disbelief. How does he consistently manage to get so much into his mind at one time, and yet pull it out in a coherent manner?

The story revolves around a conspiracy between the controlling AI of a community of spacecraft. Several communities, in fact. This conspiracy comes to light only because the wider spacefaring society comes under threat from an anomaly (the Excession) in the fabric of space.

And that is as much detail as I'm going to give - Banks fans will by now have rushed off to buy the book, since it is a pure Mind/Culture novel.

For the non-Banks fans (those who have yet to test the waters) there are a few words of warning. Some of the book will not make sense without having first read some background material : 'Player of Games', 'Use of Weapons' and 'The State of the Art' will be the best introductions to the scinece and spirit of the Culture.

Excession moves along at a great pace, blink and you'll miss the details, which makes speed-reading it almost impossible, but since it is so compelling, the temptation is to rush through just to see what happens.

This led to me reading it cover-to-cover four times before I really got to grips with every detail. I kid you not : it is a complex story with great plot twists.

In summary, a must-have for Iain M. Banks fans, but those not familiar with his space opera genre should lokk elsewhere first. 

How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines

exceptional

very helpful

helpful

somewhat helpful

not helpful

off topic

Products you might be interested in »

Engine City - Ken MacLeod

Engine City - Ken MacLeod

Fiction - Science fiction - ISBN: 1841492035

Rate it now

Buy now for only £ 0.61

Tim the Tiny Horse - Harry Hill

Tim the Tiny Horse - Harry Hill

Fiction - Science Fiction - ISBN: 0571229557, 0571229565

User reviews (2)

Buy now for only £ 1.66

Ender's Shadow - Orson Scott Card Doctor Who: The Sontaran Games - Jacqueline Rayner
Empire - Graham McNeill

Empire - Graham McNeill

Fiction - Science fiction - ISBN: 1844166899

Rate it now

Buy now for only £ 1.83

The Chrysalids - John Wyndham

The Chrysalids - John Wyndham

Fiction - Science Fiction - ISBN: 0786700416, 071810062X, 0140013083

User reviews (7)

Buy now for only £ 2.93

Comments about this review »

helen201274 12.06.2003 11:45

not a sci-fi fan myself so I won't be trying this - Thanx for making that clear - Helen x

Compare prices for Excession - Iain M. Banks »

1 to 5 out of 5 offers for Excession - Iain M. Banks Show all offers   sorted by: Price 
Excession - 185723457X

Excession - 185723457X

It's not easy to disturb a mega-utopia as vast as the one Iain M. Banks has created in his ... more

popular  Culture series, where life is devoted to
fun and ultra-high-tech isde rigueur. But more
than two  millennia ago the appearance--and
disappearance--of a ...

amazon marketplace books

Postage & Packaging£2.75
AvailabilityUsually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
 Visit Shop  >
amazon marketplace b...
Excession - Iain M. Banks

Excession - Iain M. Banks

It's not easy to disturb a mega-utopia as vast as the one Iain M. Banks has created in his ... more

popular  Culture series, where life is devoted to
fun and ultra-high-tech is de rigueur. But more
than two  millennia ago the appearance--and
disappearance--of a...

amazon books

Postage & Packaging£2.75
AvailabilityUsually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
 Visit Shop  >
amazon books
Excession - Iain M. Banks

Excession - Iain M. Banks

Excession

snazal.com

Postage & Packagingrefer to website
Availabilityin stock
 Visit Shop  >
snazal.com
Excession by Iain M. Banks

Excession by Iain M. Banks

Excession by Iain M. Banks ISBN: 9781857234572

aphrohead.com
Postage & Packaging£0.00
AvailabilityIn stock
 Visit Shop  >
aphrohead.com


More reviews »

Excession - Iain M. Banks - review by Fearghul

Advantages: Excellent plot and interesting twists...
Disadvantages: Rather complex and not for everyone...

Excession - Iain M. Banks - review by Fearghul Fearghul 18.03.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Excession - Iain M. Banks

Excession - Iain M. Banks - review by markos3

Advantages: Banks: Culture novel
Disadvantages: None.

Excession - Iain M. Banks - review by markos3 markos3 24.08.2000 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Excession - Iain M. Banks

Excession - Iain M. Banks - review by TheZigStar

Advantages: Mindblowing, fantastic
Disadvantages: None

Excession - Iain M. Banks - review by TheZigStar TheZigStar 15.12.2005 (15.12.2005) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Excession - Iain M. Banks

Excession - Iain M. Banks - review by dom00

Advantages: Not Many
Disadvantages: Nothing Happens

Excession - Iain M. Banks - review by dom00 dom00 17.07.2000 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: not helpful
Review of Excession - Iain M. Banks

Excession - Iain M. Banks - review by gorvifal3

Advantages: Highly imaginative, interesting characters, original story and concepts
Disadvantages: Complicated plot, complicated technical discussions

Excession - Iain M. Banks - review by gorvifal3 gorvifal3 24.04.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Excession - Iain M. Banks



Are you the manufacturer / provider of Excession - Iain M. Banks? Click here