Look to Windward - Iain M. Banks

If you are one of these people who likes science fiction that is heavy on the plot and light on the techno-babble, Iain M Banks is undoubtedly the man for you. Lets start with some background then. Iain M Banks, is the cunning pseudonym of literary author Iain Banks (solves the problem of bookshops trying to list entirely different books in the same place.) In both his guises, he is a witty, dark and suprising author with a truly weird mind. You almost certianly wouldn't want to meet this man's psyche in a dark alleyway! "Look to Windard" is one of his sci fi pieces. It's not the first in his ... more

Perhaps only a writer who disdains genre boundaries is capable of producing killer sci-fi these days. Perhaps everyone else tries too hard and Banks just writes the story that comes to him. Who can say ? Look to Windward is a jewel. There are great sense-of-wonder set pieces here. A whole 'orbital' as a backdrop, beautifully thought our megafauna, cleverly and sensitively drawn villain-species. All these combine to produce a science fiction classic. This is deceptive of course, because behind it all are recognisable themes and the villains are not really villains at all, no more than any ... more

After a whole (but dissconnected) series about the culture, we finally get to see them from the outside. As usual the story unfolds from several seemingly dissconnected parts, before finally assembling itself at the end. As with the last book those familliar with the Culture should read the first couple of chapters carefully as Banks is once again slipping the core of the plot past you with the skill of a matador or a magician.For those who are not already devotees of the Culture, Here is as good as any place to start ... more

"Look to Windward" is a highly satisfying "Culture" novel from Iain Banks. There are believable characters, and a strong plot - a Chelgrian diplomat comes to the orbital Masaq', supposedly to convince a fellow Chelgrian to return to his homeworld, but in fact on a mission so secret that he has been artificially made to forget it. There are also some very impressive scenes in which the characters explore the orbital, giving Banks the opportunity to exercise his geographical imagination. What fascinated me most though was the way Banks seems to be taking the Culture. So far, all these novels ... more

Ian Banks has spent the 1990's writing some of bravest and most imaginative sci-fi in the cannon, so it was with some excitement that I opened Look To Windward, his latest magnum-opus. I was not disappointed. The pyrotechnics of his earlier work have not disappeared, but they are more measured, developed and less hysterical than before. The vision of alien places and peoples is as bright and challenging as it ever was. But Look To Windward is a deeper, more rounded work than any of Bank's earlier efforts. The characters are drawn with a delicate empathy, and the idea that motivates the plot ... more