August 07, 2005
Inversions by Iain M. Banks
The only sin is selfishness. So said the good Doctor. When she first expressed this opinion I was young enough initially to be puzzled and then to be impressed at what I took to be her profundity.
It was only later, in my middle age, when she was long gone from us, that I began to suspect that the opposite is just as true.
Iain M. Banks' latest return to the Culture series is one for the initiates. After you've read through the other books about the Culture, you can enjoy this one as a quiet, thoughtful rejoinder to the themes that Banks has explored in his earlier books. As can be seen from the quote above, it is filled with overt philosophy in places quite unlike Banks' usual style.
The writing style and the play on form, where the narrators cannot be trusted to provide the truth, is a strong reminder of the style developed by Gene Wolfe. The notion that this novel is even set in the same universe as the other Culture series is gradually revealed to the reader, of course, only if that reader has read the other Culture books and remembers their tropes.
The plot of the novel is told in two threads, one where the protagonist is a Doctor in the service of a King and the other where the hero is a bodyguard to a regicidal Protector General. The planet is never named, because it might as well be the whole universe in this book. These two kingdoms exist among other small kingdoms, republics and protectorates all of which were created when the great Empire collapsed because of catastrophic asteroid impacts on the planet. The setting is medieval as is befitting space opera, but there is not a single spaceship in the entire novel, except perhaps in the mind of the knowledgeable reader.
These two stories subtly interact and the characters have a history which is revealed in a gradual manner. Although I suspect a second reading of the book might procure some additional insights into the themes behind the plot.
This book is definitely not for someone looking for a good old space opera fix.
%T Inversions %A Iain M. Banks %I Orbit %D 1998 %G ISBN: 1857236262 (pb) %P 345 %K science-fiction
Review written: 2001/06/02
Posted by anoop at August 7, 2005 09:37 PM