Iain M Banks: The Algebraist

[Dave]

from www.iainbanks.net :: the official site of author Iain (aka Iain M.) Banks

It is 4034 AD. Humanity has made it to the stars. Fassin Taak, a Slow Seer at the Court of the Nasqueron Dwellers, will be fortunate if he makes it to the end of the year.

The Nasqueron Dwellers inhabit a gas giant on the outskirts of the galaxy, in a system awaiting its wormhole connection to the rest of civilisation. In the meantime, they are dismissed as decadents living in a state of highly developed barbarism, hoarding data without order, hunting their own young and fighting pointless formal wars.

Seconded to a military-religious order he’s barely heard of – part of the baroque hierarchy of the Mercatoria, the latest galactic hegemony – Fassin Taak has to travel again amongst the Dwellers. He is in search of a secret hidden for half a billion years. But with each day that passes a war draws closer – a war that threatens to overwhelm everything and everyone he’s ever known.

As complex, turbulent, flamboyant and spectacular as the gas giant on which it is set, the new science fiction novel from Iain M. Banks is space opera on a truly epic scale.

This took me forever to finish. Not because it was boring, but because I was busy with other things, but I'm sure that had it been more gripping I would have found more time for it. It takes ages at the beginning to get into the main story.

This is not a 'Culture' novel. The perculiar Banksian AI's are not present, having been vanquished, despised and hunted down in this universe after a previous machine war.

There are some interesting ideas such as the r and a humans, and the idea of "delving" among beings who metabolise at a slower speed. The villain, Archimandrite Luseferous, is particularly evil.

In essence, this is just another 'Epic Journey of the Reluctant Hero' plot, http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/22442-origins-of-star-wars-saga.html

I wouldn't recommend this as your first Iain M Banks book. Read 'Use of Weapons' or 'Player of Games' or 'Against a Dark Backrgound' first.

 

[lazygun]

This one and "Inversions" are the only two that i have not read yet Dave,so thanks for the review i think i will pick it up soon.
Picked up "Inversions" and put it down again,as i have a block when it comes to king/queens/royalty theme books.
Think its all the long-winded oaths/fealtys/families etc i have found myself having to plough through to find the meat of the story.
Last one i read was "Look to Winward" and enjoyed it well enough,though found it rather slow-paced compared to his others.
I'm a Culture fan at heart i think.

 

[Dave]

I tried to read the Culture books in order and I did find the later ones less interesting. I liked the short story in 'The State of the Art' because it involved present day Earth and gave some context to the Culture. I think that's when I fully understood it.

I think the Culture is more realistic as a future for super-technological beings than most others. It is a complete antithesis to most Utopian science fiction futures I've read or watched, particularly the 'Star Trek' kind where everyone is so altruistic and politically correct. But neither does it have the harsh dystopian futures shown in other books, films and TV, apart from in 'Use of Weapons' which is very anti-war. Here we have a community who are so rich in terms of time and resources that they can have a 'playboy' lifestyle for the whole of their extended lifetimes. And unlike 'Star Trek', there is no concept of non-interference; they just love to meddle in the affairs of other worlds. But the Culture itself, the AIs and the Ships are even more interesting.

Anyway, as I said this is not a 'Culture' novel. This is pure space opera on a very grand scale covering huge distances, many worlds and civilisations. It is more like 'Dune'.

BTW I've also read Iain Banks book on Whiskey 'Raw Spirit' from which I not only learnt a lot about Whiskey, but quite a lot about him too. I think it is as close to an autobiography as you can get.

You learn trivia such as the fact that while he was a student at Stirling University he appeared as an extra in the final battle scene of 'Monty Python
and the Holy Grail'.

I've also read a few of his non-SF books. 'Whit' is one of the funniest books I've read, 'The Bridge' is very surreal, 'Canal Dreams' is compared to a Graeme Green thriller, and 'The Wasp Factory' is just plain weird.

 

[gully_foyle]

As opposed to imported_lazygun, I have only read the Algebraist and Inversions. Inversions I can take or leave, well written, but I'm more hard SF. However, The Algebraist was an absolute hoot. Once I got past the confusion of a lot of background setup it was a wonderfully paced thrill. I was upset when it reached the end because I didn't want it to stop. But I guess the best thing about The Algebraist was that it brought me back to SF. I'm keen to read the culture books, I have heard that Excession is particularly good, but for now I am rediscovering the ABC's of SF, Asimov, Bester, Clarke (yes, this is a Simpsons quote).

 

[Chupacobra]

I'm keen to read the culture books, I have heard that Excession is particularly good,

Excession is indeed brilliant. I read it for the first time a few weeks ago, and was that impressed that I'm currently re-reading the other Culture novels that I have.

I've read almost all of the Culture novels, and enjoyed every one of them. Cannot recommend them highly enough.

I'll be trying The Algebraist next.

 

[iansales]

I've read all of Banks's books, both sf and mainstream - including Raw Spirit (and I hate whisky) and his latest, The Steep Approach to Garbadale. I agree that Excession is one of the better Culture novels, although I still like Consider Phlebas a lot. I was a bit disappointed with The Algebraist - I thought the Dwellers were unconvincing, and the plot fell apart some three-quarters of the way through.

 

[pipecad]

Wow, I thought The Algebraist was one of Banks' best works! It did take a few pages to get going, but from that point on I couldn't get enough of it. And it's got that unique blend of tech and humor that (almost) no one but Banks can manage. Terrific stuff, and yes, I wished it were 1,000 pages longer. I love the Culture novels, but thought The Algebraist was perfect Hugo/Nebula material. And I got the feeling that Banks' had a great time writing it (couldn't tell you exactly why, but hey, it's a feeling).

 

[Moonbat]

I have read most of Banks' SF novels and I didn't finnish The Algebraist. I tried twice and I raced through some of his other ones. Excession is one of my favorites and player of games. I thought the Algebraist like Turn to Spinward(?) were alot slower than the ealier ones. I did like the whole time gravity play of the Gas giants, I thought that was good, but apart from something big building up and the guy going to see the (whatever they were) Gas giant aliens I wasn't really interested. I'm not sure I've even got that book with me now having moved to a smaller place.
Am I right that Turn to Spinward and then Algebraist are Banks' tatest two SF books. I was waiting a while for Algebraist to come out and haven't seen any more.

 

[iansales]

Yes, Look to Windward and The Algebraist are Banks' last two sf novels. A new Culture novel, Matter, will be published in Feb 2008.

 

[Heroin]

Initially I didn't really enjoy The Algebraist but found myself wanting to re-read it. Since then I've grown to really quite like it.

Sorry for this awful question but, since I'm only a casual Banks reader, could someone possibly point out if this is set pre/post Culture? Thanks.

 

[gully_foyle]

Initially I didn't really enjoy The Algebraist but found myself wanting to re-read it. Since then I've grown to really quite like it.

Sorry for this awful question but, since I'm only a casual Banks reader, could someone possibly point out if this is set pre/post Culture? Thanks.

It's not set in the Culture universe at all. The Culture predated earth human civilisation whereas the universe of The Algebraist is set a couple of millenia into the future (if my memory serves me right).

 

[icundell]

Inversions I can take or leave, well written, but I'm more hard SF.

Not finished Algebraist yet - and am finding it a little self-absorbed and lacking the charm of earlier Culture novels.

But just wanted to say that I would argue that Inversions is hard SF - it just hides the fact really really well.

 

[gil]

I appreciate Banks's sf much more than his mainstream novels, in general.

I know The Algebraist has come in for a bit of stick, but it really is a well-imagined book. No-one else, as far as I can remember, has done much with gas giant flora and fauna, though I seem to remember that Heinlein, EE Smith and Eric Frank Russell all featured entities from gas giants.

I was also entertained by his description of the invading navy, and the difficulties of engaging in classic space battle with very fast fleets.

I can't wait for the next one.

 

[gully_foyle]

No-one else, as far as I can remember, has done much with gas giant flora and fauna, though I seem to remember that Heinlein, EE Smith and Eric Frank Russell all featured entities from gas giants.

Some of the creatures (memory not working well here, can't recall there names) were similar to the manta ray type creatures in the Arthur C Clarke short story Meeting with Medusa, which also seemed to influence the massive floating creatures in Look to Windward.

 

[Rich_SP]

I absolutely loved this book, I would still stay that I am primarily a Culture fan, but this really blew me away. the Dweelers are such an enjoyable race to get to know and I loved how (SPOILER) the humans got all worried about the invading fleet, only for them to be blown away almost instantly by the superior Dwellers. absolutley hilarious for all the build up and the whole 'are the Dwellers actually that advanced or are theu just boasting?'.
the attitude of their whole race is absolutley hilarious, would love for Banks to go back to 'em some day.
Dave u talked breifly about his non-SF books, and everyone! they are also brilliant. I have read most of them (bout 4 left) and I would recommend: The Bridge, my favourite, wonderfully surreal, the Crow Road which is probably the most main stream of any of his books, and Canal Dreams which is a wonderful slow builder that ends up with some fantastically violent battles.
Complicity and The Wasp Factory also deserve honaurable mentions, although i'll warn you they both contain some pretty stomach churning scenes.

 

[HeadMaster@]

Hmm, I must admit that I found The Algebraist a bit confusing and complex. One of the "mental" exercises I needed to do was getting overall picture. So I could relate to the story and the characters. So I read the first chapters twice . (could be that I am really slooowwww )

And the second issue was when I at last finished it , I wanted to read more which is a good thing or is it just because Iain did not supply me with enough substance that could give me end i felt comfortable with.

But I a, going to read it again, just because Banks is and excellent writer that usually has good grasp on highly complex stories.

Headmaster

 

[Dianne C.]

The first time I read this, I guess I only concentrated on the events, action, and sci fi features (species, technology, etc). This second read I'm thinking the narrative is a means to explore the various justifications and methods of warfare.

Do the dwellers have it right? Is ritualized warfare the only way to go? Can a culture that hunts down and skins their own children for trophies have it right? (They themselves are basically their own evolutionary force).

Luciferous the evil dictator and megalomaniac looking for the key to control, the Ulubis Mercatoria thinking it is ok to attack a seemingly dunderheaded species to grab a resource they believe will save them, the Dwellers utterly destroying any threats or potential threats but only after they themselves have been attacked - self-defense with a 'plus'.

I discovered one of the Dweller contentions working in today's world, just today! When Seer Taak asked if they were going to try to muzzle him from revealing facts about the Dweller's secret planetary defense craft, they said they wouldn't bother because likely nobody would believe him anyway - so go talk all you like, they said.

Then today, I heard an interview on CBC radio with play write David Hare. I turned it on just as he and the interviewer were discussing some bit in one of his plays where it is revealed that, in real life, the Americans got everybody else to back off in Afghanistan when they thought they were close to finding bin Laden, so they would be the ones to get the glory and their revenge. The interviewer asked if that was really true. Mr. Hare said that it was, and he knows that because people will tell things to play writes they wouldn't tell to journalists; and he didn't have to reveal his source, because it was a play.

Possible moral of this story: A lot of fact is hidden in fiction. lol

But, back to the Dwellers. Aren't they the ultimate passive aggressive types! But funny. Just going about their own lives, ignoring all the little mosquitos - the Quick; most of them surprised themselves that they had some big huge monster weapon, but not even worried about their own ignorance. Irrelevant. In a long-lived society that feels no physical pain, the major threat to your species would be boredom. In the time frame of the novel, the bored ones have already been weeded out of the gene pool, and look what is left! It's hilarious! Stoner's that fight for kudos.

And Seer Taak is not the moralist hero. Oh no, he's hooked up with the allies of the megalomaniac. What a hoot!

 

[J-WO]

There's definitely more scope for further novels in that universe. It's like Banks went for an anti-culture. Persecuted AI, despotic government etc. In fact there seems to be a tongue in cheek nod to the Culture when that guy who tortures Taak says 'You're one of those people who believe in a society where everyone is nice to each other, aren't you?' Or words to that effect.

I suppose you could make the argument that the Culture is the creation of a young, idealistic writer whereas the Mercatoria is one of hard-earned experience.

 

[bobbo19]

jsut finished the book and gotta say it was great. first non- culture book i have read and it was superb! Particualarly liked the Dwellers Hyper Weapon and the Archimandrite Luseferous

 

[Andrew Short]

I'm starting this book now. similarly to bobbo its my first non culture book and i'm looking forward to it.