Against a Dark Background

[biodroid]

A friend lent me this one. Is it any good? I stopped reading Surface Detail but intend to get back to it. I just thought it was trying to tell a story that doesn't move forward and jumps around a lot.

 

[iansales]

It's probably my favourite Banks novel.

 

[J-WO]

Its a lot more straight ahead than SD in terms of plot and viewpoint. Its essentially a quest story.

 

[Fried Egg]

I really didn't like this book but it was probably one of the first SF books I ever read so that might have something to do with it. I should probably try reading it again now but with so many other books I'm itching to read on my shelf, it's not going to happen.

 

[iansales]

My review of it is here.

 

[Rodders]

I tried to read this when it first came out, but lost interest. Maybe because i was expecting a Culture novel and didn't get one. I should go back and give it another go.

 

[Vertigo]

There has been a feir bit of discussion on this book elsewhere and I seem to recall the general consensus was pretty mixed. Some loved it (myself included) and some hated it. As J-WO says it is essentially a quest story and really borrows a lot of those sort of ideas from Fantasy but is very definitely set in an SF future. So it might appeal to fantasy readers who like the quest style of story. It is very different from his more normal Culture stories and I seem to recall Banks warning that it is much darker than his normal work.

 

[biodroid]

Vertigo - sorry, I couldn't find any info on this book in this forum so I just posted a new thread.

 

[Vertigo]

Don't worry - I seem to recall the discussions were a little scattered about in non-obvious threads rather than a thread just for this book. I think maybe there was some in a thread on people's favourite Banks book. I have no problem with it having it's own thread; in fact I reckon it deserves it

 

[biodroid]

Thanks!!

 

[gully_foyle]

I think all of M. Banks work should be read, but this was my least favourite. Maybe I should give it another go, cause I don't remember much. My impression was that it lacked some of the wit of the Culture novels.

 

[Vertigo]

I think that's very true Gully, it didn't have nearly as much humour but then, as I said, I seem to recall Banks warning his readers that it was much darker than his normal offerings.

 

[iansales]

Strange. I thought it was really funny.

 

[Rane Longfox]

Other than the Lazy Gun itself, this book really didn't grab me at all, I have to admit. Didn't feel it was up to the level of his Culture stuff.

 

[clovis-man]

I probably shouldn't comment, since I have liked everything he's written. But I certainly didn't see any slacking off in quality with this novel. The only thing of his that I had to struggle to finish was his his traversal of Scotch distilleries, Raw Spirit.

Basically, I think that one's expectations may sometimes surpass the reality of the situation, esp. vis-a-vis the Culture milieu. Personally, I think that the variety of his work helps keep my interest up. Otherwise, I could just be reading an interminable series of detective stories.

 

[williamjm]

I think that's very true Gully, it didn't have nearly as much humour but then, as I said, I seem to recall Banks warning his readers that it was much darker than his normal offerings.

I don't really remember it being any darker than many of his other books, and I'd say there is as much humour as there is in most of them.

I wasn't a huge fan of it, though, and I'd rank it as one of the weakest of Banks' SF novels. It's a reasonably entertaining read but nothing more than that, and I didn't find the ideas, characters or setting to be particularly interesting.

 

[magillaonfire]

This was the 1st Banks novel I'd ventured into. Started it once and put it down then picked it up again. I've now re-read it about 4-5 times and thoroughly enjoyed it each time. Especially good chapter dealing with a "castle/prison". Have picked up a number of other of his books and liked them all. Just got into the first of his "Culture" series and would recommend it to any and all.

 

[lazygun]

Well worth sticking with to the end,regardless of the writing style.
Always found it true to his culture stories but different.