A tour de force; this was certainly the best SF book I’ve read for at least a year, probably longer. I hesitate to say it’s the best Culture book I’ve read only because it’s at least 4 years since I last read one (it was before I started keeping accurate records) which is in itself a bit shocking, since this has reminded me that Banks is, without a doubt, my favourite SF author (and up there for my non-SF authors as well).
Surface Detail has everything you could ask for. Multiple threads weave and dance their way through the story, both driving the plot on and giving it colour. Most of the characters have depth and completely believable motivation. Banks’ wry, dark humour is never far away. The pace is consistently maintained throughout, bringing the story to a comfortably tied off conclusion (though he does indulge in a little epilogue briefly telling us what happens to the main characters following the conclusion).
As for the plot itself I can only say I am, once again, completely in awe of Banks’ fertile imagination and once again put into mourning over his untimely demise. Surface Detail tells the story of a war over Hell. In a future where minds can be loaded into virtual realities, death does not have to mean oblivion. Upon death you can choose to return in a new body or continue to exist in a virtual reality. To all intents and purposes Heaven is now a reality; a virtual reality. However, some of the many civilisations throughout the galaxy believe they still need a Hell as well. A real one, not some mythological place requiring faith, but an alternative virtual reality in which those who have done wrong will suffer for all eternity with no parole; a place living wrongdoers can be made to visit, seeing what awaits them should they not mend their ways; a place where each civilisation can conjure up the most horrific evils and tortures to be wreaked upon the souls trapped there. Not all civilisations consider this to ‘humane’ (stretching that word to cover other species) and that such a barbarous concept should be opposed. And so a war is being fought over the right to run these Hells. A very civilised war that is waged only in a special virtual reality created for that purpose; no real death and carnage; no innocent civilians slaughtered; no piteous refugees. The only problem is what happens when one side starts losing? What will stop them from moving the war from the virtual to the real?
A great page turner that had me reading into the wee hours for several nights running!
Surface Detail has everything you could ask for. Multiple threads weave and dance their way through the story, both driving the plot on and giving it colour. Most of the characters have depth and completely believable motivation. Banks’ wry, dark humour is never far away. The pace is consistently maintained throughout, bringing the story to a comfortably tied off conclusion (though he does indulge in a little epilogue briefly telling us what happens to the main characters following the conclusion).
As for the plot itself I can only say I am, once again, completely in awe of Banks’ fertile imagination and once again put into mourning over his untimely demise. Surface Detail tells the story of a war over Hell. In a future where minds can be loaded into virtual realities, death does not have to mean oblivion. Upon death you can choose to return in a new body or continue to exist in a virtual reality. To all intents and purposes Heaven is now a reality; a virtual reality. However, some of the many civilisations throughout the galaxy believe they still need a Hell as well. A real one, not some mythological place requiring faith, but an alternative virtual reality in which those who have done wrong will suffer for all eternity with no parole; a place living wrongdoers can be made to visit, seeing what awaits them should they not mend their ways; a place where each civilisation can conjure up the most horrific evils and tortures to be wreaked upon the souls trapped there. Not all civilisations consider this to ‘humane’ (stretching that word to cover other species) and that such a barbarous concept should be opposed. And so a war is being fought over the right to run these Hells. A very civilised war that is waged only in a special virtual reality created for that purpose; no real death and carnage; no innocent civilians slaughtered; no piteous refugees. The only problem is what happens when one side starts losing? What will stop them from moving the war from the virtual to the real?
A great page turner that had me reading into the wee hours for several nights running!
