the algebraist

I've never really understood why people like Use of Weapons so much. It has a great twist, but that's about it for me. It's probably the worst of his Culture books, imo.
 
Megabump but I'm listening to this on audio book right now.

It feels very Warhammer 40k. The introduction to one of the characters, and his punchball torture method is prime games workshop style material!

This is my third Banks book. I have read:

- Consider Phelbas (I gave it 3/5, can't remember it well at all! I don't remember most books when I read them to be honest, must be the aphantasia)
- Transition - (I gave it 5*)

This is settling into a 4* at 20% through.

Not a fan of this narrator though.
 
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I have Matter and The Algebraist still to read.

Stick with him Mangara, Banks was a solid writer.
 
I loved the Algebraist, thought it was a kind of contrast to the Culture in that there wasn't any AIs, and instead of humanity being ruled by AIs they're ruled by other aliens. Y'sul was one of my favourite characters from any sf. Also Luseferous was scary.
Green said:
I've never really understood why people like Use of Weapons so much. It has a great twist, but that's about it for me. It's probably the worst of his Culture books, imo.
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Agreed. I never really got this one, just got confused with the plot and it was never clear what was going on (this may just be me though).
 
AE35Unit said:
Ugh they have to spoil it by putting sex scenes in. Ugh
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They?
I've found over many years of reading that you don't actually have to read every word. There are several books I've read where I've skipped a scene that I wasn't entirely happy about, and found that it really makes very little difference to the plot and my enjoyment of the other 98% of the plot. There are two or three torture and death scenes in one of David Weber's Safehold series volumes that are a little too graphic for me - I just skip the chapters if I'm rereading them.
 
I never really understood the point of sex scenes in books or movies. Yeah, we get it. You're in love. Fade out and cut to the next bit.
 
Rodders said:
I never really understood the point of sex scenes in books or movies. Yeah, we get it. You're in love. Fade out and cut to the next bit.
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For me, if a character goes through some change in outlook because of the sex then it's perfectly viable. They realise they love (or don't love) the other person, say. That's a sex scene that's moving the plot (as well as the Earth).
 
The Algebraist isn't my favourite Banks novel but I think a few more books set in that universe might well have produced some of his best. This may be a 'hot take' but the techno-utopia optimism of the Culture is something of a young man's creation whereas the troubled and cynical Mercatoria is more that of a middle aged man's.
 
I have Matter and The Algebraist on my list of books that i want to read this year. I have to confess that i have struggled with Banks's non-Culture books and i have heard that this can be a tough read, so i'll read it last.
 
I found it quite a slow read and it's far from being my favourite of his but I did very much like it and I think, but can't remember for sure, that it might have been my first book by Banks. So it was enough to get me reading more.
 
Rodders said:
I never really understood the point of sex scenes in books or movies. Yeah, we get it. You're in love. Fade out and cut to the next bit.
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There is a saying in the movie business that breasts are the cheapest special effects.
the fact is that nudity/sex just sells, however lowbrow/ annoying it may be.

having said that, I dont really recall too much gratuitous or graphic sex in Banks, as found in Peter F Hamilton, for example.
 
Agreed that Sex scenes aren't really Banks's style, for which i am eternally grateful.
 
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