Reviews

Excession by Iain M. Banks

gossamerwingedgazelle's review against another edition

4.0

A little groundwork for it could be that nearly everything is sentient. I loved the big ships and the scope of the cultures in the book. I thought that the plot ended up falling a little flat, and there was at least one character who I detested throughout the entire book (and detested not because she was evil, but because the author made her annoying and shallow but played her up as something other than spoiled. In fact, I thought that all of the human characters were a tad shallow, selfish and annoying. Perhaps there is too much Star Trek in me, but I dislike that view of humanity's future.) In the end, still a satisfying read, although it had a similar feel to Fire Upon the Deep and Hyperion, which were both better. I give this book eight G-type stars.

timinbc's review against another edition

4.0

Hard SF with snarky AIs, my favourite! But there are more-or-less-human characters too, each with a problem to deal with. And of course a bundle of wonderful ship names.

This one adds a whole range of different AIs who have developed personality quirks just we all have.

Maybe the best part is that these immensely capable Ship Minds are suddenly faced with something that scoffs at their best stuff. They clearly aren't used to that, and interesting things ensue.

If you like Banks, this will cement it. If you don't, ditto.

IMO it's one of the best Culture books.

testaroscia's review against another edition

3.0

I adore Banks, but this one felt a bit over produced, and I can't even put my finger on it. Maybe too many ships and characters with different allegiances and the ship equivalent of "He said" "she said" at every sentence just wore me down. On to the next one

ludabega's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

shkaff's review against another edition

5.0

Пятая часть в мире Культуры получилась снова соврешенно непохожей на предыдущие и в при этом отличной. Все же убеждаюсь, что Бэнкс пишет одну из лучших НФ. Цивилизация Культуры — содружество сильных искуственных интеллектов и людей (и еще разных других элиенов). В этом мире нет проблем с ресурсами (все делают роботы), поэтому ИИ и люди занимаются чем хотят. Большая часть их деятельности направлена на помощь более примитивным цивилизациям (про это были первые четыре книги). Теперь мы наконец узнаем больше о ИИ, которые по сути управляют Галактикой. Мир при этом довольно строго подчиняется законам физики, это вполне себе твердая НФ, что сильно добавляет ограничений (и интересности сюжету).

В этом вот мире внезапно появляется Артефакт — гигантский черный шар, свойств которого почти всемогущие ИИ не могут выяснить. Кажется — стандартная затравка для НФ космооперы? Экшен, пиу-пиу, геройские герои? А вот и нет, это не экшен, а шпионский детектив! Тут будет все атрибуты классного шпионского заворота, с предательствами, подлогами, загадочными личностями и политикой. Загадочный Артефакт — только фон, повод закрутить интригу.

Мне очень понравилось: написано как обычно мастерски, сюжетные поворты не оставят равнодушными, а герои окажутся глубокими и нетривиальными. Мне очень нравится, как Бэнкс ставит себе задачу написать какой-то жанр в заданном сеттинге, и каждый раз получается что-то необычное. Наконец, было интересно узнать побольше о целях и мотивах ИИ и внутреннем устройстве их общества.

Рекомендую всем, вам не обязательно читать прошлые книги, каждая история самодостаточна.

mike_nz's review against another edition

4.0

I really loved the other Iain M Banks Culture novels I've read. Consider Phlebas is one of my favourite books - but this just goes nowhere. The huge cast of characters just confused me and I found myself not caring about any of them. I struggled through 200 pages but had to give up after that - I just couldn't bare anymore.

I can't give it one star as any Iain M Banks book is worth checking out and has some merit but I personally found this tedious.

booknug's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

graslund's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

lotak's review against another edition

2.0

OK, after 5 books into the Culture series I should probably call it quits. Love the concept, but the actual stories are frequently a chore. It would have been a better book if I had skipped every Dajeil or Genar-Hofoen chapter. The Minds were more interesting. Without the human chapters, this would be another of those Iain Banks books that may be worth reading twice, but not worth reading once.

simotomaton's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0