A Culture Novel (Culture series) - The Hydrogen Sonata

The entire book is actually nothing but a chase after a single piece of information. We got some nice action, some lovely scenery, the usual assortment of Eccentric and outright weird Minds, Drones and humans and even some background on how the Culture came to be, but one kept wondering what the point was. The comparison to Excession is actually too kind: here the personalities of the Minds don't even get to shine through - in Excession, the, um, Excession was a big effing deal. Here, the chase after the Zidhren is kind of pointless and even the Minds involved in it admit that whatever the find is probably not going to influence the Gzilt Sublimation. As for the human characters, the oldest dude in the Culture is mildly interesting, but not enough. The main protagonist is an example of a favorite trope of a outsider thrown into the middle of a wide-reaching conspiracy and she acts her part well (the repeated gag with her cumbersome instrument is hilarious), but the problem is that even when her life is threatened, we don't really care, because the whole plotline is, as noted above, pointless. Same is true of the main antagonist, if he can indeed be called that - the big event is already set in motion and one just doesn't feel any threat or urgency. This is only underscored by the big revelation which is spoiled very early and when it finally comes, it doesn't come of as a big deal at all. With the religious aspect, one is reminded of one of the many Da Vinci Code knock-offs (like Khoury's 'The Last Templar') where the 'truth' to be revealed simply wouldn't have any effect on anything in any version of reality.
All in all, another opportunity wasted.

Another must read for Culture fans. One gets a little closer look at what it means to Sublime! Lastly, more insight into the Minds and their own "emotional" inner workings. Another great book from Iain M. Banks.

Well...Waited and waited for this book and I was not disappointed. The Hydrogen Sonata is an exciting and well written Culture Novel. A great heroine, steadfast Minds, and lots of great chase scenes make this another hit. The author has a real gift in making ordinary people into extraordinary characters. The only problem now is that I have to wait for another one to be published. More Culture, please!

I always pick up the new Culture novels - it's a series I greatly enjoy. I had a bit of a problem with the pacing at the end (as I did with Matter) but maybe I just wanted it to go on for ever.

I do feel that Banks could use a critical eye on some of his Mind dialogue (one or two pieces seem designed to appeal to the spotty teenager in the reader) but on the whole it's a great read.

A suggestion for the store: the X-Ray feature in Kindle books is great but it really ought to include the ships/Minds as characters. I can't understand how that was overlooked.

Banks scores highly with this Culture novel concerning the final moments of a civilisation and what could happen if the civilisation in question had possibly been bases on a lie. The novel also gives a glimpse into the workings of the Culture eschewing the usual Contact or Special Circumstances connections and focusing instead on the emergence of a group of interested Minds.

Banks' style is as sure as ever, and it is a wonderful educational read for those exploring the English language.

As a lifelong lover of Banks (preferably the Ian M Banks books) the Sonata is a significant step forward in terms of writing quality and plot development, and provides a much-awaited peek into the workings of the Minds. If you haven't read it, make sure you do.

Iain M Banks' Science Fiction has the mind expanding effects of a high quality, class A drug. He has to be one of the most original writers of this generation.
The Hydrogen Sonata takes us on a journey as huge and expansive as the Culture itself. Guided and watched over by the Minds, Vyr Cosssant hunts for information that may be absolutely crucial to the future course of her whole civilisation.
If you've read Iain M Banks before you won't be disappointed in this novel. If you haven't then you'll read some more after reading this one.

A classic Culture novel, with all the right elements.
Well written and a must for Culture devotees.
If you're not familiar with the series, read them in order (i.e. don't start with this one).
Loved it.

"Is it true your body was covered in over a hundred penises?"
"No. I think the most I ever had was about sixty, but that was slightly too many. I settled on fifty-three as the maximum. Even then it was very difficult maintaining an erection in all of them at the same time, even with four hearts."

Iain M. Banks's latest Culture novel is representative of almost everything that has made the series so great. There's enlightened interference, hedonism, spectacular setpieces, diversely characterized Minds, space battle, black humor, and outlandish foolishness (see the above quote). The book, like Surface Detail and Matter, is packed with detail from Banks's imagination, yet avoids the pacing and bloat issues that those two books suffered from.

The Culture, for those who don't know, is a post-scarcity civilization which features in many of Banks's sci-fi novels. One of its most notable features are its Minds, wildly powerful AIs with colorful names such as Smile, Tolerantly and Pressure Drop.

Similar to Excession, it's the Minds who take center stage. The Gzilt, an advanced humanoid civilization which almost joined the Culture way back when, are about to sublime. To sublime is to enter a sort of transcendent existence in another dimension, where the scope of your understanding and enjoyment can expand to levels unthinkable in the `Real." 23 days before the Gzilt's big day, an alien ship arrives bearing a somewhat controversial secret. The ship is destroyed, and ever curious Culture Minds opt to tackle the crisis. Vyr Cossont, a somewhat irreverent and obsessive artist on a `life-task' to master the nearly unplayable `Hydrogen Sonata,' finds herself on a mission to meet up with QiRia, the Oldest Man in the Culture, who may be able to shed some light on the aforementioned secret.

In Excession, an elite group of Culture Minds collaborated to deal with a potentially galaxy threatening event. Here, the Minds are amusingly aware that their mission could end up completely pointless, yet they interfere anyway. The word `matter' is somewhat of a buzzword in this novel (ironically, it's probably used more than in Matter). Does the Culture's interference matter? Does the Truth matter? Does it matter whether or not we're in a simulation? Do civilizations matter? Does anything matter? Different characters, from a previously sublimed Mind to QiRia himself, offer interesting perspectives. The result is that Banks provides some thought provoking commentary on the nature of meaning in an ancient galaxy populated by thousands of civilizations only minor blips in the scale of history.

But it's not all philosophy. This is a very fun book, from the setpieces to the humor. The Minds are as funny and witty as ever. I don't want to describe any of the more remarkable settings, as to do so would lessen the impact of reading about them for the first time. Banks's imagination is in full force here, and once again he delivers on a satisfying climax which takes place against a wonderfully weird background.

The characters are satisfying, even if none are as great as Zakalwe in Use of Weapons. It's the Minds, notably Caconym and Mistake Not..., as well as QiRia, who stand out as great creations. Cossont is an interesting figure with a compelling backstory, but her role as a protagonist becomes less important when the Culture Minds really start to drive the action. Banstegeyn, an antagonist, doesn't achieve the heights of villainry that Veppers of Surface Detail does, but in some ways he's a more compelling, if less cool, character, more prone to guilt and self-doubt. There's also an android whose continued delusion that they're in a simulation provides some funny moments.

The plot wraps up nicely, reflecting many of the book's themes. The Hydrogen Sonata really delivered on what I want in a Culture novel: a compelling story, richly written Minds, sense of wonder settings, big idea themes, and some laugh out loud moments.

I'm not sure this is Banks best, but nevertheless held me enthralled for two weeks. I do love a good long read. However, warning, you have to have high levels of concentration for this one. I found I could only really read a chapter at a time, then let it float in my awareness, then often as not going back to re-read sections. Definitely looking forward to his next Culture tome.

The first few culture stories you read nearly blow your mind, but by now it feels more like returning to well liked places. A fine read, though - LOTS of twists and turns. And should it be the first culture novel you read, I fully expect you to feel completely blown away! It is a coherent and fractally detailed universe you'll find yourself in.

I think it is safe to say that the Culture series has well and truly peaked (actually several books ago).

I won't bother writing a long detailed review. Suffice to say that I think Hydrogen Sonata is well past the peak of this fantastic series. Had it been the first Culture book I had read, I would not bother reading any others. I got the impression that Banks was sort of painting by numbers with this one (Inferior culture with a crisis? Check. Irreverent Minds? Check. Awesome weapons? Check. etc etc).

If, like me, you are a die-hard Culture fan you won't regret reading this book. But here's the thing, I can also honestly say that if you don't read it you're not missing anything. It is not a "must buy". If you're not (yet) a Culture fan, don't start with this book under any circumstances - you'll taint your view of one of the best SF series ever. Go back and start with Consider Phlebas.

Like his most recent works Banks is LONG on exposition and short on coming up with new things for the Culture to do. His action scenes are confusing and there are unnecessary plot lines, with too many extraneous characters.

The biggest problem I have with this book is that the people act all wrong. In this particular novel the 'Gzilt' are supposed to be subliming and on-par with the Culture technologically but the characters act out of place, like they were written for a different book. Their motivations were off and didn't make sense. For instance, why all the political intrigue? What was the point they were all subliming in days?

The premise of the book was pretty thin too. A possible secret irrelevant to the Culture, nearly unverifiable, and ultimately moot. Basically, imagine writing a spy thriller, with two major countries battling over whether you should tell a 15 year old kid Santa Claus isn't real.

I do love the "Culture" novels. They represent interesting ways of looking at interactions of alien civilizations. And, of course, they feature the Minds... those AIs who make up the real power of the Culture. I have had many a good snicker or outright laugh at Banks names for the Minds (check Wikipedia for a list). The keen intellects have a taste for whimsy, but a very, very serious side as enforcers for the Culture, especially those associated with Special Circumstances. I am pleased that Banks spends more time now with the Minds. His earlier stories are quite good, but he really has been taking off in the last few books.

My title refers to the fact that when I read some of the text, I hear the narrator from "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy," especially when Banks capitalizes words in sentences. For example I might write that the story revolves around A Really Big Secret, but when Banks writes something like that, you grin. (Well, I do.) Probably also has to do with Brit phrases creeping in now and then. All good with me. There is definitely a lot of humor in the book. Remember, Luke, Leia & Han in the garbage compartment? Banks goes one better (or should I say worse?) here, and it is perfectly plausible.

The truth about composer's intent for the piece of music called "The Hydrogen Sonata" has such irony as to be both sad and terribly funny. Banks has a lot of nice touches in the book. But the book is, as my title indicates, mostly serious. The humor is secondary or tertiary.

The book is a minor travelogue. Some very interesting places are visited. Imagine a race like McDevitt's Monument Builders, but building on a planetary scale. We visit an Orbital (a Ringworld type object), where in a remote desert section, an AI is building an analog to a waterworks... A place where some race drilled holes through mountains to turn them into giant organ pipes played by the wind... A repository of a race's artifacts, including... no, you'll have to read that part...

But there is this background of a race opting out of "The Real" to the "Sublime." This is, in some ways like the transcendence in "Fire in the Deep," but different. It is literally making a jump, as a race, to another dimension, where, to use the expression from another book, the individual minds (biological or AI) are "vastened." Banks has mentioned the Sublimed before, but we get a little closer look this time around, just as in "Surface Detail" we got a look at "life" in a Virtual Reality.

It's mostly a one-way trip. Supposedly everything is better... but is it? Communications with the Sublimed tend to be scarce. It's a definite "leap of faith" and our story takes place in the last 24 days before a race of humanoids (Gzilt) who helped found the "The Culture" (but who never joined it) takes the plunge to Sublime. By the way, Banks' choice of the the word Sublime is sublime!

That's when a ship from the inheritors of a race who had left some of their technology to the Gzilt, shows up. And their message is that the main text that help guide the Gzilt in building their civilization was a fraud. Murder happens, and a cover-up is attempted... But those snoopy Culture Minds get wind, and want to know the truth... and off we go!

Did I forget to mention that a very old humanoid, alive when the Culture was founded, is a key to the truth? Banks tries to address the question of how and more particularly why, someone would want to live that long (over 9000 years at the time of this book). There is some philosophical meat in the book, including the usual questions arising from making duplicates of one's self, and can one distinguish a simulation from reality.

There is plenty of action and many more interesting ideas than I have yet mentioned. Readers of Banks earlier Culture books know how different the Minds can be from each other. It appears that not only can the Minds become eccentrics, but that they can "go native" with non-Culture civilizations.

So many ideas! Banks reminds me why I fell in love with science fiction so long ago.

I have followed Mr. Banks faithfully since his first book and have never before found him quite so lacking in ideas and character development. Feels like he was on a tight deadline so a lot of the things he was developing in the book get truncated at very awkward, disconcerting or simply silly ways. This book, unlike his others, is almost not at all about humans (or non-AI aliens). It is all about the Minds (his notation for the uber-developed AI's that embody the ships of the Culture) and other AI-like entities. The problem with making it about the AIs is that it feels a lot like a cheat. They are all-seeing, all-powerful and when all else fails they cannot die since they just transmit their Mind elsewhere. Mr. Banks' naming convention around the Minds was an interesting construct for communicating how the Minds are so awesome they don't have to take themselves seriously. Unfortunately in this book he takes it way way farther than what is reasonable and you end up skipping pages and pages of 'email' headers with a long list of nonsensical or tongue-in-cheek names whose Minds then only appear for one or two sentences.

The core (and really only) story line: a super advanced civilization has voted to be Sublimed, passing into the mysterious beyond where high-tech folks go when they are bored of the 'real'. No spoiler here that just days before this event that has been planned for 2 generations is to take place, it is suddenly put in jeopardy because it turns out their main religion was possibly a farce. Big ho-hum. The Minds involved ask themselves "why are we even getting involved?" (I echo the question, though my answer would have been different: 'don't'). Even the Gzilt in the know (the race about to be sublimed), also wonder if it is worth it to make any fuss about this since a large percent of the population already thought their religion was bogus anyway. In any case, this 'threat' to the sublimation leads to a cascade of bloody senseless killings that are accepted and non-intervened or revenged by the Culture since The Minds are only focused on finding the Truth, all morality and justice be damned. I kept waiting for one of the author's truly excellent human or humanoid characters that are able to bridge the guileless Minds and human spirit, creating compelling story lines. If not, then at least some plot twist so I could start caring. Maybe some end-of-the-universe risk. Nah. How could I care about a few trillion beings either staying in the Real and living the awesome carefree, scarcity-free life of an advanced civilization or going into some eternal spiritual paradise. 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. Hard to be stressed either way. And btw, they could have it both ways and some go and some stay.

The one developed human character is basically taken along for a ride, and unlike other successful unwitting heroes, she never really rises above just being at best a silent passenger and at worst an anchor around the awesome avatars and Minds dealing with the situation. The author creates 2 characters that I thought had great potential and then bafflingly ignores, abandons of kills off without any further development. One is a really neat bodyguard android that has a flaw in his systems and thinks it is living in a simulation. I thought that was a promising premise. he does one heroic deed, then spends the rest of time asleep and finally get woken up to be killed off immediately. The second was one of the Minds, Caconym, one of the few which are actually more than just a silly name and a bunch of bold letters on the page, that gets a little bit of interesting character development at first and then completely disappears.

There is a third character worth noting that would no doubt be in a tie with Jar Jar Binks as one of the silliest creations in sci-fi dom. It is a 'familiar' named Pyan. We never really understand if it is a pet, a tolerant reincarnated second cousin, a machine or what. It is a small carpet-like thing whose sole addition to the story is to have 2-3 word non-sequiturs. Why is it there at all? why should we care?

If you have never read a book by this author, do NOT start with this one, or you will probably never pick up another one and his earlier works are well-worth the read. Surface Detail (Culture) is a great story that deals with deep and interesting issues like virtual slavery and torture. It is well-written and the Minds play a good role but are not the flawless excessively and annoyingly sarcastic Gods they play in this book.

I look forward to Mr. Banks going back to writing books that will make me savor every page and sadden me when I reach the end rather than this one that made me skip pages and wonder when it would finally end.

I do love the "Culture" novels. They represent interesting ways of looking at interactions of alien civilizations. And, of course, they feature the Minds... those AIs who make up the real power of the Culture. I have had many a good snicker or outright laugh at Banks names for the Minds (check Wikipedia for a list). The keen intellects have a taste for whimsy, but a very, very serious side as enforcers for the Culture, especially those associated with Special Circumstances. I am pleased that Banks spends more time now with the Minds. His earlier stories are quite good, but he really has been taking off in the last few books.

My title refers to the fact that when I read some of the text, I hear the narrator from "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy," especially when Banks capitalizes words in sentences. For example I might write that the story revolves around A Really Big Secret, but when Banks writes something like that, you grin. (Well, I do.) Probably also has to do with Brit phrases creeping in now and then. All good with me. There is definitely a lot of humor in the book. Remember, Luke, Leia & Han in the garbage compartment? Banks goes one better (or should I say worse?) here, and it is perfectly plausible.

The truth about composer's intent for the piece of music called "The Hydrogen Sonata" has such irony as to be both sad and terribly funny. Banks has a lot of nice touches in the book. But the book is, as my title indicates, mostly serious. The humor is secondary or tertiary.

The book is a minor travelogue. Some very interesting places are visited. Imagine a race like McDevitt's Monument Builders, but building on a planetary scale. We visit an Orbital (a Ringworld type object), where in a remote desert section, an AI is building an analog to a waterworks... A place where some race drilled holes through mountains to turn them into giant organ pipes played by the wind... A repository of a race's artifacts, including... no, you'll have to read that part...

But there is this background of a race opting out of "The Real" to the "Sublime." This is, in some ways like the transcendence in "Fire in the Deep," but different. It is literally making a jump, as a race, to another dimension, where, to use the expression from another book, the individual minds (biological or AI) are "vastened." Banks has mentioned the Sublimed before, but we get a little closer look this time around, just as in "Surface Detail" we got a look at "life" in a Virtual Reality.

It's mostly a one-way trip. Supposedly everything is better... but is it? Communications with the Sublimed tend to be scarce. It's a definite "leap of faith" and our story takes place in the last 24 days before a race of humanoids (Gzilt) who helped found the "The Culture" (but who never joined it) takes the plunge to Sublime. By the way, Banks' choice of the the word Sublime is sublime!

That's when a ship from the inheritors of a race who had left some of their technology to the Gzilt, shows up. And their message is that the main text that help guide the Gzilt in building their civilization was a fraud. Murder happens, and a cover-up is attempted... But those snoopy Culture Minds get wind, and want to know the truth... and off we go!

Did I forget to mention that a very old humanoid, alive when the Culture was founded, is a key to the truth? Banks tries to address the question of how and more particularly why, someone would want to live that long (over 9000 years at the time of this book). There is some philosophical meat in the book, including the usual questions arising from making duplicates of one's self, and can one distinguish a simulation from reality.

There is plenty of action and many more interesting ideas than I have yet mentioned. Readers of Banks earlier Culture books know how different the Minds can be from each other. It appears that not only can the Minds become eccentrics, but that they can "go native" with non-Culture civilizations.

So many ideas! Banks reminds me why I fell in love with science fiction so long ago.

I have followed Mr. Banks faithfully since his first book and have never before found him quite so lacking in ideas and character development. Feels like he was on a tight deadline so a lot of the things he was developing in the book get truncated at very awkward, disconcerting or simply silly ways. This book, unlike his others, is almost not at all about humans (or non-AI aliens). It is all about the Minds (his notation for the uber-developed AI's that embody the ships of the Culture) and other AI-like entities. The problem with making it about the AIs is that it feels a lot like a cheat. They are all-seeing, all-powerful and when all else fails they cannot die since they just transmit their Mind elsewhere. Mr. Banks' naming convention around the Minds was an interesting construct for communicating how the Minds are so awesome they don't have to take themselves seriously. Unfortunately in this book he takes it way way farther than what is reasonable and you end up skipping pages and pages of 'email' headers with a long list of nonsensical or tongue-in-cheek names whose Minds then only appear for one or two sentences.

The core (and really only) story line: a super advanced civilization has voted to be Sublimed, passing into the mysterious beyond where high-tech folks go when they are bored of the 'real'. No spoiler here that just days before this event that has been planned for 2 generations is to take place, it is suddenly put in jeopardy because it turns out their main religion was possibly a farce. Big ho-hum. The Minds involved ask themselves "why are we even getting involved?" (I echo the question, though my answer would have been different: 'don't'). Even the Gzilt in the know (the race about to be sublimed), also wonder if it is worth it to make any fuss about this since a large percent of the population already thought their religion was bogus anyway. In any case, this 'threat' to the sublimation leads to a cascade of bloody senseless killings that are accepted and non-intervened or revenged by the Culture since The Minds are only focused on finding the Truth, all morality and justice be damned. I kept waiting for one of the author's truly excellent human or humanoid characters that are able to bridge the guileless Minds and human spirit, creating compelling story lines. If not, then at least some plot twist so I could start caring. Maybe some end-of-the-universe risk. Nah. How could I care about a few trillion beings either staying in the Real and living the awesome carefree, scarcity-free life of an advanced civilization or going into some eternal spiritual paradise. 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. Hard to be stressed either way. And btw, they could have it both ways and some go and some stay.

The one developed human character is basically taken along for a ride, and unlike other successful unwitting heroes, she never really rises above just being at best a silent passenger and at worst an anchor around the awesome avatars and Minds dealing with the situation. The author creates 2 characters that I thought had great potential and then bafflingly ignores, abandons of kills off without any further development. One is a really neat bodyguard android that has a flaw in his systems and thinks it is living in a simulation. I thought that was a promising premise. he does one heroic deed, then spends the rest of time asleep and finally get woken up to be killed off immediately. The second was one of the Minds, Caconym, one of the few which are actually more than just a silly name and a bunch of bold letters on the page, that gets a little bit of interesting character development at first and then completely disappears.

There is a third character worth noting that would no doubt be in a tie with Jar Jar Binks as one of the silliest creations in sci-fi dom. It is a 'familiar' named Pyan. We never really understand if it is a pet, a tolerant reincarnated second cousin, a machine or what. It is a small carpet-like thing whose sole addition to the story is to have 2-3 word non-sequiturs. Why is it there at all? why should we care?

If you have never read a book by this author, do NOT start with this one, or you will probably never pick up another one and his earlier works are well-worth the read. Surface Detail (Culture) is a great story that deals with deep and interesting issues like virtual slavery and torture. It is well-written and the Minds play a good role but are not the flawless excessively and annoyingly sarcastic Gods they play in this book.

I look forward to Mr. Banks going back to writing books that will make me savor every page and sadden me when I reach the end rather than this one that made me skip pages and wonder when it would finally end.

I went to the extraordinary step of acquiring a refund for this ebook.

I valiantly (and I stress the word) strove to understand any of what the writer was trying to impart. It made no sense.

Maybe it was just too Cultured for me or I just needed to Sublime to get it? Then again it might be living up to my initial `ten pages in' thought. It's drivel!

Sorry Ian I just did't get it. As an experiment in convoluted writing it probably works. Just not on me. I got to the halfway mark and gave up. Peter Eerden

(It must have taken tremendous courage and perseverance to write this book while terminally ill. That, I regret to say, does not make it a great book. ). Note: I really can't tell if this was correct or not. Quarry was certainly written during his illness. Hydrogen may or may not. The rest of my review stands.

Banks’ last great book, to me, was Look to Windward. In both his Culture and non-SF books starting with Dead Air (2002) he’s been going through the motions, secure in his rep as a Great Writer.

We know, and love, the Culture and it remains a singular example of a future Utopia. But, 8 or 9 books into it, minus the sheer inventiveness of Use of Weapons, Player of Games or even Inversions it’s getting stale. We know the Minds, their dialogs, their plots, their ship names . Matter, Algebraist all failed (IMHO) to move beyond their predecessors. Gone are the twists of Wasp Factory, Bridge. The ride is colorful, the plot secondary. The desire to make political or ethical points (and not necessarily ones I would disagree with) replace true novelty. I truly could not get into the characters, the suspense or care about things. Who cares? , as another critical reviewer put it, pretty much sums it up. The ideas are still occasionally there, but surrounded by so much familiar padding that I don’t. I could write the same review for Matter, Surface Detail or Algebraist - I’d be very hard put to tell you what they were about, besides Surface’s criticism of retribution-based religions.

Player of Games probably has the best ratio of ease of comprehension to story payoff of all the Cultures. Use of Weapons is probably the better novel, but its story-telling is, by design, confusing. Consider Phlebas, despite being an early story and rather simplistic, is not without its merits. Giving the same level of acclaim to later Banks novels as to his earlier ones detracts, in my opinion, of how powerful and inventive a writer he was at his height. This is a man who wrote entire chapters in phonetic Scottish and dared the reader to put up with it. This was also a man who wrote blistering anti-Capitalist diatribes, before amassing a huge vintage sport cars collection and, very belatedly, realizing that his frequent leftist/ecological lecturing was somewhat at odds with his own lifestyle choices.

In short, Banks the early writer was a much more interesting artist than Banks the latter. If you know and like Banks already, read Hydrogen. If not, start elsewhere.

I have been an avid follower of Iain M Banks for twenty five years since `Consider Phlebas' burst onto the scene single-handedly rescuing British science fiction from the post Orwellian dystopia navel-gazing doldrums. The Culture cycle stands out as a genre defining epic masterpiece and this tenth, and sadly last, novel ranks up there with `Consider...' & `Player of Games' marking a return to form following a couple of disappointing recent novels.

The Gzilt race are about to take the final step in the evolution of their civilisation by becoming one of the pan-dimensional Sublimed. Several Culture vessels are on their way to the home planet in a farewell gesture to one of the nearly founding races of the Culture while less evolved `Scavenger' races gather hoping to be granted rights to the soon to be abandoned Gzilt worlds. However, all is not sweetness and light. The prime tenet of the civilisation, The Book of Truth, is in danger of being discredited and factions within the Gzilt will stop at nothing to prevent this becoming common knowledge. So begins the race against the clock as various Culture ship Minds endeavour to discover the truth about the BoT by tracking down the memories of the oldest surviving Culture individual while the grumpy Gzilt faction tries to stop them. Much action and mayhem ensues.

As with many of the Culture novels, the sparkling wit of the magnificently named ship Minds steals the show but it is not the novel's raison d'être. It can be read on two levels, both as a rip-roaring & masterly bit of space opera and as a more metaphysical exploration of the afterlife and nature & value of truth; a hugely enjoyable novel with masses of depth. The underlying themes are even more poignant in the light of Banks' tragic death from cancer in June 2013 and I definitely felt a tinge of sadness on finishing this splendid book. He has, however, left us with a lasting legacy of cracking science fiction and laid the groundwork for the likes of Alastair Reynolds whose superb `Revelation' novels owe more than a passing nod to Banks' genius.

Any Iain Banks book automatically gets put on hold at the library. Triply so when it's a Culture novel. The Hydrogen Sonata is the latest Banks novel, and it's a romp and a fun read, but unfortunately, feels very much like an episode of American TV series pre-Buffy: status quo is reset and there's a bit of hollowness involved.
One of the biggest problems with writing a Culture novel is that the Culture is so technologically superior to most civilizations that they encounter that its ships and technology have no equal and face practically no resistance as they go about their tasks. To counter-balance that in this novel, Banks introduces the Gzilt, a civilization older than the Culture, and that was invited but declined to join the Culture during its setup phase.
As an elder race, the Gzilt has decided to Sublime, going off into hyper-dimensions (Banks clearly read quite a bit about string theory and incorporated what he learned into the novel) and saying goodbye to the Real. But before they can do so, they're contacted by a predecessor civilization which tells them of a terrible secret.

This secret was so terrible that it sparked off fratricide within the Gzilt, Prompting Culture ships to get involved in understanding the secret. You'll notice that at no point do I mention human/humanoid protagonists. That's because in the Culture, humanoids are relatively ineffectual compared to ships and their minds.

If you enjoyed Excession, you'll enjoy this book. There's very much a similar setup, with a group of Culture minds discussing amongst themselves what to do next, how to approach the problem, and possibly kibitz amongst each other with regards as to what the right thing to do is. The primary human protagonist is uninteresting, in that all that she's good at is getting lucky. She just gets dragged along by one event after another, and when she's finally done, she doesn't seem to do anything with what she knows.

Ultimately, though, the terrible secret isn't very terrible, and in fact, you get a foreshadowing of what the secret was the entire time, and the fact that status quo is more or less retained at the end of the novel despite the reveal makes the entire novel feel empty.

Would I recommend this novel? Yes. It's a fun read, even though the ending was a let down. However, if you've never read a Culture novel before, I'd recommend that you read Use of Weapons instead. That's one novel that's great throughout and doesn't feel like a let down at the end.

Mildly recommended.

I read this book as my first culture novel and it was hard to get into, took me 150 pages. More than I would usually put up with, but fortunately I was on holiday and it was all I had. Thank goodness I kept going. I loved the rest of the book and it kickstarted my love of the culture series which I can now say I have almost completed and am not really looking to not having any other culture novels left to read. This one still stands out for me as one of the best.

Iain M. Banks writes science fiction set in his Culture universe. The Culture is a galaxy-spanning society of multi-species humanoids and Minds, artificial intelligences that are all too human. Banks has envisioned what he calls a "post-scarcity" society, so technologically advanced that there is no money, little traditional economy, and everyone has pretty much anything they want. Refreshingly, the Culture is not earthlings; in fact, in an earlier short story, the Culture made brief contact with Earth and decided to pretty much leave Earth to itself for now.

While immensely powerful, the Culture has its rivals, and is surrounded by a number of other, less advanced species. The informal, loosely structured government of the Culture has a division that deals with those other species: Contact. And where those other species present a threat to the Culture, or are so outrageous as to offend the Culture's loose norms, then there's a part of Contact that isn't bound by Contact's usual moral strictures: Special Circumstances. Most of Banks' novels involve Special Circumstances, even if it isn't always obvious. Even if Special Circumstances' meddling doesn't always work out for the best.

Part of the fun of Culture stories is the ironic, self-mocking tone of the Culture. Many of the artificial intelligences - Minds - are space ships. And the ships give themselves names like Attitude Adjuster, Frank Exchange of Views, Serious Callers Only, Not Invented Here and a principle character of The Hydrogen Sonata, Mistake Not... Which turns out to be a shortened version of a much longer name: Mistake Not My Current State Of Joshing Gentle Peevishness For The Awesome And Terrible Majesty Of The Towering Seas Of Ire That Are Themselves The Milquetoast Shallows Fringing My Vast Oceans Of Wrath. And that reveal comes at the perfect moment, too.

The Minds - the ships themselves - and the various habitats managed by Minds are among Banks' characters. The challenge for Banks is to effectively and persuasively depict beings that thinks millions of times faster than humans, for whom a millisecond is the equivalent of a human lifetime. And at the same time to keep normal, slow-thinking humans relevant as characters. Through nine novels and one collection of short stories, Banks has done so, always entertainingly and sometimes brilliantly. You have to work to keep up in a Culture novel. But it is worth the effort.

Banks isn't afraid to experiment. In Use of Weapons (Culture), the two plot lines wrap around each other in tightening spirals to a truly staggering revelation. In Inversions (Culture), where the story involves seeing the Culture and Special Circumstances from the other side, Banks slowly and carefully reveals that that the reader is seeing different views of the same story. While The Hydrogen Sonata is a more traditional, linear story, the plot still has its non-traditional moments.

Nor is Banks afraid of tackling the Big Issues straight on. In the eerily prescient Consider Phlebas (Culture), we see one small episode in an intergalactic war between the Culture and Idirians. Idirian society is a theocracy, engaged in a jihad, whose slogan is "Idolatry is worse than carnage." Phelbas was written in 1987. In the later Look to Windward (Culture), Banks deals seriously with the psychological damage to humans and Minds from such a no-holds-barred war.

In The Hydrogen Sonata, Banks describes a society whose core involves a book of religious prophecy, The Book of Truth, and what happens when that book may have been fraudulent from the start. The disclosure, or threat of disclosure, comes at a critical time for the society. As Banks frequently does, the novel climaxes with a spasm of graphic violence in an unlikely setting involving unlikely characters. I promise that the last 50 pages of any Culture novel, emphatically including The Hydrogen Sonata, will grip you and leave you stunned.

A final characteristic of the Culture novels is moral ambiguity: it can be terribly hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Sometimes all of the characters are villains by any sensible definition. Bora Horza Gobuchul, the protagonist of Consider Phlebas, is an enemy agent, an amoral sociopath, but as he careens from disaster to debacle, he gains a great deal of a reader's sympathy. Similarly, the Minds and humans who try to find out the truth about the Book of Truth provoke escalating conflict, death and destruction. Does the truth matter? Is it worth the cost? Banks is much too good a writer to answer the questions he presents. But by asking the questions in the way he does, Banks forces you as a reader to think.

Sure, it's grand concept space opera. But it is superbly written, entertaining, imaginative and thought-provoking. WC urges you to give the Culture a visit. The Hydrogen Sonata is a fine place to start.

It's 25 years since Iain M Banks introduced us to the utopian "Culture" series of sci fi adventure books and "The Hydrogen Sonata" is the 13th in the series. One thing Banks does particularly well is to make his books completely accessible as stand alones, explaining the concept afresh each time without going over old ground for long time fans, of which there are many. In many ways, this is a good introduction for those who have yet to discover the joys of this excellent series because it's far more linear than some. He sometimes leaves even hardened "Culture" addicts struggling to work out what's going on with alternative realities before bringing them together, but there's little of that here.

At his best, Banks brings exciting plots, dry and sarcastic humour and thoughtful observations of a socio-political nature about how civilizations manage themselves and about faith in particular as well as looking at the benefits and losses of progress. All of those ingredients are here, with the main theme, following on from his last book in the series "Surface Detail" which was concerned with what we might term hell, turning to something he's addressed before - the "sublimation" of a civilization, the Gzilt, whereby they leave the real world in exchange for immateriality. Heaven if you like.

Naturally this is a momentous event as a whole civilization ends its existence leading to partying before hand and scavenging for the technical advances afterwards. When a secret revelation threatens this process, self-interest and war aren't far behind.

And yet for all that, it left me less enthusiastic than I was expecting and it's not, for me, the best of the series. In fairness people will debate strongly which book they like the best and the first one they read will often sit fairly high up on the list and it depends a bit on which aspect of the books appeals to you most. What's strange is that one of the things I love most about the books is the humour of the sentient ships and there's a lot of that here. In fact, the Culture ships feature rather more strongly than the often do in the books. While they do offer all the usual dry sarcasm we have come to expect from them, and many come with some terrific names (although even here they are less imaginative than usual), something just didn't seem right with the overall balance.

Perhaps it's relative lack of "human" (bio is a better word) characters to contrast with and perhaps it's just that the story isn't quite as exciting as usual. In fact, it's all a little predictable how things are going to work out. It's a very enjoyable book, as ever with Iain M Banks, but it just didn't have that "I cannot put this book down" quality that he often evokes.

There's still much to enjoy though. The title itself relates to one of the few bios who is trying to complete a piece of music perfectly before she undergoes the sublimation. Popularly known as "The Hydrogen Sonata", its full name is "TC Vilabier's 26th String-Specific Sonata For An Instrument Yet To Be Invented". If that's your type of humour, you will very much enjoy the "Culture" series.

It's far from an unlucky 13th for the reader. All the ingredients are the same and it's good, but somehow the ratio of components just isn't quite right somehow. Despite the theme, it isn't quite "sublime", although few do space opera better than Banks.

Like children growing up, People and intelligent machines evolve their way through millennia towards Sublimation, transference of their minds and bodies to a higher order universe. Some, like the citizens of the Culture, remain in our universe despite being sufficiently advanced to Sublime. Others, like the Gzilt, tumble headlong towards this next evolution. The Gzilt are only a few days away from Subliming, but a disturbing disclosure from the Zidhren - one of the Gzilt's mentor cultures - threatens their future. In the end it's down to a four-armed musician with just the right chance acquaintance and the curiosity and interference of the Culture to preserve the Gzilt's chosen future.

It's hard to believe this is the tenth Culture novel: it still feels fresh to me. Banks' writing is beautiful, witty and engaging, pulling the willing reader into the Culture universe and keeping them there. This book has everything I love about the Culture: well-meaning Culture interference, the god-like Culture ships, and reflection upon myriad aspects of life. What does it mean to grow up? How do you make the decision to Sublime to a world which you've heard is wonderful, but which you have nothing but words to prove it? When have you lived too long, and what does it require mentally?

I found the characters endearing, and the story engaging and interesting. Even to the end I had ways I hoped it would work out, but it could have gone either way. There is the standard share of villains and heroes, each with their own motives and justifications and darkness.

This is a good Culture book. Though not quite reaching the pinnacle I felt with The Player of Games (Culture), this is easily in the top three of the series, and the top ten books I've read in the last ten years.

If you're a sci-fi fan and haven't experienced the Culture, I strongly recommend reading this book, and then perhaps Player of Games, and some of the others. Although the universe is self-consistent, each book stands alone, and they can be read in any order.

Well done, Mr. Banks! 5 stars, as usual where your writing is concerned :)

HS is ultimately disappointing. By now the series is losing the magic that brought me to the Culture. This probably started happened when the books started printing the author's name in a font 10X larger than the title, and proclaiming/branding on each one "A Culture Novel."

If you like the Culture stories already, this is a good read, and is full of the techy toys like 'knife missles' and plotting that make the series engaging. In this one, those of us who are interested get to hear more about Subliming. It all becomes increasingly self-referential, like the Deep Space Nine series of Star Trek.

The plot holes are hard to miss, for example the entire question as to why the Gzilt ship takes such a hard line with the ZR ship at the beginning of the novel. The entire Scavenger subplot as to who will get the Gzilt's gilt doesn't make sense as important to the main story. The entire premise of killing the Gzilt president doesn't make sense, either--why wasn't she 'backed up' and available soon after her death? The conceit of the name of the book doesn't really figure into the story at all except to neatly bookend the beginning and conclusion. The nominal antagonist of a powerful older man who likes to take advantage of younger subordinates is the same type of villain from the prior novel and a sign of creative exhaustion.

You should read HS if you are keen on the Culture, as I am, and its vision of a humane, if not human, and optimistic future. But also be prepared to be less than satisfied with the holes in the road, and just try to sit back and enjoy the Displacement.

Iain M. Banks' "The Hydrogen Sonata" is surprising in a couple of ways:

- First, as noted in the title of my review, this book is actually enjoyable. Don't get me wrong. Most of the other Culture novels are technically well written and interesting to read. But, usually, "enjoyable" is not the word that springs to mind when describing them. They're more thought-provoking than enjoyable.
- Second, the main characters in this book aren't unduly flawed. In general, with the rest of the series, the more central the character is, the more petty flaws he/she has. This "likability" of the characters is part of the reason this book is so enjoyable. Yes. There are characters with flaws (particularly the main character's mother). But, those flaws are far enough away from the story to mitigate them. Of course, the primary antagonist has flaws. But, then again, he's supposed to be the quasi-bad guy. And his flaws aren't petty (so I find non-petty flaws in a character more acceptable than petty ones? -- that's an interesting concept).

Of course, the book has some negatives. Starting with the most trivial:

- A lot of people die in this book. Of course, a lot of people die in every one of the Culture books: it's a recurring motif.
- The characters blurt out the F-word quite a bit. It's surprising since I don't remember Banks doing this in the previous books.
- Quite a bit of the book consists of Culture Minds conversing. For the most part, this is great since it gives a feel for those Minds. But, their discussions read like threads in some internet forums: they're snarky and snide. It's not something you'd expect from artificial beings with gigantic brains.
- The book lacks a bit of the Culture feeling. I think it's because the activities are being driven unofficially by those Minds and not via some kind of "official" direction through SC.
- Banks is probably doing this on purpose, but I've got a bit of an issue with races Subliming. It seems that any race can do so if they've got an advanced enough technology and are bored enough. There doesn't seem to be any requirement that the race actually be adult or wise. In this specific case, the society is no more sociologically advanced than ours.

None of those negatives are very big. So, I'm happy to rate the book at a Very Good, enjoyable 4 stars out of 5.

And, to make things easier to find, here are the Kindle versions of Banks' "Culture" books in order:

1. Consider Phlebas (Culture),
2. The Player of Games (Orbit Books),
3. The State of the Art,
4. Use of Weapons (Culture),
5. Excession,
6. Inversions,
7. Look to Windward (Culture),
8. Matter (Culture),
9. Surface Detail (Culture),
10. The Hydrogen Sonata: A Culture Novel

The Gzilt are about to transition from the Real to the Sublime, where they will live a blissful existence in dimensions seven through eleven. In most instances, an entire civilization must enter the Sublime at the same time to retain individual identities, and this is what the Gzilt are preparing to do in 24 days. When a ship from the Zihdren-Remnanter attempts to deliver a message to the Gzilt -- a message that could undercut the very foundation of Gzilt society and possibly affect the civilization's readiness to join the Sublime -- a Gzilt ship blows it to bits. Ever watchful, the Culture dispatches Caconym, one of its Mind ships, to join an advisory group that is responding to the incident. Caconym is a logical choice since it shares its structure with another Mind that has actually been to, and returned from, the Sublime.

Other than various Minds, the central character in Iain Banks' latest Culture novel is a Gzilt named Vyr Cossant, who added two arms to her body so she could play The Hydrogen Sonata on the elevenstring. Because she once met an entity (sometimes humanoid, sometimes not) named Ngaroe QuRia who has lived for thousands of years, Cossant is recommissioned as a lieutenant commander and ordered to find QuRia. QuRia is thought to possess the information that the Zihdren-Remnanter were attempting to deliver to the Gzilt. Also making an attempt to find QuRia is his former lover, Scolliera Tefwe, whose consciousness has been stored on a Culture ship for the last four hundred years. As the Gzilt countdown to the Sublime continues, Cossant and Tefwe and a number of Culture Minds race to uncover the truth about the Gzilt before the civilization makes its collective journey, a task that is impeded by some Gzilt political/military folk who would prefer that the information remain buried.

There is, of course, quite a bit more going on: political scheming to determine which race will become the rightful heir to the worlds and possessions the Gzilt leave behind; political quarrels among the Culture Minds; military maneuverings leading to explosive confrontations between the Gzilt, the Culture, and others. All of this adds up to a fun, intelligent, fast-moving story.

The best thing about The Hydrogen Sonata is that it is wildly imaginative without becoming too silly. From the descriptions of alien beings to the wonders offered by other planets, Banks creates a fully realized environment. He effectively conveys a sense of the age and vastness of the universe, plays with theories about other universes/dimensions that might exist, and peppers the story with a wonderful array of gadgetry. Not all of this is original, of course, but Banks often uses technology and theory in original ways.

I particularly like Banks' playfulness: the amusing names the Culture gives its ships; the banter between ships' Minds; the quirky personalities the Minds develop; the nettlesome nature of inter-species politics; a dirigible that hosts a five-year-long going-away party prior to the Sublime; an avatar whose head is made of alphabet soup; the fact that audiences other than academics and Culture Minds regard The Hydrogen Sonata (which may or may not be a musical representation of the periodic table) as unlistenable; the snarky pet Cossant wears around her neck; an android that mistakenly believes it's in a simulation as mayhem surrounds it; some truly bizarre sexual escapades ... and more.

The novel concludes with an intriguing moral equation. Members of the Culture learn that a shared belief critical to Gzilt civilization is false. Should the Culture reveal the truth on the ground that it is always best for the truth to be known? Or should the Culture keep quiet to protect the Gzilt from the social disruption that the truth might cause? An interesting quandary, but this isn't the kind of science fiction that lends itself to deep thought. It's meant to be fun and exciting, and it achieves that goal admirably. If I could, I would give The Hydrogen Sonata 4 1/2 stars.

The Gzilt civilisation is preparing to Sublime; for theirs was the only one whose religious texts had been proven to be completely and utterly true (where have we heard that before?)

Ian M Banks' Culture novels have been amongst the most pleasurable Sci-fi books I have ever read. His recent passing has meant that Hydrogen Sonata would be the last of the series. A narrative that has some poignancy in that the story hinges around an advanced civilisation on the point of subliming - i.e. moving towards a higher plain of existence, after which they will no longer be physically present in this universe. A book that has Culture minds high on galactic politics and their own pre-eminence over biological intelligence; there is also a little bit of violence, a little bit of the not so pleasant, and a large dose of wit and at times sarcasm and interesting key theme, is the need for personal fulfilment. In terms of the lead character’s need and commitment to playing an almost unplayable piece, (even with the help of additional appendages), of music is juxtaposed with the AI Mind that can do it immediately, flawlessly and without effort. The author is very much on the side of those trying to succeed as opposed to those that can. For he has used the genre to brilliantly reconnoitre human potential, technological possibilities, metaphysical questions and this last offering is no exception. As he also manages to do so within a high-octane plot that is smart and utterly enjoyable.

To quote Stuart Kelly of the Guardian “Banks can riff like no other science-fiction writer”

For me, this was another excellent offering.

Dear Iain,

I am your biggest fan. Visitors’ eyes in my living room fall directly on the strategically positioned 10 Culture novels when they look at my book case. They sit right in the center, Penguin novels or whatever else is considered high brow exiled from the sacred spot of the book case which tells your visitors who you are through your books collection.

So, after this disclaimer, you might have guessed what follows: a big disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, nothing is really wrong with the Hydrogen Sonata. But nothing is really right with it either.

The Hydrogen Sonata looks like teething problems on a ninety year old. How on earth did you manage to take such as grand issue as the Subliming and bring it down to a crazy galactic Bill Kilgore type “I love the smell of napalm in the morning”?

Everything in the novel feels recycled. Granted, Iain Banks’ recycled material is other writers’ magnum opus, but we are not talking other writers here. Ships sound tired. Subliming falls flat. Culture even loses a ship to an inferior civilization.

Dear Iain,

to my horror, the horror, I suspect that you are by now obliged by contract to write a new Culture novel every 2 years. If this is the case, please take a note with us, center self book case fans, about what we would like to see.

Perhaps we would like to see the End of Culture. And the Rebirth of it. Perhaps we would like to see Culture in Andromeda or the Clouds and what it finds there. Perhaps we would like to see Culture meet Tau Zero’s starship Leonora Christine. But we certainly would not like to see Culture become the Young and the Restless of the Galaxy, even though we would faithfully follow you through all 10.000 episodes.

Dear Iain, please thrill us with the next Culture novel, even killing Culture if you have to.

I've just finished The Hydrogen Sonata, Iain Banks' latest Culture book. I loved it.

It would be hard to say which Culture books are the very best (Player of Games and Use of Weapons are up there for me, and Surface Detail), but The Hydrogen Sonata certainly is in the *type* I like the most: entertaining, lots of fancy far-future super-tech stuff, Sentient, powerful Culture megaships and drones, and so on. Riveting stuff.

Iain Banks has said that the Culture is the *best* society he could imagine, while still being believably human. And that this was what is driving the whole concept and the books. And that he'd love to live there. Me too! Technological wonders everywhere, and all the basic human problems solved. (If one finds this boring, one could just take a ship to a nearby less civilized empire, where one could risk being shot down in the street, if that makes life more precious to one.)

Even just one aspect seen alone makes Banks special to me: his subtle, underlying sense of humor. I think few people would call his books comedies, but the humor is everywhere: in the names the spaceships give themselves ("Of Course I Still Love You", Anything Legal Considered", Just the Washing Instructions Chip In Life's Rich Tapestry"...), in the shapes he gives aliens, in the personalities he gives everybody, not the least the AIs, etc etc. Humor makes life worth living.

Update:
I have to admit this is not so easy to read, because of all the invented names and invented technology and politics. I had to use an ebook as support when I didn't get what the audiobook was saying. (I'm not sure if it's more so in this book than his others.)

I have just finished the 8th of the 9 culture series books for the first time. I did not hear of them until I saw Banks obituary in June 2013. So sorry I missed them all these years, then so grateful to have lived and found them at last.
If you do not like speculative futurist writings or science fiction, then do not bother. If you do or think you might, then READ THEM IN ORDER:
(The State of the Art (1991) - short stories, Read first if possible* )

Consider Phlebas (1987) *
The Player of Games (1988) *
Use of Weapons (1990) *
Excession (1996) *
Inversions (1998)
Look to Windward (2000) *
Matter (2008) *
Surface Detail (2010) *
The Hydrogen Sonata (2012)

And now here I go into what is, sadly, the last Culture Series novel. RIP, Iain, and thanks.

This was the first time I have read Banks, so I wasn't familiar with the grand vision. His writing is brilliant--witty, and full of ideas. This is especially evident after just coming off reading the puerile "The Rook", in comparison. Daniel O'Malley should sit at Banks' knee for 20 years before trying another novel.

I was somewhat disappointed in the conclusion however as it wasn't clear to me that knowing <that which was discovered>, while being interesting, would have any bearing on whether the Gzilt would decide to proceed. As I got closer to the end of the book, with only a few pages left and the characters still racing around shooting at each other, I thought uh oh, the resolution to all this is going to be treated in about five pages, as an afterthought. This seems to happen a lot unfortunately, with novels and TV shows too, as if the writer lost interest by the end. By contrast earlier in the novel we get many examples of authorial energy such as extensive and elaborate descriptions that though well done are not particularly on point. Pity some of that energy could not have been used for a more robust ending.

I thought the implication was that sufficiently evolved civilizations recognized that devotion to a particular holy book was a stage in their development that they typically transcended, similar to say, believing that your planet is the center of the universe. This evolved realization, that one's world is not in fact unique, and that your particular people are not in fact "chosen", and that instead you are typical in this belief, allows such civilizations to move beyond this parochial devotion. Recognizing that your holy book turns out to be simply yet another variation on the transparently self-serving affirmation that "you are special, you are chosen" would render the concern about the true origin of the book moot, I'd have thought.

Banks justifies the fact that the Gzilt maintained a devotion to their holy book longer than usual by making it be unusually accurate in its predictions. But that seems rather too obviously a plot device, designed to raise the stakes enough to justify all the racing around and shoot-em-ups. Yet this device undermines the novel's own explanation of the evolution of understanding that sublimation-ready species seem to typically go through. And the novel's own conclusion verifies that--the Ships decide that the knowledge didn't actually matter enough to tell the affected parties, after all.

I was hoping that the revelation would have more to do with the sublimation itself, like that it was a big hoax for example, or somehow otherwise not what the Gzilt expected. (Isn't it even a bit suspicious that there is no first-hand information about it? It's a lot to take on trust.) Then there would have been something actually at stake--a real reason to pause. As it is it seemed much ado about not much, ultimately.

Still, for sheer breadth of vision and literary skill, this novel is well worth it and motivates me to read some of Banks' other work.

Nothing below should stop you from reading this book :). It IS a Banks culture novel, after all.
Some great elements, the sonata, the main protagonist, the culture minds, and some great set pieces, especially the battle scenes.
But... SPOILERS
They didn't really come together as more than the sum of their parts. Lot's of action, but no result. There was no real ending.
Also I couldn't suspend my disbelief over a few things. The almighty minds squabble and talk like children. I know there is a lot if self-deprecating irony in their communication, but I never got the sense of them being any less petty than humans.
The sublimation. How was that society ready to sublime? It seemed, aside from technologically, in no way advanced from our own.

As a recent, instantaneous super-fan of all "Culture" books (I have blasted through 8 books in under 2 months), this one gets 5 stars for giving me 2 things I longed for: 1) another smashing, home-run story that FINALLY (through the plot itself) explained to me in detail what "Subliming" is; & 2) provided for me in GREAT detail what an ongoing debate among & between no less than 7 unimaginably intelligent "Culture Minds" (concerning a very serious issue) would actually sound like/be like, as Banks "immerses" the reader in this ongoing debate (that, simultaneously shapes the story as it unfolds in real-time); ultimately showing us HOW the Culture makes these decisions that impact huge #'s of civilizations so far into the future. This one has it all: multiple eventually converging plot lines, HILARIOUS dialogue, strong pace/strong characters, and new, even more mind-blowing high-tech stuff that can ONLY originate from the mind of Iain M Banks.

I'm a fan of The Culture novels, and apart from a few that verged dangerously close to being too clever for their own good novels set in The Culture universe are very accessible 'science-plausible' books.

The Hydrogen Sonata focusses on a field often mentioned in Culture novels but never truly dwelt on or fully explained - subliming. An entire civilisation is about to effectively disappear and it would appear there are some fairly large chunks of business that need to be concluded.

It's horribly sad that this is the last Culture novel that will ever be written, because it's good, really good but the world was never going to reach a point where there were too many Culture novels.

Read this if you love the wonderfully expansive Universal Banks created, but only read it once you've read the rest of the series; save it as a melancholy treat.

Banks' "Space Opera" fluff is just an enticing come-on in the Culture novels, a way to get the reader to think about and absorb Banks' ideas on everything from how to structure a just society to the crucial nature of experience in tempering and even reversing impractical ivory tower theories. Having achieved enormous success with these books, as the reviewers note, in the Hydrogen Sonata Banks barely even tries with the plot; the "opera" is now stretched so thin that it is almost invisible. Why? Because Banks has bigger fish to fry. Here he takes on the knotty problem that, with all our thousands of years of blather about God, we are only now beginning to grapple with -- how do we create meaning in an arbitrary universe that seems devoid of it? The "M" theory of eleven dimensions arising out of string theory is reified here as an "elevenstring," a formerly uninvented instrument for which a long-ago composer wrote a piece impossible to play, essentially as a joke, much the same way that the universe itself is unplayable and unmasterable. The connection between the two is made even more obvious since the first two notes of the piece are meant to reflect the first element in the universe, hydrogen. Similarly, an ancient civilization that has decided to abandon the "real" four-dimension observable universe and move into other unknowable dimensions based purely on faith turns out to have been founded on a similar joke played on it by a long-vanished civilization, which provided it with its holy scripture on "plates" left for a charismatic con man to find and interpret (shades of anti-Mormonism here). What Banks wants to know is, how do we deal with new knowledge that our entire culture is based on a lie? One way of dealing with it, Banks is saying, is to continue to rely on faith, and to disappear essentially on vague promises of transcendence into those alternative dimensions. But the two main protagonists, a musician and a 10,000 year old man, make clear that this is not Banks' preferred option. The player wanting to play the elevenstring, faced with its arbitrarily created challenges, masters the instrument, going so far as to obtain a second pair of arms to allow her to play the piece. Once she perfects the piece she abandons the instrument, refuses to disappear into the ether, and moves on to new challenges in the real world. The 10,000 year old man realizes that the most important thing is living fully with all senses and continually moves on to new experiences. Taking on new challenges and living through our senses, Banks is saying, and not blind faith, are what make us fully human and able to live meaningful lives even in a cold, cold universe.

Ian Banks at his best, revealing his flaws, maybe to add to the delight. The clear weakness, the quizlt seem no more ready for sublimation than current humans, certainly less ready than the average super intelligent and ancient culture ship mind. So why other than hubris? We are told that a previous race of sublimators have fooled them into believing in godhood. Though at the last minute they return to let them have it straight. Not that it matters. Sublimation is the real deal. Clear folly implied, especially since sublimation, by strong implication, is not really necessary to venture into the outer dimensions encompassed by sublimation space. By the premise, the single requirement, a mass duplication of the current set of individual intelligences of the quizlt into their outer dimensional analogues, is easily accomplished with their advanced tech. Why such advanced tech exists for such a race of bumpkins is not convincingly explained. They seem to have gotten it and then en masse become luddites. They could just go on in the current universe while their duplicates sublimate into the infinite, or whatever one does on the other side of normal four space, in all those extra dimensions just waiting for another mass exodus from the 4D. But no, in the end they hold hands while their mysterious machines "enfold" them away. We never get to really meet these machines, other than vague descriptions of collective ghost minds on their warships, in general far inferior to the "culture" ship minds, which act more like Olympian Gods than a real omnipotent, western style, transcendent beings. In the end, in contradiction to the premise, the dimensions of the sublime can swallow up a continuous consciousness as if it were a transmutable fluid, a presence external to its computational substrate. The sublimated beings "cross over" and back at their whim. Clearly their fluid of consciousness has transcended to true outer dimensional ambrosia. This is not the way it is in our real, 4D, world, the author takes pains to explain. Apparently sublimation space manages to merge Descartes' duality. A contradiction and a copout. It is not convincing that the author intends this as irony. Feels more like a comic book explanation, simply hand waving, extreme literary license. At least he should be internally consistent.

The Hydrogen Sonata is about the near Sublimation of the Gzilt, a civilisation at the same technological level than the Culture. For those that read mostly mainstream novels, this would be like a story about passing away from the material world and inheritance, although at the level of galactic civilizations. The Hydrogen Sonata is a clear return to form by science-fiction writer Iain M banks. It displays a rather mature shaping of the plot, the structure, and its characters. It is never easy (at least for me) to summarize in a few paragraphs the more than hundred thousands words typically delivered in each of his books, moreover because the content is challenging, complex, split, multi-layered, resonant, with a long-term remarkable interpretative added value, that a written, fixed, public review may only interfere with, unless the review remains vague and flexible enough to allow for new impressions.
The story is very astounding, even more than that of Surface detail, and it shows unequivocally that Iain M Banks is a great storyteller.
Whereas his first SF novels are "realistic" and action-driven ("travelling with the body though physical landscapes"), the latter novels are more caricaturesque and thought-driven ("travelling with the mind through galleries of ideas"). The first SF novel, Consider Phlebas, and The Hydrogen Sonata might thus constitute such antipodes, noting also that whereas in the first novel everything seems to spiral out, at least for the main protagonist, in the last novel everything seems to spiral in. In The Hydrogen Sonata, the events are assessed successively by- or reverberated across a chain of actors/observers, producing some redundancy, but it is not critical. Team work is well depicted. The wrong doings of the few Gzilt baddies appear incredible for a civilization that advanced, though one might hypothesize this is because the Gzilt do not surrender their governing or evolution to artificial intelligence like in the Culture. After Matter and Surface Detail, this is the third consecutive Culture novel with a female main protagonist reaching Contact due to special circumstances (though very different circumstances indeed). The novel offers a lot to reflect upon (on the one side, casual social engineering - not so like in Dune from Frank Herbert, exceptionalism, militarism, and over-conceptualized art, and on the other side, futuristic technology, embodiment, longevity, the beginnings of the Culture, and so on) and is a great read.

Iain Banks is a fascinating, inventive and visionary writer. Like most writers who reach a certain stage, they write what they like and it all gets published. Unfortunately, especially with the publishing industry being in its currently declining state, less attention is given to the actual business of editing books than there should be. This is one that has slipped through to the press without a decent revision by a competent editor. Too much of the story is just pointless, meandering waffle that does nothing to drive the narrative of the story. While much of it might be interesting in an intellectual and background way, little of it deserves to be in the book.

What is there is one of Bank's better stories, with a great plot device, as an impossibly old man is hunted across real and imagined space within the culture and in Gzilt's more hostile territory. All the usual Banks details are here, from the ship-names to the cantankerous minds. The level of artistry brought to futuristic, high-level combat is very well handled. The conflicts between the characters are less effective and on too many occasions we are left listening to two people who have no real conflict ramble on for far too long. There is a lot of fun to be had here, but also far too much is superfluous, repetitive and just plain boring.

This will be enjoyed by completionists, but should be avoided by non-fans looking for a good read. For that, there's Player of Games, or the excellent Surface Detail.

This culture novel, like many of the others Banks has written, seam to ride a plateau that sits above most other books (and not just those in the same genre) in that it is fun, well paced and a damned good read. So why only 4 stars? To begin with the novel is up to the usual narrative standards with the same character development and under-current of black humour found in Banks' culture novels. If you are a fan of these novels you will again appreciate the personality that high technology is imbued with (one of my fave aspects) and when the action kicks off, well, no one does it like Banks. However, probably a failing on my behalf, it lost a star because I lost track of what was going on for part of the book. I guess I missed a crucial page of explanation or was just too tired to pay attention when I should have been sitting up in class, but it did get somewhat obscure as to what was going on.
Would I recommend it - certainly, but not as a first introduction to the culture...

Another quality book from Mr Banks on the Culture universe. I liked that he used Subliming as a central aspect of the story and wove everything around that. I found it amusing that this is so even while the Culture itself sees Subliming as beneath them...:) I did find the ending a bit of a let down, content wise, but it reality, it was appropriate for the story. I recommend for seasoned readers of the Culture series, not for beginners. Good stuff!

Having reread all of Iain M. Bank's Sci-fi novels and some of the others in the last year, I think The Hydrogen Sonata is a good Culture novel.

(Spoiler) The main criticism that most of the other reviewers have is that so many of the plotlines don't seem to matter by the end of the novel. But that is the main theme of the novel: An entity never knows what the final worth of his/her/its existence will be, even at the end. And the odds are good that it will be worth little to anyone but him/her/itself.
Vyr's almost completely undefined familiar 'Pyan', contributes virtually nothing of value to the plot. Pyan is the most subtle character Iain used to reveal the theme.

Check out Surface Detail, Use of Weapons, and Excession for five-star Culture novels.

It's the journey, not the destination with this novel. A slow starter gets moving once the implacable, and suitably awesome Culture ships get involved. The plot doesn't really matter as much as you'd think because like all Culture novels, we're just glimpsing a tiny spec of their world. Sit back and enjoy the set-piece descriptions of majestic worlds and alien life, that isn't that alien after all.

I have long been a fan of Mr Banks. His authoring a NEW future of open endedness was a refreshing retreat from the dystopias that fill the sci-fi sphere.
This book is written fabulously with the exception that it goes nowhere. It starts with the possibility that maybe something historically important happened and ends with non-disclosure and business as usual.
Murder goes unpunished though recognized. Falsehoods are allowed to ascend to permanence. WTF?
I do not read novels 517 pages long to not arrive to a JUST conclusion. I live in the never ending morass of lies perpetuated by the elite. If I am going to read escapism literature, I want to escape.
Five star writing with a no-star(t) plot.

This is a solid novel of the Culture, with some interesting insights into how it was formed, and why all the culture is the way it is. I did love some of the battles, not so one-sided as most battles involving Culture ships and drones are. The pacing was a bit slow in parts for my taste though, and I didn't find the characters as interesting as those in Surface Details.

I found this to be a very poorly structured and plotted book. It felt like three of four short story ideas were merged together and voila, a novel! The main plot had no pay-off at all. Come to think of it, the secondary plot had no pay-off either.

The motivations of the characters were all wrong. The primary alien race did not behave even remotely like the mature and sophisticated elder race it was supposed to be.

And the Minds! Once they seemed so cool. But now they babble and bicker like a smug little club of the smartest kids in High School.

It's very important in Science Fiction to present an alternative universe that more or less hangs together with it's own logic. In the universe of the culture ships travel in the energy grid between parallel universes (or some such thing) and it can take weeks to cross galactic distances. But a gaggle of a dozen Minds can just chat away across the breadth of the galaxy as if they are on some magical version of Skype. It a little bit too unreal but it sure makes things easy for the author.

Really disappointing that, out of the vast history of the culture, this weak little plot is the best that Banks could come up with. How about some stories of the early days of the Culture when actual people were a little more important and Ship Minds did not come across as a bunch of Greek Gods sitting on Mount Olympus meddling in the affairs of mortals?

This is the best Culture novel I've read. Fascinating philosophy with skillfully escalating action. As usual, the artificial intelligences the "Minds" are among the most interesting characters. Only in Excession were they more vividly drawn.

This damned book took me eleven months to read. There are so many reviews for it, I'm only really writing this to satisfy my good record so far, of reviewing all the books I have read. It's the first time I've read one of Iain (M) Banks' books and not thought highly of it.

I can take less care of this review, as I'll be surprised if anyone actually finds it, so it's more for my own future retrospective benefit, perhaps to remind my future self not to re-read it, or perhaps to challenge that same self to definitely re-read it, and see if I can enjoy it the second time round.

One thing is for sure. I definitely feel that I have let myself down in not enjoying it. How can it be? What did I do wrong?

What worked against me?

It was a hardback, and so, didn't fit in my bag, which meant it was tricky to read on the train to work.
I took it on holiday, and was constantly being interrupted by my nephews, who didn't understand how hilarious Culture minds are, and just wanted me to jump into the pool with them.
I took it on holiday, and drank too much beer in the sunshine.
I have been quite stressed over the last year, and so my concentration wandered a lot.

What might have been wrong with the book?

For me, the amount of reveal at the beginning was disproportionate to the reveal at the climax. There seemed to be very little development after the first couple of chapters. One of the major concepts of interest was Subliming, the character that could shed some light on that, couldn't talk about it. Perhaps there are reasons for that, like for instance, wanting to keep the mystery alive, but then, you might be in a tricky situation as an author, because you are focusing on something that you don't think you should reveal detail on. There were good bits, lots of extremely funny dialogue, but lots and lots of boring stuff, and boring characters.

Vyr, and her cat. So boring. In fact, the Gzilt characters were all a bit boring.
The penis guy. Grotesque, but quite dull.
Some drones. Who remembers their names or what ships they belong to? Or if they were drones or avatars.
Some other aliens that were quite strange, some of them dancers, but ultimately uninteresting.
An old guy with nothing particularly interesting to reveal.

So that's my review. Disappointing. But, everyone has an off day, and it's a very bitter fact that I will never have the pleasure of reading a new Culture novel. They are by far (actually, only by a slim margin, as Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space novels are also extremely good), in my subjective experience, the greatest and distinctively amusing collection of novels I have ever read.

I have been an avid fan of The Culture since I first picked up "Consider Phlebas" and couldnt put it down until I finished it. Like others I find the mainly utopian Culture far more interesting than the many dystopian scenarios in the genre.
This novel while a lot weaker than the first few gives a big clue to the survival of the Culture--I've always felt it implausible somehow that these omnipotent Minds bother keeping the humanoids about--but it seems that the humans perform a necessary function--a type of crosscheck for general meanness, snidiness and evil-- to keep the Minds from self-sacrifice in dealing with other species--and we also see how a species which didnt allow their version of the Minds to evolve can be ruled by surprising barbarity.
All in all though this is a filler in rather than a great read and wouldnt convince a new reader to try the other books, which is a pity

I'm always amazed at Banks' wild imagination and The Hydrogen Sonata doesn't disappoint. It has lots of ship to ship interaction and crazy ship names reminiscent of The Interesting Times Gang in Excession. In this outing Banks really let's the ships off the leash, displaying awesome power and hitherto unseen aggression. Not as dark as his previous novel Surface Detail (Culture) more of a rollicking adventure but no less profound with it's allegorical questioning of religious texts and insights into political corruption. I hope He never tires of writing Culture novels.

I am a great fan of Iain Banks science fiction especially the "Culture" series. The "Culture" is an advanced civilization where there are people but artificial intelligences are in charge. His writing is clever in that snarky British style. His intelligent space ships really steal the show. I do agree with many of the other reviewers that Banks has gotten a little stale with this series. This may be a hazard of being so good that less than perfection gets you marked down. Nevertheless I really enjoyed this book and recommend it.

Banks' Culture is one of the most intriguing civilizations to have been added to the SF lexicon. This story, typical of Culture novels, has interesting characters, mysterious occurrences with challenging puzzles, and an ample supply of excellent action.

Having read all of Banks' books over the years this is by far his best in some time. The Culture and all it's quirks are brought back in full force. Character development is strong, and the the book concludes in a very satisfying way. Long live hard science fiction and space opera!!!!!

The Gzilt civilisation is preparing to Sublime; for theirs was the only one whose religious texts had been proven to be completely and utterly true (where have we heard that before?)

Ian M Banks' Culture novels have been amongst the most pleasurable Sci-fi books I have ever read. His recent passing has meant that Hydrogen Sonata would be the last of the series. A narrative that has some poignancy in that the story hinges around an advanced civilisation on the point of subliming - i.e. moving towards a higher plain of existence, after which they will no longer be physically present in this universe. A book that has Culture minds high on galactic politics and their own pre-eminence over biological intelligence; there is also a little bit of violence, a little bit of the not so pleasant, and a large dose of wit and at times sarcasm and interesting key theme, is the need for personal fulfilment. In terms of the lead character’s need and commitment to playing an almost unplayable piece, (even with the help of additional appendages), of music is juxtaposed with the AI Mind that can do it immediately, flawlessly and without effort. The author is very much on the side of those trying to succeed as opposed to those that can. For he has used the genre to brilliantly reconnoitre human potential, technological possibilities, metaphysical questions and this last offering is no exception. As he also manages to do so within a high-octane plot that is smart and utterly enjoyable.

To quote Stuart Kelly of the Guardian “Banks can riff like no other science-fiction writer”

For me, this was another excellent offering.

I am a huge fan of Iain M Banks, and this is one of his better books. If you are new to this author, start with one or two of his earlier novels, so you can better appreciate the in-jokes and his trademark style in this one. In particular, he has an enormous amount of fun with the names of the Culture Mind ships. His writing is the most intelligent I have encountered in this genre. Highly recommended.

As ever with Iain (M) Banks the depth of character and cultural detail keep you engaged and enthralled throughout. The Culture series are pretty much my all time favorites, competing only with the original Dune series and the LOTR's.
I buy everything Mr Banks puts out on both sides of his repertoire for the simple reason that he is an amazing writer.

This is the least of the Culture novels, in which a space habitat based civilization of the far future survives its "post scarcity" existence by meddling in the affairs of everyone else in the galaxy.

If you have never read a Culture novel, do not start with this one. Look at publication dates and start with one of the early ones. Banks was struggling to become established and had things to say. This book has nothing to say and no new ideas to explore.

Yes, it's that annoying. I tried in vain to find any message in all the plotting of this book. Will religious purity lead a civilization to a rapture? Nope, the Gzilt are less pious than we are. Will success and maturity of institutions and personal achievement lead to a technological singularity in which our material world is no longer necessary or interesting? Nope, the Gzilt use the same technique as Dorothy in the wizard of Oz to get to their final destination. Is sublimation a huge scam in which civilizations are eaten by clever predators? I only wish there was so good a payoff after grinding through this book. Will the Culture finally get its ass kicked by a technological equal that isn't interested in being meddled with? We should be so lucky...

I enjoyed "Against a Dark Background", which also was about nothing but that explored a new and bizarrely detailed world. This book was a waste of time.

On the flip side, not much is new here.

But that said, IMB remains the unparalleled writer that he is. If this was the Culture he would be Ue class mind. Unclassifiable, eccentric but, in the end, brilliant and a winner!

Feeling just like a return to a long lost friend, the Culture is back, maybe in a more mature and considered manner than before (but the micromissiles, combat dislocs and kick-ass avatars are back).
If you like the Culture universe, there's nothing not to love here!

Isn't money an amazing invention? Iain M. Banks puts true genius on paper, and I, a pea-brain automaton who could never reach his skill levels in anything, still get access to it just by going to work for a bit ...

I have enjoyed most of the culture novels. Space opera at its best. The last three books have been ok though and I think this one was good. An extra effort though
is needed to recapture the brilliance of Phlebas.

I hope there might be at least one more Culture novel given Mr. Banks untimely and wrenching death. The complexity and poetry of his writing, the humor between the ship minds, of the ship names and within characters' thoughts and dialogue, the choreographed violence of incredibly captivating battle scenes and the immense knowledge of science and space that allows for the believable reality of his Culture universes make Banks an all-time favorite. I liked this latest effort as much as my previous favorite, The Player of Games. Before I picked this one up, I read a few reviews that gave the book only a star or two; I cannot understand this, and feel it must be someone unfamiliar with Banks or just in too much of a hurry to savor his particular brand of astonishing creation.

Reading this book, I wondered if Banks felt like his protagonist, bound to an uplayable instrument and unlistenable music. I don't think he had much fun with this work, I wonder if he was under a contract deadline.

Even so, it's workmanlike and Banks moves the story along. I enjoyed it and parts of it have stuck with me. The description of a truly ancient human, and how he managed his memories, reminded me of late Asimov and the 30,000 year old Daneel Olivaw.

It isn't, however, terribly novel. Banks returns to old themes, but doesn't add a lot new. I didn't get the usual sense of a deeper meaning underneath a commercial product.

Not that the meaning is completely absent. In this world there is an afterlife, and for some it's a Heaven. Certainly far-smarter-than-human entitites think it is -- and yet there is a bit of doubt about the nature of heaven.

It is a heaven, however, without any hint of Judgment or Justice. That's relevant when you consider how the book ends, and where our villain goes. Banks has visited this story before, Surface Detail includes a synthetic Hell and cruel judgment. In a sense HS and SD are complementary books, but as usual Hell makes for better writing.

Like most other reviewers, I've been a fan of the Culture stories for years... What's not to like? Omnipotent ships, wide screen space opera, mind-boggling weapons and action, brilliant writing and characterisation and a rich vein of humour.
That said, the books of the last few years (excepting the brilliant Surface Detail) have been increasingly hard work... It's been a period of grim subject matter and Banks getting trapped in a cul de sac of trying to describe the indescribable intelligence and thought patterns of the Minds. Still miles better than anyone else of course, just not the master at his best.
The Hydrogen Sonata is a real return to form however... it's a pacy, amusing and just plain enjoyable romp.
As some reviewers have said, there are a few undeveloped plot lines that wouldn't have been there in the early novels (think Phlebas, player of Games and Use of Weapons...)... But these don't detract at all from the impact of the book.
Just think of the M. Banks name as a kind of guarantee of quality... 90% of his best is streets ahead of Asher, Reynolds et al...
Well worth it a read and if you are new to Banks, not a bad place to start.

The title refers to a musical piece so difficult it required the invention of a new instrument to play; and, moreover, the instrument could only be played properly by a creature with four arms. Surprisingly, when all these elements come together, the result could only be termed a modestly annoying experience. Well, Banks has apparently created this experience for us in literary form.

Look, I know this is a kind of cult classic. I know I it's supposed to be funny. But... The book is full of mind-jangling effects, making it really difficult to read. It's full of acronyms, it jumps from place to place and time period to time period with no apparent order and engages in no serious character development. The names of characters amazingly damage the readability. For example, one is named QiRia. When you see it, you try to force it into some sound combination you're familiar with and you can literally hear your neurons hissing while they try to do this! The "heroine's" name keeps popping up in your consciousness as "Croissant" and you keep correcting yourself to get it right - a real detraction from the text.

Similar "inventions" appear throughout. While the heroine is "humanoid" you slowly find that she is barrel-chested and has no breasts. And, of course, she has four arms. We also learn that while other species of "humanoids" may become momentarily attractive, as more clothes come off, a sense of nausea sets in... GACK! Other such devices appear: a man with 53 penises grown over his whole body; gaining access to a floating craft by swimming through its septic system... This is all to gross to be funny.

The basic premise of the book - the uncovering of a startling revelation pertaining to a cultures religious belief - is of miniscule import to the creatures of the novel. Even the main characters say (and I quote) "what the _____" when they hear about it.

So in the end, you've wadded through over 550 pages of what can only be described as a mildly irritating book. I guess this is an exercise in how not to write a novel.

A little heavy going at times but still a cracking yarn. I love the whole idea of the Culture and I am glad this goes someway towards explaining its origins. I would like more of an understanding of the whole thing though.

I'm a big fan of Iain M. Banks and have greatly enjoyed everything he has written - until this one. It's a very difficult read and hard to sort out the various characters, both organic and machine, and what is really going on. Nevertheless, it is a Culture yarn and deserves a shot just because of that.

Iain M Banks is one of my favorite authors. But not because of The Hydrogen
Sonata.
The book is well written, the plot moves along quite well, but at the end
you have nothing.... a resolution, but not one you care about. All in all
it seemed a chance to write about AI's, create conversation, and enjoy the
witty names of their ships. Not worth the effort.

I read this book as my first culture novel and it was hard to get into, took me 150 pages. More than I would usually put up with, but fortunately I was on holiday and it was all I had. Thank goodness I kept going. I loved the rest of the book and it kickstarted my love of the culture series which I can now say I have almost completed and am not really looking to not having any other culture novels left to read. This one still stands out for me as one of the best.