Matter (Culture)

Banks Culture novel, Matter is the 8th book in The Culture series. It is some 200,000 words long with a section of 4,000 appendices and glossaries. It's so intricate that even in its intricacy it’s multifarious. It's filled with buzzwords and characters that disappear for ages and then come back, with lots of recurrences and - forwards. The story incorporates various civilizations at different stages of technological development. Shellworlds are ancient simulated planets comprising of nested concentric spheres. Very much like Matryoshka doll, they are on the inside lit by tiny thermonuclear "stars". The spheres are populated by various nascent races along with gradually more advanced mentoring through a process of informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and the psychosocial support up to the level of what the Sarl call "Optimae", the Culture prefer the term "Involved." Roughly 4,000 Shellworlds were built, but almost 2,000 were intentionally demolished, for reasons unidentified, by another supposed vanished race.

I was blown away by the quality of the story, the interesting and well-developed characters, and the sheer scale of the novel. If you're into science fiction at all, this is must-read.

My second highest complaint about science fiction, or speculative fiction if you like, is that so much of it is overwritten. My biggest beef is the ones that are obviously ideas that the author loved, worked out, spun, and then did not know how to end. Banks does not commit the biggest trespass, but he does chew the scenery something awful sometimes.

The later books in the Culture series are well crafted, and Matter had me rapt for about two thirds of it. The detailed narrative works well up to that point, and then it turns into tedious transits and trips down wells and through tunnels, behind massive monoliths and through vast spaces, through poisonous or liquid atmospheres, and then the shocking end. Toward the end I was begging him to take Hemingway's advice for writing. To be sure, he has some lovely phrases, and I actually like the way he will develope a complicated plot line and just throw it away. "Matter" does not end as badly as "Use of Weapons" nor as well as "Player of Games", but it is something less than satisfying.

Interestingly enough, I decided to upgrade my star rating of Player of Games on Goodreads after finishing "Matter". It's a lovely book, well worth the read, but be ready to groan when you finish it.

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

Matter is the eight book in Iain M. Bank’s popular CULTURE series about a utopian society run by a beneficent artificial intelligence organization called The Culture. I haven’t read any of the previous CULTURE novels which, I think, gives me a unique take on Matter. Reading through some of the reviews on the store and Goodreads, I see that many CULTURE fans felt like the 620-page Matter was a drastic change in pace and tone. I can’t say if that’s true, but I can say that I loved Matter and can’t wait to read the rest of the CULTURE series. In short, the setting was fascinating, the characters were interesting and fully developed, and the scope of the story was epic.

Most of the plot of Matter takes place on a backward Shellworld called Sursamen. Actually, it’s more correct to say that the story takes place in (not on) the Shellworld, for Shellworlds are artificial planets containing several underground levels stacked up on top of each other like floors in a skyscraper. The levels are held up by huge towers which allow a few people important people to travel between levels. Each level has its own atmosphere, stars, land masses, oceans, races, societies, languages, etc. The lowest level contains the world-god who is worshiped by people of the Shellworld.

When the story starts, war has broken out between the eighth and ninth levels of Sursamen. The king of the Sarl (eighth level) is about to claim victory over the ninth level when betrayal, treason, and a cover-up occurs. The king’s three children are now in great danger. Prince Ferbin has been accused of a crime and is on the run with his politely outspoken servant. Prince Oramen, heir to the throne, doesn’t realize that someone plans to murder him. Their sister, Princess Djan Seriy Anaplian, left many years ago to join the Culture. A sophisticated and powerful agent, she has no desire to return to her backward male-dominated home world, but she wants to pay her respects to her father. Can the siblings reunite and save their family’s heritage?

I would have thought so, but that’s because I’d never read Iain M. Banks before. This novel surprised me in so many ways. The first surprise was the grandness of the world-building. I’m sure CULTURE fans are used to this, though I do believe this is the first time that Banks has used these cool Shellworlds. I particularly like the way that, because the Culture doesn’t interfere with the natural development of a planet’s technology, Banks is able to meld far-future science fiction with medieval-style fantasy on Sursamen. (This reminds me of Kage Baker’s COMPANY novels. And Dr Who.). After reading Matter, I can’t wait to explore more of the CULTURE universe.

I was also surprised at the complexity, unpredictability and expansiveness of the plot. At first the story seems narrowly focused on the plight of the king’s children, but there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye — things that even the villain doesn’t realize — and this is gradually uncovered (figuratively and literally) throughout the novel. Banks masterfully unfolds the mystery along with the exploration of the Shellworld, giving the whole thing a sense of epicness that I found irresistible. I was surprised by the end of the story but, again, that’s probably because of my lack of experience with Banks.

The characterization is careful and elaborate — somewhat along the lines of how Guy Gavriel Kay treats his characters, though with a little less introspection. Each of the siblings, and some of their companions, have distinct well-formed personalities and none was one of those stock characters so often seen in speculative fiction. I enjoyed their insights, conversations, wit and humor (Matter is quite funny in places).

Admittedly, Matter could be quite a bit shorter without detracting from any of its excellent qualities which, I suppose, is what some fans have complained of. My tendency to overlook this possible flaw is probably due to my excitement about discovering a new (to me) science fiction series that I know I’m going to love. I’m feeling quite forgiving right now.

As you can see, it’s not necessary to have read any of the previous CULTURE novels to enjoy Matter. I had no trouble understanding the background. I listened to the audio version which was recently produced by Hachette Audio and read by Toby Longworth. I thought Longworth was perfect and I loved his interpretation of Banks’ characters and their humor. If you decide to read Matter in audio format, please be aware that there is an abridged version which I wouldn’t recommend. Make sure you’ve got the new unabridged (18 hours long) version.

The print version of Matter has an appendix/glossary in the back. I didn’t feel that I needed this (I didn’t even know it existed until I started writing this review). As far as I know, it is not available with the audio version. Even though I didn’t need it, it would still be nice to have the option to download it. Perhaps this feature will be available in the future.

The Hachette audiobook version of this novel does not seem to include the epilogue. This is likely to exacerbate the complaints many have about the book's ending. When the last chapter finished and the audiobook moved to its "credits" I honestly thought it was the end of part one and there'd be another part I had to download. Instead I read the epilogue by visiting my local library.

The product does say "abridged" but this particular abridgment is a questionable editing decision.

Had I realized how close to the end the story was I think I'd have enjoyed it much more, but the sudden ending is an ambush for audiobook listeners. The writing is up to Bank's usual quality otherwise.

"Matter" by Ian Banks, © 2008

This is quite the odd story. It traverses great spaces and societies. The main setting is what are called 'shellworlds,' places that were built basically at the beginning of the galaxy. They are given pretty full description, but, basically, they are great big worlds that were built by some old race of aliens for some unknown reason, perhaps defensive, but it was not completely, again why is unknown. Thye are called shellworlds because that is an apt description: they are as the old nesting boxes, a world at the center, 1400 kilometers above it is the next level, and one spaced 1400 kilometers apart numerous levels, maybe twelve or more. The exact number of shells each one of these has is various, but also there a a variety of beings inhabiting each shell on these world and these beings may have been near barbarian to star travelers. How they got there is problematic. However they got there, they are left to devolve or evolve as it may happen for that alien race. There are various environments in the different shells as well, so folks from a gas giant planet can live on one as the next has ones that grew up in vacuum and the next is Earth like.
The story is not ambiguous about the Gods that inhabit the center of the worlds or roam about the stars and these 'Gods' are not secret. Though they are not active in most of the lives of the lower people, they do help sometimes. One of the heroes of this story is taken from one of these groups and turmned into a cyborg, thou the name cyborg is not used here, it is what she becomes, and so can save the world. She has the help of a self-aware interstellar ship, her brother and his servant.
Thew story has a lot of improbable events and inconsistent points that it is not easy to accept in the storyline, but if you can, it is fun to read
There is one point where the lackey of the hero asks about the morality of beggars stealing food. He concludes that it is not so immoral for the beggar to steal food to live as it is to continue to live. It is the constable's job to protect the property of the shop owner, not the beggar's. I realized that in this far future story, those two are traveling gratis between stars. It is like the Socialists took over and give you what you need and, here, it works fine.

The book itself is great, marred only, as others have mentioned, by a rather sudden and incongruent ending which does feel rather rushed and unsatisfying.

But I wanted to note Toby Longworth's outstanding performance on the audiobook version, which goes way beyond mere narration. This is an outstanding voice acting performance, which not only brings the book to life but enhances many of the characters through a range of convincing voices and accents (except for a rather dodgy Scottish) which made me glad I hadn't left these to my own imagination. Makes me want to hear other books performed by him, as I did with the late, great Peter Muller.

Matter is my fourth venture in the Culture series and though overall I found I liked it more than not, it still has significant issues, which I'm starting to notice in many of the Culture books. I'll touch on that in a second, but first a little plot summary-

Ferbin, heir to the throne for the Sarl on the 8th level of the Shellworld Sursamen witnesses the untimely death of his Father, the King Hausk-- Untimely because the murderer is the King's best friend tyl Loesp. Ferbin is rightfully the next in line, but in fear he flees to find his Sister Djan Seriy, whom is now an agent for Culture's Special Circumstances (the guys that handle the 'dirty work'). Besides, Ferbin isn't exactly King material, and he knows this. He is suspected to be dead, so the next in line would be his brother Oramen, however, his brother is slightly underage so tyl Loesp takes the reins. Meanwhile the Oct, whom are the mentors of the Sarl have something up their sleeve. Quickly the plot splits into multiple POVs and we see the story unfold from multiple angles.

Like with any Banks book, there's a lot to like here. I really dig the Shellworld idea. Shellworlds are manufactured worlds which are spherical like most other worlds, except there are multiple layers, like an onion. Each level contains different species, different landscapes, etc. At the core of the world is where the WorldGod is believed to live. Of course, Banks prose is intoxicating as always and I really liked the blend of high fantasy, sci-fi and even a bit of 'steampunk'. There are Lots of goodies.

Unfortunately, like many of his other books, the plodding, err-- plotting could use some work. Banks spends a MASSIVE amount of time setting everything up and it begins to feel a little contrived, as if he's just moving pieces around for the final showdown. Also, here we have another climax that falls flat in my opinion. Tension starts growing between various parties and right when it's at its height an event happens that, well, it resolves the tension I suppose but not in a very neat way. Then, Banks quickly moves on to the end, which is very imaginative, but it still feel tacked on. I wish the tension I spoke of earlier was resolved in a more satisfying manner, especially after so much build-up. Ah well.

I did like much of the book and I felt the important characters were fleshed out pretty well. When I was about 300 pages into this I thought Matter was going to be 5 star material for sure, but it sort of fizzles and then whimpers near the end (at the very end it picks back up a little bit). I'm giving Matter a pessimistic 3.5 (rounding to 4 seems a bit too generous for this one). It's worth a read, but the climax might irk you a little bit.

Also, I should mention that despite there being at least 80 different characters and a bunch of different species I found this one to be quite readable. When I initially picked this book up and saw the huge character list and the massive glossary in the back I felt a little intimidated to start digging in, but after a hundred pages or so it really becomes quite easy to follow.

Iain Banks stands far above many writers, science fiction or otherwise, because he is a master of wordcraft. He can compel you to turn the next page, make you love a character, or make you marvel at the sheer boundaries of his imagination because his writing is great. This puts him in a class of great writers and he just happens to delve into science fiction with this great talent. Among science fiction he stands among a precious few writers who can write with such sincerity, humor, depth, wonder, and skill that you forget it's science fiction. By that I mean that they create a world so credible and fun to be in that you become as much a part of it as the world we actually live in. Like Samuel R. Delaney, Ursula K. Le Guinn, and John Varley, you are taken in completely and given an amazing ride, and are ultimately told a great human story.

Matter is a vast epic journey filled with amazing technology, but is not overwhelmed by it. Banks borders on magical realism in a way, but takes it to the limits of what is imaginable in a novel. He is the Gabriel Garcia Marquez of the galactic set, a virtuoso of words with an imagination that spans deciaeons and millions of light-years. There are others who can imagine universes, but few who can render them in such warm, compelling, and lurid language. This is the work of a true master.

I DO love Iain Banks, and reading this book reminded me of why this is so. It's been a while since I last read one of his SF works, and I just adore the way he deals with far-future huge galactic civilization technology stuff... it becomes completely transparent, and the book is really about people (or intelligences) and how they deal with their "world" and each other. But still there is a deep, geekly enjoyment of future tech. It makes me think of the "advanced tech being indistinguishable from magic" meme, and yet one believes in Banks' technology.

He also does great big amazing action sequences involving future tech better than anyone else I've ever read.

This book deals a lot with people from a more primitive culture having to interact with those of much more advanced cultures, and it's fascinating to read just for the joy of picturing a medieval Prince dealing with members of an insectoid space-faring alien culture. While I did find the book sprawling and sometimes unfocused, I just enjoy the things Banks does so much that it was very worth reading.

Love the finale, even though it was abrupt after the lengthy travels. Wonderful wrap-up and suggestion of what is to come.

While I love Iain Banks' work in general, and his Culture books in particular, I can't say this is one of his better efforts. Matter is a book plagued by poor pacing, too many forgettable characters, and just a general lack of interesting things to say.

Matter is probably best understood as a study in the lives of three siblings: two brothers and their sister, all children of the king of a recently advancing medieval nation, and the older brother's manservant Holse. Their people live within a ShellWorld, a sort of onion shaped world where people live on the surface of concentric spheres. The two princes live within their post-medieval society, where knights ride great flying birds above the new steam trains, while their sister has gone off to become a Culture agent, barely connected to her distant homeland.

The story follows the four of them as they roam around through various adventures and circumstance, never quite connecting itself to any particular plot or drama throughout the first 2/3 of this fairly long book. All four of them (and some others who travel with them) just sort of meander through the story, pushed back and forth by outside events without quite knowing what's going on, until in the very last quarter of the book a story just sort of pops out of nowhere and takes over. This leads to a very abrupt and unsatisfying ending which really reads like a writer trying to meet a deadline more than anything else.

Along the way, the main characters all seem rather stereotypical and in general don't grow or learn much. Djan, the sister, is a stiff and rather featureless character, and her older brother is just irritating. Her younger brother is the best drawn of the three, as he grows up in a society just out of its medieval period, but in the end the story just doesn't seem to be about any of them -- not even Holse, who is at least affable and bright. Along the way, they all sort of aimlessly wander into a plethora of sub-plots and questions, none of which are answered satisfactorily in the end.

I hesitate to recommend this book, unless you simply have an unquenchable appetite for Culture stories, or perhaps flying knights. In Matter, you will learn more about the galaxy the Culture inhabits, and see life from the point of view of people a century or two behind us technologically but who nevertheless grow up knowing of aliens and high technology. But, in the end, the plot and the characters are weak. You're better off just reading Excession again, instead.

There are essentially two kinds of science fiction writers: those who use a story to expound their Big Ideas, and those whose Story just happens to contain a big idea or two.

I've always been a fan of the latter group, and long thought Mr. Banks to be its shining example, but I'm forced to conclude that in his latest offering, the man has too many Ideas and not enough Story.

With twenty four other reviews already on this site, it falls to me to reinforce and amplify some of the comments made by earlier reviewers. Much of the novel is taken up with characters moving from place to place without doing very much of anything except ruminating on the nature of the universe. Go-nowhere subplots overload the front end, while the ending feels rushed and compressed almost to the point of unintelligibility. The end result feels hurried and uneven, with little payoff for your efforts to wade through the earlier chapters.

That's the bad news. The good news is that this is indeed some of the most inventive fiction out there, and the scope of Mr. Banks' universe-building remains awesome. Every setting is entirely fresh, fascinating in concept and thoughtful in delivery, populated with truly *alien* aliens, and powered by technology of almost giddy inventiveness.

Still, it is hard to recommend Matter to anyone new to Mr. Banks' works. Consider Philebas also explores our insignificance in the universe, but does so with far more wit and dash and far less navel-gazing, while Use of Weapons is both more inventively structured and more entertainingly written. Both are highly recommended.

A new Iain Banks novel is something to look forward to like that holiday you booked late last year, or that annual bonus you were promised with your next pay cheque. Alternately releasing mainstream novels as Iain Banks, and his hugely successful science-fiction novels as Iain M. Banks, there's always something to look foward to. His last book was set outside his usual universe, meaning that it's been about eight years since his last novel set within the galaxies-wide civilization known as "the Culture".

"Matter" is a faithful return to the universe that Banks has created, further developing not only the Culture, but the outlying words and civlizations that the Culture must interact (or interfere) with. There is a lot to enjoy within the 600-or so pages, including a selection of bizzare new races, the usual Special Circumstances agents who get all the interesting dirty work, and their deadly and quirky drone accomplices. Fans of the Culture novels might be disappointed that the Minds, supremely powerful AIs that control the Culture's quirkily-named spacecraft, take a bit of a back seat here. In fact, the Culture itself is primarily something draped across the background of the story, rather than playing a huge part in it.

The novels is set mostly on a rare type of planet called a "Shellworld", apparently-artificially-created worlds that are hollow and composed of several layers, each occupied by a different atmosphere and one or two accompanying species. The world itself is a centrepiece for a great drama that begins with the death of a king, and the resulting squabbles and battle. It's a sound plot with several twists, played out by some well-drawn characters and sprinkled liberally with gimmicky gadgets and awesome action set pieces. More linear that most Banks novels, it can afford to get into detail without confusing the readers or making them wait for a concrete details to figure out when and where they are. There are a lot of details, with Banks taking liberties with the knowledge that publishers and readers pretty much expect it now. Thankfully there aren't many irrelivancies, and of course the more specifics about the new species and the unfamiliar planet-type the better.

Banks seems fully aware that he will need to do a lot of satisfy fans with this one. He opens with a traditionally Culture-like scene involving action, drama, humour and sarcastic drones. He then throws us into the almost medieval style society of the Shellworld, describing its intricacies and introducing its close cast of relevant inhabitants. From there we are shown the Culture from the outside, which although providing us with a new view of the morally ambiguous civilization also serves to distance us from it. Bad move from Mr Banks, but it's not a total loss. There's enough of Special Circumstances and its interaction with neighbouring races to keep things familiar as we explore the Shellworld and the revelations that take place there on, in and around it.

His creations and their almost senseless banter are too fruity to be believed (although he did more than stretched believability to begin with). They all leave the reader with a mild suspicion that Banks is, to put it bluntly, taking the piss. Seeing how much he can get away with before somebody slaps him down and says, "Okay, too far." It does get silly at times, but then that's kind of what Banks' sci-fi is about: yanking imagination out into big long strings like warm Blu-Tack, and then rolling them up into a confused bundle and hope that something amazing takes shape. In this case, Banks is reasonably successful. It's not perhaps the best thing he's written, and nothing to match "Consider Phlebas" or "Excession", but it's a good read and its length counterbalanced by the fine prose and well-tuned dialogue. If you like the Culture novels, or even if you just like sci-fi, you're sure to enjoy it. And, as always, you needn't have read any of the others to understand it, which is common practice nowadays. Give it a go, enjoy the depth of the characters, the silliness of the aliens, and the breathtaking final scenes. It's awesome and its fun and it's proper literature as well. Bonus!

It seems that everything that reviewers have complained about here are things that I actually liked about "Matter."

(1) Length. I had no problem reading the nearly six hundred pages, and gladly would have read more. Those who found much of the material irrelevant should wait for the Cliff's Notes. The question of what is and is not important is, after all, one of the book's main themes.

(2) The fact that it's not "Consider Phlebas" or "Use of Weapons." Good. I'm sure that Banks would be bored with writing the same book over and over again, and I'd be bored reading it.

(3) The ending. Most books can't manage even one terrific ending. This one provides TWO. Granted, it may not be what most readers might have expected. But that's the point. Those who become too invested in the petty doings of a barbarian culture deserve to be reminded that they really DON'T amount to a hill of beans in the pan-galactic scheme of things--and rather sharply.

And on the purely positive side, the book contains things that every reader should like. Culture. Cheeky AI's. Neat weapons. An endless supply of REALLY alien civilizations. Moral ambiguity and inscrutability.

If Banks' next Culture book is completely different that this one, and is at least six hundred pages long, I bet I'll be completely satisfied as I was with this one.

It's dangerous to make suppositions about the motives of a writer, but this book gives me the impression that Banks didn't really want to write another Culture novel, until he noticed that his bank account was getting a mite low. What's bad about Matter isn't that it's a bad book--it's just not a very good one, and it certainly doesn't measure up to this writer's potential.

In fact, with the help of a really capable (read "with the temperament of a junkyard dog") editor and couple of rewrites, this could have been a fine novel. It just needs a lot of work that it never got. As others have remarked, this tome seems far too long. (Though I've read books with more pages that seemed far too short.) For example, when a writer tells of a pompous politician delivering a long-winded, insincere eulogy, he could elect to handle this by giving the opening sentences, and saying, "...and the pompous windbag went on in this vein for what seemed an eternity". Instead, Banks actually reproduces the speech in its entirety. Unforgivable.

I did almost hurl the book after about 60 pages, but then the discovery of the stow-away drone by the female culture agent gave me a chuckle. The chuckle gave birth to hope...which eventually faded back into near-boredom. And yes, the plot skids to a dead stop at the end.

Buy the paperback.

In this addition to Banks now famous Culture universe there is once again a grand operatic landscape serving as the backdrop to a series of very personal, character stories set in a familiar science fiction universe. The main thrust of the book follows three noble-born children from a primitive people. The princess Anaplian is recruited into the Special Circumstances section of the Culture and taken away from her world and family. Youngest sibling Oramen unexpectedly finds himself in possible line to inherit the throne of his land. Elder sibling Ferbin, with his servant Holse, finds himself on the run after witnessing a dreadful conspiracy against the kingdom. Now years after her adoption into the powerful space-faring Culture, a death in the family draws Anaplian back to her ancient artificial world. There, Anaplian must walk again amongst the primitives and uncover a mystery that could affect the fate of not only her own people, but also numerous alien races bound to the artificial Shellworld of Sursamen.

Matter, at some 586 pages, is one of Banks larger books in the Culture catalogue. This novel definitely indulges in details and includes dozens of characters and locations (though there is thankfully several glossaries for quick reference). Banks maintains the elegant complexity for which he is known and lays out his story in Matter with an engaging interweaving structure. Character development is strong in Matter and despite the fantastic nature of the fiction, the reader can easily relate to nearly all the characters, protagonist and antagonist alike. The events of Matter are grand, including wars and mysteries, personal tribulations and mind-blowing discoveries. The book is dense, but not incomprehensible, mostly thanks to Banks grounded prose and clever contemporary dialog. Banks is comfortably within his element and yet always makes certain the reader feels the same by using vivid descriptions and helpful explanations of both the technology and the worlds he creates.

As the eighth story (seventh book) in the Culture universe, Matter is surprisingly accessible without writing down to the audience. Matter is also near-flawlessly intriguing and each new chapter leaves the reader ever curious for more. In Matter, Banks also affirms, in violent detail, his tough and ruthless devotion to story. The characters of Matter are vulnerable to any fate at any time and Banks fearlessly ensures they are written to serve the story at whatever cost. The reputation Banks earned with his earlier Culture stories is maintained in Matter and he proves yet again that he is ever the risk taker now as he was when Consider Phlebas was published some 22 years ago. Matter is just as gritty as any Culture novel and remains as challenging in its dire imagery and tense danger as any of his non-sci-fi fiction novels.

Where fault is found in Matter it is in the somewhat excessive exploration of socio-political themes. While the book is rarely dull, the story does indulge its characters in ponderous and sometimes pedantic pontification. Ruminations upon politics, religion and existentialism grow organically from character development in Matter, but often the book dwells on such thoughts for far too long at the expense of pace. It is easy to find oneself tiring of such ruminations and wishing for some more cerebral chapters to balance the rather lengthy book. It's also not uncommon for characters to be taken out of the narrative for significant periods of time. Combined with the wide breadth of the plot, this can sometimes make the reader feel as though not enough is happening or that the characters are not taking enough action. However, it is hard to fault Matter as it slowly simmers toward such a delicious crescendo and delivers a powerful close that makes the reader frantic to turn those final pages.

As daring as Consider Phlebas and as scientifically enthralling as Excession, Matter is as much an affirmation of a talent as it is vibrant growth of the author's craft.

One of the things I love best about Banks' novels (specifically concerning the Culture) is the reality of the characters. They sport definite flaws, idiosynchrasies, etc...but they also have noble qualities mingled among the "dirt", in a very complex mix, giving rise to a love/hate, admiration/scorn emotion in the reader. In this aspect, he doesn't disappoint in his latest novel.

His dark humor, of course, is present, and provides a pleasant savor to this otherwise grim tale.

What I most appreciate is the ending: I found myself shocked, angered, numbed, then grinning with hope and well being, all within a few moments.

The book did get off to a rather slow start, but it built momentum that ended in a sharp burst of action at the end, which was all too brief for my tastes.

Nevertheless, I eagerly await his next Culture novel.

Having just finished reading Matter I feel quite sad. Considering the variety of books that Mr. Banks writes I don't expect to see another book of The Culture for at least two years. My reading options will be a bit barren until then.

With the exception of his book Excession I consider this the best of Bank's books of The Culture. Other reviewers have give the general storyline, so I'll skip it here. The cast of characters is rich, many are from a humanoid society roughly in the equivalent of our Medieval period. This society exists inside one small level of one of the wonders of the galaxy, a Shellworld.

The primary characters are all from this society, several are members of the Royal family, a few are various loyal and treacherous aids. One was a member of the Royal family, but being a mere girl it was decided by her father the King she would be best used as a political offering to a member of the Optimae. The Optimae being the term for the highly advanced and involved civilations in the galaxy. We meet her after she has adapted to The Culture, a "world" of fantastic technology, education and freedoms.

Through her eyes we see The Culture a bit differently than I've seen in any previous work. She appreciates the advantages but also is aware of the tendency of citizens to use their long lives as interfering, do-gooding busybodies. A Culture person leaves the running of everything to the many Minds that manage their ships, orbital habitats and even planets. (Referring to a Culture Mind as an A.I., at least in their near omni-presence, would be consider very rude and insulting. Some Minds have been known to hold grudges). So no matter your species as a citizen of the Culture you could look forward to millennia of smug self-regard stretched before you.

Our original simple girl is now a highly trained, heavily enhanced and willing agent to help when special circumstances come into play. It this case her unofficial visit to honor her fallen father notices there is much more going on.

I strongly disagree with some reviews commenting that the characters are shallow. Some characters, humanoid and otherwise, are killed during the story. I felt their loss strongly.

My only complaint is we spend less time traveling through the wonders that is The Culture in this book than say Excession. But I believe Mr. Bank's decision to develop the world of "primatives" living in the Shellworld's world of marvels to be a good one.

After being disappointed with The Algebraist and now with Matter, I'm not much looking forward to any future Banks novels.

My thoughts on this most recent entry into the Culture Universe can be summed up with two points: too long and unbalanced. The book is simply too long, apparently Banks has reach that point where he no longer has to listen to editors, which is a shame as this book could have been great with a lot of trimming and a few revisions. Then there is the issue of how utterly rushed the conclusion is compared to the sheer amount of time spent setting up for the climax. And the epilogue, placed after the appendix for whatever reason, didn't make up for the short and bittersweet ending.

There were simply too many ideas on this book that were of little-to-no consequence and too many long passages that could easily have been shortened, if not completely skipped. This novel is nearly 600 pages but hardly contains enough real content for a 300 page novel, in my opinion. Hopefully on his next outing Banks will use an editor who can reign him in when he gets too "ambitious" again.

This story, set in Banks' Culture universe, follows three siblings from a world where firearms is a recent invention. The brothers are princes of a people on this world, and for a long time, the story mostly follows their adventures on the world itself.

The princess is now a Culture citizen, and we follow her adventures as well.

Obviously, the three interchanging stories are related to a central plot, but my main problem with the book is that although the Culture chapters are fascinating in general, the other story archs could just as well have appeared in a fantasy or historical novel. They just don't feel like science fiction and leaves me lacking a sense of wonder and awe.

Add to this that the plot isn't that original and chugs along at a slow pace, and you've got a book that's vaguely fascinating in places, but mostly just boring.

The book is almost 600 pages long, but could have easily been trimmed down to 200-300 pages without losing much of the overall plot.

Although I must admit that I find it refreshing to read far-future SF where mankind, for once, is at the top of the galactic food chain, it's also the Culture universe's biggest narrative problem, because Banks has to seek conflict and intrigue in other places, but as a reader, you fail to become engaged.

Given that the book does contain some good SF ideas and concepts, it's intriguing that the result is so dull as is the case.

Iain Banks is a brilliant author, no doubt, but Matter didn't win me over the way his other works have. As other reviewers have mentioned, the ending was a bit unsatisfying, especially after the careful buildup over the first 500 pages. The 'heroes' go through the usual story arc and change over the course of the book, the bad guys don't change, and actually lose some of their hateful steam as the book goes along.

Banks has set very high standards for himself with the creativity, sheer magnitude, and complexities of his Culture universe, and he almost gets there with Matter. If you've read other Culture novels and like them, you should probably get this, too. But if I was recommending Banks to a new reader I would send them to Excession or Consider Phlebas.

Banks is an enormous talent and his Culture stories are truly addictive. The concept, the philosophy and complex features of the Culture society and universe are fascinating and insightful. Matter builds on all of this - it is longer than its predecessors, and they should be read first, but it is just as readable. The narrative is thoughtful and entertaining, with sparkling allegory in respect of the WorldGod (from the various levels of sophistication of the characters), and Hobbsian observations in matters of career, longevity and even child-rearing by these well sketched characters.

Matter explores the structure and inhabitants of a shellworld, a construct as interesting as Niven's Ringworld. Banks's characteristic squirmingly entertaining and grim realism embellishes a good plot and fine characterisation.

Banks usually achieves some of the best endings in sci fi, and never has a bad one - however it is on its performance in this area that Matter loses a star.

In brief: A detail-rich blend of plot threads and world-building that will engage Banks and Culture fans, but may leave neophytes (and many fans!) wondering what happened...

'Matter' follows the fortunes of two royal brothers and a sister from a relatively backwater society in an ancient artifical 'shell-world'. Betrayal, murder-most-foul and the quest for justice/revenge/etc drive the plot and characters to an almost world-shattering conclusion. But don't blink, or you'll be into the Appendix before you've caught the ending. Oh, and stick around, the Epilogue comes _after_ the Appendix.

The investment that Banks makes in world-building suggests he's creating a whole new universe that subsequent novels will inhabit, rather than an expansion of the Culture-centric universe we already know. Indeed, Banks' Shell-world could be considered the lead character, with a rich but endless supporting cast of species and civilizations. But perhaps I'm missing the point - perhaps Banks wanted us to know that even the mighty Culture was just a drop in the Galactic ocean. All that said, I can't help but think that more room could have been made for the ending if some of the ideas (species, civilizations, politics...) could have been reined in.

The Culture (and Special Circumstances) are largely hinted at through the capabilities of the heroine, otherwise the universe of drones, ships and minds takes a back seat to more human-equivalent character-driven plotting.

'Matter' in the end, seemed to run out of space, or steam (or plasma or knife-missiles, depending on your equiv-tech). Key human, ship and drone characters are burned through with barely a mention. What happened to the antagonist, Loesp? We have to fill in the blanks, although the more vindictive amongst us would have liked more Banksian sensory-surround detail... There is an upside in terms of maintaining pace, but personally I would have liked more flesh and blood, and less bone. Sometimes us saps want to see and feel the heroic end, or delight in the pain of the fall.

If you're new to Banks and the Culture, I highly recommend trying 'Consider Phlebas' or 'Use of Weapons' first. If you're already a fan, 'Matter' is definitely worth buying, but be prepared that Banks expects you to work for your gratification at the end!

For world-building, and plot and character-development, it rates five stars. In the end, however, I gave this four stars as I think the climax and denouement are just too short, and will demand too much of all but the most dedicated reader.

Otherwise an intriguing and intelligent book, the ending leaves much to be desired. For all the amazing world building Banks does in this book (and throughout the Culture Series), Matter just seems like he got tired of it one day and decided to bind it all up in a paragraph. I had to look into Wikipedia to understand what happened.

That said, as always, an excellent scifi read.

Just finished this book recently after moving through it a chapter a night. I have found this to be one of the top three Culture novels I have read in sequence so far; with the female pseudo-lead, and the combination of alien encounters and tech. Overall in this book the tech seems to be there to support the story of the main characters, not the other way around, and it turned out quite well in this book. I certainly recommend this for purchase and as a gift to any scifi fan.

Bank's latest Culture novel, Matter, is one of the strongest in the series, together with Player of Games and Excession. The plot involves several perspectives on the Culture universe as Banks presents a whole hierarchy of civilisations, from a medieval society placed within an artificial world, to the different caretakers of the same world (and their conflicts with one another), to the supremes like Culture and the Morganwelt. We meet a lot of characters: a medieval prince fighting for his right to the throne, a SC agent on her way home, an ancient ship mind, a renegade from the culture and some really weird and dangerous aliens, to mention a few. Highly recommended.

Perhaps Iain M. Banks has arrived at the stage of his career where he cannot be edited. That would be a shame as his writing speaks to me very directly. Matter seems overlong for no good reason. It also seems like Banks wasn't sure he was writing a Culture novel as the bulk of the book has nothing to do with the Culture. However, I'm sure putting 'A Culture Novel' on the front cover will boost sales. 'Look to Windward' was a far more entertaining recent culture novel. I also felt (the non-Culture universe) 'The Algebraist' was, in general, a better novel than 'Matter'.

Where Iain M. Banks gets things right is writing within a character's voice. Here, he displays a master's touch. The characters are all well defined and unique. None of them are endearing, unfortunately. The plot drags - mainly because there really are not a lot of unanswered questions driving the story.

Do yourself a favor and read the reviews of this book over at the store.co.uk where the literacy gap between the US and the UK is revealed dramatically. If you're a hard-core Banks fan, as I am, you might want to get this one in paperback.

For the purposes of this review, I will assume the reader is already familiar with the Culture series of novels. If you have not read this series before: "Player of Games" and "Consider Phlebas" are both better introductions (and better reads).
This book has a very complex plot and a huge cast of characters. The Glossary and Cast of Characters alone are nearly 20 pages. To simplify greatly, the story follows three characters: the two sons and single daughter of King Hausk, lord of Sarl, a technologically backwards (approximately 19th century) land inside a "ShellWorld"...an ancient, artifical world of nested levels like Russian dolls, complete with nuclear suns and a variety of unique landscapes. The daughter (Djan) has long been away, adopted into the Culture and recruited into Special Circumstances. When their father is killed, one brother (Ferbin) flees their home looking for help from another SC agent who once helped their family, or failing that, his sister. The other brother (Oramen), unaware of his brother's fate or the great personal danger he is in, stays behind as prince Regent. Meanwhile Djan is travelling home upon hearing of her father's death.
Ferbin travels outward: literally out of the interior of the Shellworld, out into space; and figuratively outward from a cultural backwater into the enormous domain of the Culture. Meanwhile, Djan is following the opposite course, inwards from the expanses of the Culture to her old home. While Banks does an excellent job of developing the unique personalities and backgrounds of the 3 characters, they are primarily used to reflect on the universe he has created. Ferbin is the simple provincial, exposed to and struggling to understand the size and technological wonders of the Culture, while Djan is the sophisticated citizen of the galaxy through whose eyes we can see the Culture as it sees itself. The story of Oramen meanwhile allows Banks to describe their peculiar Shellworld home and contrast petty local politics with the grand scale of the greater universe. The book ends up almost reading as related travelogues. Having three characters in very different settings allows free rein to Banks's imagination as he conjures up world after world, alien race after alien race, technogical marvels, magnificient landscapes and colorful peoples.
The title of the book comes from one character's pessimistic philosophy: we must be living in a totally materialistic universe, because no created universe with a purpose could be so miserable and random. The central plot is around politics in Sarl, but the events, so grandly important and historic to the kings and princes of that land, are unnoticeably trivial on the galactic scale. Banks reinforces this by having the Sarl be patrons of a space-faring race called the Oct, but they in turn are backwards clients of the Nariscene who are further clients of the Morthanveld who are peer to the Culture. Even the God of the Sarl is merely a representative of one of the ancient galatic cultures, and not a particularly formidable one. For a science fiction book, Matter contains a lot of thinking about the meaning and purpose of life.
Unfortunately, after nearly 500 pages of exploring the Shellworld, the galaxy, a series of ancient mysteries and the psyches of its major characters, the book rushes to a unsatisfactory conclusion. I do not mean that there is no happy ending...this is Banks after all and the only thing predictable about the ending is that it is unpredictable. That is the great merit of the plot. Rather, the ending is highly anticlimactic. The book ends with a literal bang, but the buildup has gone on so long that tying it all up in 80 pages is far too brief and disappointing. After spending whole chapters on conversations in pubs and descriptions of making travel arrangements, Banks starts skipping over major events like battles and the deaths of major characters...dismissing them with asides and after-the-facts. This compression continues to the very end, where major events transpire in pages and finally paragraphs. This may be the final expression of the book's philosophy: the reduction of major characters and plot-lines to throw away sentences, but it feels more like Banks ran out of space or time. That a character in the last few pages is literally a God in a Machine may be clever, but does not excuse the Deus ex Machina feeling of the end.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the Culture, the Shellworld, etc. But it took too long, and the ending is unsatisfactory on many levels. "Matter" is well written...on a page by page basis ranking with Banks's best, but I can't ever imagine wanting to re-read it or recommend it to someone who isn't a Culture devotee...thus my 3 star rating.

This is Special Circumstances, and the Culture at its best, and my comments here are to fans of Banks. (I am not going to review the plot, I'll leave that to Harriet K.) I found this book extraordinary, and I am still reeling from the end. Banks re-examines the Culture metaverse, this particular time around he's more clinical in his philosophy about interactions between advanced and less developed civilization - people - psyches. Sit back, enjoy, and contemplate! Three human siblings represent different stages of development - both in terms of self-understanding, and understanding of the not-Self (I and Thou?). As such the characters are like nested boxes that replay in miniature the broader universal relations - i.e., the most advanced civilizations, the developing and the just self-aware ones. The highest level sibling, sister Anaplian, has joined the Culture, and is in a position to teach and help her brothers. Ferbin, the next sibling, just ventures out into the greater universe but learns quickly. The youngest brother barely has a chance to even know that he's part of the universe but the potential for development is there. The sibling relationship, which is both delicate and sweet, mirrors the way that more advanced civilizations in Banks' universe respect the less advanced. As Banks moves forward and back through the levels of civilization he pushes intended parallels with our little world, where more `advanced' cultures are supposed to try and respect those that have less; in our world too, a person living in a Bronze Age culture can adapt to a more modern one. Of course, we screw up a lot in respect, and we sure don't know very much about anything.

Banks is beloved for his invention of wonderful machine beings. Here there are plenty of great machines to satisfy fans - including the wonderful Drone Turminder Xuss, and the complex personality of the Ship, the Livewire Problem. There are strange Special Circumstances agents gone rogue, and the absolutely wonderful characterizations of 2 human servants (another comparison between "levels" - the high and the low - who is really the rightful ruler) who both grow personally, the distinguished and excellent Mr Holse and a quickly rendered but beautifully comic and noble servant to the Prince Regent.

Reviewers here have complained about the ending - I think it's perfect. Life plods along mostly full of the details of the daily (though in the Culture universe there is plenty to be astonished at on each page). But at the end, at least during great upheavals, it ends quickly - both for normal folk caught up in things they don't understand, as well as for the Special Circumstances warriors - it's over in a flash, you just pray to end well. Wow. It's just a masterful book, with all Banks' philosphy repeated at many levels - in the end, a world of nested explanations, nested habitats, and at the very end - yeah, it all Matters.

I always enjoy Iain M. Banks' books, and this one is no different. Banks' endlessly creative mind takes us on a fantastic journey to a rather minor destination. But with Banks it is usually the trip and not the end of the line that is so satisfying. "Matter" is not his best work, in my opinion, but certainly an enjoyable read.

Take "Macbeth" and "The Hobbit", shake them together with a pinch of "The Lord of the Rings", set the result far in the future, and you've got the basics for this book.

A king is murdered and a son flees for his life into adventures that take him far beyond anything he'd ever expected to experience. On his adventures, he runs into his sister, long gone from the family and all grown up to be the far future equivalent of a special operator. They all return home to avenge the murder, and in the process stop Sauron.

Oh, and Samwise Gamgee lives happily ever after.

I picked this book up on Saturday afternoon, and finished it on Sunday evening. It sucked me in completely.

UPDATE: BTW, the book is worth it just for the names of the ships. Who'll ever forget "Eight Rounds Rapid", "Don't Try This At Home", or "Subtle Shift In Emphasis"? Reading Banks's books you get the impression that AIs have this hysterical, never quite revealed, take on the humans.

Remember when you read Banks you are reading the best science fiction writing of the moment. A real writer, not a hack with a bunch of whacky ideas. But therein lies the problem. Banks has so much facility that he can write a chapter about a waterfall - and almost does - yet not advance the plot more than the distance the falls would retreat while you read it.

While Banks makes the descriptive writing seem effortless and his imagination easily dwarfs most current science fiction writers and frequently matches the best of the entire genre, his story telling is getting lost in his desire to paint pictures. He eagerly tries to open our minds to different worlds and alien species. He presents us with equally fascinating alternatives to the Culture as if dangling a carrot to his entrenched fans.

And for those fans who choose to stick with 'Matter' through the long build up, there is an ultimate reward, when, three quarters of the way through, Banks moves up two gears and the wonders start to flow. For those readers who might not be convinced that they will be ultimately entertained, there is little to engage them until then. The characters are alternately vapid or remote, the technology frustratingly hidden and the plot convoluted and not particularly interesting.

I suspect he his bored with the Culture and its 'deus ex machina' solutions. We, the deprived readers, get to drink in the Culture for a few hours every two years. He, as a writer, has to live within it all year round. Much as I have loved the Culture and the inspiring visions Iain fills us with, I would not admonish him if he chose to move on. I'm grateful for what he's given us but, as a fan, I have no right to demand a single thing more. Excession was a masterpiece, the Algebraist a jewel and I will still buy everything he writes. Despite my small disappointment, I would give this 4 and a half stars if I could.

Another excellent offering from Banks. A little different from previous novels in that we follow three story lines. I felt like the main characters were developed well and I thought the stage for the story was even better than in previous novels.

If there is a better author at writing action and developing a detailed and complex environment and deep backstory, please let me know, because the only bad part about Banks' novels is the disappointment when you finish one, knowing that there is now one less novel of his left to read until there are no more.

The ending was frustrating, but the epilogue makes up for it.

This book has massive complexity, which I love, though it was more than half way through before I could really tell what was going on. Iain M. Banks has this greta ability to write interesting stuff even when you don't know where it's going. His technical slant and character building are good, but it is his breadth of story that truly leaves me in awe. To share the scope of his story telling is a wonderful thing and this book is right up there with the best of his writing.

If you want to try out Banks then this is a good place to start. Some of his other books are to slow or patchy, but to my mind this one is a wonderful balance and if you stick with it you will be mightily rewarded in the final chapters.

If you like reading a book with only adjectives in it, then this is it. At first I thought I was reading a 13-14th century setting, then aliens showed up. Too bazaar for me, plus again, too many adjectives

I find myself agreeing with the more negative reviews on this one. I've loved the other Culture books, and even liked the Algebraist a lot. But this story was just a bit of a slog. I didn't love the human characters, there weren't the usual odd and humorous AI's, and the aliens were stock. We follow the three siblings slowly across the galaxy, and then wham it's all tied up. The writing is excellent, though. I just finished John Meaney's Nulapeiron trilogy which is chock-a-block with fun ideas and fast-paced story lines, but it was much easier to sink into the writing when I started Banks' Matter.

I read everything Banks does and one of my favorite books is by him but in this overlong tale about a prince and his servant takes attention away from the Culture and they are not characters I'd expect from a Culture book. I wish it would have went more into Contact and SC and less about this stupid primitive (by Culture standards) kingdom. I found it to be too drawn out and the lack of many Culture characters there is a turn off. I recommend it only to those like me who love Culture novels and perhaps those that like fantasy. It leads in that direction towards the end.

I read everything Banks does and one of my favorite books is by him but in this overlong tale about a prince and his servant takes attention away from the Culture and they are not characters I'd expect from a Culture book. I wish it would have went more into Contact and SC and less about this stupid primitive (by Culture standards) kingdom. I found it to be too drawn out and the lack of many Culture characters there is a turn off. I recommend it only to those like me who love Culture novels and perhaps those that like fantasy. It leads in that direction towards the end.

I agree with many of the other reviewers who have noted that Banks could do with some editing. Although I have been reading his novels (both mainstream and sci-fi) since the early 90's, Matter is probably the weakest of his sci-fi works. The much referred to "complexity" of the plot stems from its overpopulation with unnecessary characters, and the endless pages describing the journeys of these unsympathetic individuals bored me senseless. Why should I care? Banks obviously doesn't.

Iain Banks projects 20th & 21st human foibles and virtues onto futuristic characters in a believable construct evoking both empathy and anger in the reader. Often, it was difficult to put this one down but that is how all of Bank's works are.

First of all I love the entire Culture series...aside from Frank Herbert's Dune series, this is the best sci-fi series of all time. The philosophy and sociology in these books offers a fascinating lesson for modern times. Alot of the professional reviews said this book was too long, I thought there was a sense of adventure throughout the book and I thought it ended all too soon. The ending was abrupt, and typically Banksian i.e. lots of people die. I would have liked to learn more about the Aultridia and the Morthanveld, but maybe they'll turn up in later novels...

This is the first of the "Culture" series books I have read and it reminded me of "Endymion," or perhaps Mervyn Peake's "Gormenghast," although much inferior to them. Banks' baroque writing style just didn't do it for me and a multiplicity of characters with long, convoluted names, descriptive set-pieces and lots and lots of pages did not make up for the absence of a story that was sufficiently interesting to make me want to read more of this series.

Far from the affluent technologically advanced Culture buried deep underneath the surface of the artificial "Shellworld" Sursamen lays the backwater Kingdom of the Sarl ruled by King Hausk who has three offspring. His heir is Oramen while his spare is Ferbin; the third sibling and only female the discarded Djan vanished into exile a long time ago.

In a coup, the conspirators assassinate King Hausk and blame Ferbin, who escapes their attempts to kill him to cover their crimes. They place Oramen on the throne as an image of continuity, but the assassins are the true power and do not hide their control of power. Meanwhile Ferbin seeks the help of his sister to free Oramen, take back the throne and avenge their sire. However Djan is no longer the same person she once was since she became an operative of the Culture's Special Circumstances that intrudes on lesser civilizations for the better good of the galaxy.

The Kingdom of Sarl comes across as a genuine backward place surrounded by seemingly superior technology everywhere outside the monarchy. The three siblings are fully developed especially the "spare" and the "discarded" who must go home to save their people in spite of the fact that neither is wanted nor needed. The eighth "Culture" tale is a superb entry that merges political machinations that come across as Renaissance Era Machiavellian maneuvers with advanced space technology; the smooth blending showcases why Iain M. Banks is consistently one of the best science fiction authors.

Harriet Klausner

Having read the other culture novels and been very impressed by the saga of The Algebraist and the intricate detail of Feersum Endjinn, I was very disappointed by this formulaic story. It ties elements of the culture with a out of time and place kingdom set in a great idea of a world. The read is too long and does not develop the characters adequately to be convincing. Of course the biggest let down is the very poor ending. The last two pages are fantastically rushed and the lackluster ending is not the form that this author usually writes with.