Matter [Paperback]

Starred Review. This magnificent eighth novel (after 2000's Look to Windward) of the Culture, an interstellar posthuman civilization of incredible wealth and technological sophistication, centers on three siblings: Ferbin and Oramen, the misfit heirs of conquering King Hausk of the Sarl, who rules a backward and patriarchal realm deep beneath the surface of the artificial Shellworld Sursamen, and their exiled sister, Djan, now a powerful agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances division. When King Hausk is murdered, Ferbin narrowly avoids the conspirators and sets out across the galaxy to ask Djan's help with revenge against the killer, now serving as Oramen's regent. Soon they learn of the horrific forces a hidden enemy is about to unleash on Sursamen, and must race to save the home that has rejected them both. Beautifully written and filled with memorable characters and startling technology, this tale of intricate politics and interstellar warfare ably demonstrates that Banks is still at the height of his powers. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

'You can always expect the unexpected with an Iain M. Banks novel. So sit back and enjoy a tale with more than a twist or three in Matter. For a start, it's a rattling good story: a man accused of something he didn't do. Lots of action, lots of mind-boggling imaginative thought in this excellent piece of SF, read by Toby Longworth' Daily Express 'You can, if you must, draw clever comparisons between the conflicts in Matter and what's happening in Iraq. Or you can just sit back and listen to Toby Longworth's tongue-in-cheek reading of a very funny book' The Guardian 'There is now no British SF writer to whose work I look forward with greater keenness' The Times 'Confirms Banks as the standard by which the rest of SF is judged' The Guardian 'Explosive' Sunday Times 'Gripping, touching and funny' T.L.S. 'A wild imagination' Mail on Sunday 'Captivating' Time Out 'Spectacular ... the field needs his energy' The Scotsman 'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson 'Beautifully written and filled with memorable characters and startling technology, this tale of intricate politics and intersteller warfare ably demostrates that Banks is still at the height of this powers' - Publishers Weekly 'Banks can bring across the essence of a character with one sentence where others might hammer things home over the course of a chapter. . .Matter is as engrosing as you'd expect a Banks book to be' - Starburst 'Unexpectedly savage, emotionally powerful and impossible to forget' - The Times 'Set in an intricate, yet wonderfully realised world, this latest Culture novel will pull you in and keep you hooked right up to the explosive finale. Matter cannot fail to captivate established fans and newcomers alike' - Waterstone's Books Quarterly 'This long-awaited return for both a writing legend and his finest creation is a delight' - SFX 'A searing inquiry into justified warfare and the dangers of imposing your ideas of civilisation, told at a rattling pace with breathtaking set pieces and oddles of wit and charm. ..It's exhilarating to see what he can do when he goes full-throttle into the form: to my mind, he's simply the finest and most consistently challenging writer in that genre' - Scotland on Sunday

In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one man it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.

Only the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilizations throughout the greater galaxy.

Concealing her new identity - and her particular set of abilities - might be a dangerous strategy, however. In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter.

MATTER is a novel of dazzling wit and serious purpose. An extraordinary feat of storytelling and breathtaking invention on a grand scale, it is a tour de force from a writer who has turned science fiction on its head.

Iain Banks came to controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984. Consider Phlebas, his first science fiction novel, was published under the name Iain M. Banks in 1987. He is now widely acclaimed as one of the most powerful, innovative and exciting writers of his generation. Iain Banks lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. Find out more about Iain M. Banks at www.iainbanks.net.