Considering the ill-fated attempts at transferring 'Dune' to the big screen, I've always been extremely wary of the possibility that one of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels would be given a Hollywood treatment.

However, 'Feersum Endjinn' could potentially be the perfect Banks' sci-fi to test a cinematic treatment. It has all his usual flare for imaginative visions of the future.

Set in the far future, the Earth is now host not only to carbon-based life-forms but also a separate life-state where minds are uploaded onto a world-spanning computer network known as the 'crypt'.

Both realities are in danger due to the 'encroachment' - an interstellar molecular dust cloud covering the solar system. A political game is taking place, sabotaging both base reality and the 'crypt' as the powers that be desperately try and find a solution before the end of the Earth.

Plot summaries for an Iain M. Banks novel struggle to provide an accurate assessment of why he was the best sci-fi writer of his generation. He writes of a far distant Earth, yet is clever enough to know it will in no way resemble our reality today.

He uses immense world-building skills to create something strange and exotic, with small surprises along the way to jolt you back into the knowledge that he is describing a potential future for our planet.

There are also plenty of opportunities to indulge in well-crafted sci-fi landscapes. The mega-architecture of the 'Crypt' is complex yet beautifully described.

As with many of his novels, Banks' fascination with Artificial Intelligence is apparent, but this time he explores the evolution of an AI culture with realistic detail. AI is never used as a simplified antagonist in Banks' novels, unlike many other sci-fi works.

He explains that there can be a good world for humans without it being human-centric. This is a refreshing idea, especially considering our current obsession with dystopias and their highlighting of our destructive nature.

Equally important here is that Banks once again infuses his wry, Scottish wit into the work and creates great characters. A quarter of the book is told through the character of Bascule the Teller and is written phonetically.

This takes a little bit of getting used to but provides an additional layer of characterisation. All of the four main characters go on their own 'Hero's journey', and I can't help but consider what juicy and action-packed roles they would make for certain actors in the future.

Here we have a tale that is massive in terms of design and imagination, but with a plot that races along like an intense thriller. Surely that is prime fodder for massive box office ticket sales?

I have read it in English. I don't really see the point of reading it otherwise, especially because of the passages with the character Bascule, which would otherwise lose a significant part of their charm.

The prose seemed very good to me, in some moments even brilliant. There is a lot of imagination at work here. From the point of view of the story, things seem simple, and apart from the scenes of Bascule, not much happens. Nevertheless, the novel manages to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very disappointing end.

If it weren't for Bascule, I would give it 2 stars. But as it is...

The first time I delved into the works of Iain M. Banks, I was immediately intrigued by the title. As my husband read aloud some of the uproariously funny bits from Bascule's story, my enjoyment grew exponentially.

(Spoilers)

In a far-flung future on Earth, the world has been transformed beyond all recognition. I actually had my doubts that it was supposed to be Earth at all, given the surreal and bizarre nature of the setting, which seemed physically impossible. The information provided was sparse, but there were occasional hints suggesting that this was indeed our planet. What remained of humanity appeared to be divided into warring factions, and everything and everyone was interconnected through a database that essentially controlled the entire show. However, now the world faces threats from both within and without: an inexplicable entity approaches from space, blotting out the stars, and chaos reigns within the database as well. We follow four distinct plotlines - those of the Asura, Count Sessine, the Scientists (and Palace), and Bascule - each involving different characters as they become embroiled in the unfolding situation. The plotlines are carefully kept separate, and it's truly remarkable how the author manages to maintain this separation even as events begin to converge.

The first three plotlines are narrated by an omniscient voice, while the last is told from a first-person perspective. Bascule, a well-intentioned lad with a spelling impediment, quickly became my favorite - fortunately, he also seemed to receive the most attention in the book.

In the end, the world is saved, but it takes until the very last pages, and the solution feels rather like a deus-ex-machina. At first, I was a bit disappointed by this, but then I realized that not only was it amusing that a modern sci-fi author could pull off such a device, but it was also a literal super-human entity emerging from a machine - a very witty and entertaining touch.

I have mixed feelings about the story itself. I don't typically read a lot of sci-fi or fantasy, preferring instead to stick to the classics. In the works I've read, the setting is often used as a vehicle to convey a message relevant to our own world. Here, however, I waited in vain for such a message. So, I suppose you could say that, like l'art pour l'art, this is sci-fi for the sake of sci-fi. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, I can't help but think that the story would have made more sense if it had some connection to a real-life topic or contained some revelation to provide a more understandable context. As it stands, the most you can say is that it was a chaotic world in which the inhabitants struggle in vain to make sense of what's happening (perhaps that's the connection to the real world right there), and which is somehow threatened and then, at least to some extent, saved by the activation of a power that no one in the story truly understands.

Overall, I give this book five stars for its sheer narrative skill and ingenuity, for being an outrageously imaginative and highly amusing read (the critic from the Observer who described it as 'comprehensively terrifying' must have been reading a different book - it's not scary, just a bit gory at times, and mostly ranges from elegantly witty to downright hilarious). However, I deduct one star for leaving me with a sense of 'is that it?'

This book was my introduction to Iain Banks, who was recommended to me by a friend.

I've no idea if this book is indicative of the rest of his oeuvre, but the best word I can come up with to describe "Feersum Endjinn" is "weird."

The plot, in a nutshell, is set thousands of years in the future. Earth is threatened by a sun-blocking cloud of space dust that may well wipe out all human life on the planet. At this point, humans are extremely long-lived. There's been an update to the Biblical pronouncement: it is now appointed unto a man 7 times to die, and after that to be judged (based on his uniqueness) by the "Crypt," the vast computer network/VR system capable of downloading all that makes an individual and then uploading it into a new body.

Some believe that a solution to the encroaching cloud is contained in the cryptosphere, but their attempts to find it are being blocked by the powers that be. There are mysteries and conspiracies (which are very difficult to maintain when all but the most privileged may have their minds read at any time) and a minor war.

Anyway, this doesn't sound quite as strange as it actually is. The point of view changes from chapter to chapter, and one young lad, Bascule, who turns out to be central to the plot, is writing his experiences down in a journal. Turns out this fellow is somehow inherently unable to learn to spell. He writes everything exactly as it sounds. If you think reading this paragraph is irritating, try reading whole chapters of it. It's hard on your brain. And then, just when you think you're getting the hang of it, he meets another character with a lisp!

OK, I'm done. :) (To be honest, I have to admit to being mildly impressed with the author's ability to write that way: it takes a lot of concentration to intentionally mis-spell!)

Certainly, Bascule's chapters lend an extremely unusual flavor to the book, and there are plenty of other very odd elements in the universe Banks has created. But when all is said and done, I cannot really rank the end product very highly. I found myself a bit bored, especially in the first half, and frustrated by Bascule's writing even though I liked the character. But I won't write Banks off just yet: I'll try at least one or two others before making my final judgment.