5.0 stars, easily. Good god damn! Finally, a Culture novel that has bumped Use of Weapons out of the top spot for me. This one was so, so, SO good. I simply could not put it down. It was humorous, which made me laugh out loud at times. It was also emotional, tugging at my heartstrings in certain moments. The story was extremely intriguing, keeping me on the edge of my seat throughout. I was constantly guessing about what was coming next and who was who, and I was almost exclusively incorrect right up to the very last few pages. Banks could really write, my dudes. It was an absolute pleasure to read this book. All Culture fans MUST read this one. And so should anyone else who's into SF. It's a must-read for science fiction enthusiasts. You won't be disappointed.

Another absolutely phenomenal experience from one of the finest science fiction authors in history.

His works have always had the power to transport readers to otherworldly realms, filled with mind-boggling concepts and thrilling adventures.

With each new story, he manages to push the boundaries of imagination, creating universes that are both strange and familiar.

The characters he crafts are complex and relatable, making it easy for readers to become fully invested in their fates.

Whether it's exploring the far reaches of space, delving into the mysteries of time travel, or imagining a future society, his writing never fails to captivate and inspire.

This latest offering is no exception, promising to be yet another unforgettable journey through the annals of science fiction.

Prepare to have your mind blown and your sense of wonder reignited as you embark on this latest adventure from a true master of the genre.

A quarter of the way through this Culture novel, I already knew it was my favorite. Banks solidified this opinion with this passage:

“What bizarre fates our technologies dream up for us,” he thought as he lay there. “Here I am, a male, becoming pregnant with the ghost of an old dead soldier, to travel beyond the bounds of light older than our civilisation and carry out some task I have spent the best part of a year training for but of which I presently have no real knowledge whatsoever.”

What bizarre fates, indeed! Banks constantly amazes me with his capacity to envision and then bring to life such fantastical scenarios, describe them so exquisitely, and make them so entirely believable within the context of the current plot progression and the larger universe he constructs.

“Look to Windward” by Iain M. Banks deals with the matter of the Sublimed, which is repeatedly hinted at by previous novels. The Sublimed are essentially older civilizations that shunned the monotony of matter-based existence in the universe and sublimated their consciousnesses to... someplace else. The left-behind races have no concept of what lies outside the universe, but it's clear that Sublimed civilizations can still influence events in the normal universe.

Uniquely, in the Culture's experience, a race of tiger-like people called the Chelgrians are in contact with approximately a quarter of their population who sublimed millennia ago. These gone-before Sublimed took it upon themselves to make real the Chelgrian's ancient religious beliefs - which almost all of the race had by then abandoned - by creating heaven, precisely as it was described in ancient religious texts. With the consent of the Sublimed and the assistance of a device that backs up one's mind-state at the time of death, called a Soulkeeper, a Chelgrian knows with empirical certainty that a promised paradise awaits him upon death. As you might anticipate, a race for whom heaven is an empirical fact adopts particular political and military beliefs, and this fact forms the basis for the main plot.

There are many other fascinating ideas at play, including more tantalizing glimpses into the interior lives of the hyper-intelligent Minds. This book, more than any other Culture novel, does an outstanding job of exploring what life is like for the everyday inhabitant of the civilization: how they spend their time, what their goals in life are, and how they find happiness in the absence of material struggle. All of this forms the backdrop for a gradually revealed espionage plot that does an excellent job of creating dramatic tension.

I would recommend that anyone wishing to start reading the Culture books begin here. All of the Culture books can more or less be read independently, and there's no book more accessible (or enjoyable) than this one.

Similar to Excession, this novel also has a significant build-up leading to an extremely big and satisfying finale. There are numerous reasons why I adored it. Firstly, it presents a complex and engaging storyline that keeps the reader hooked from start to finish. The world-building is remarkable, with vivid descriptions and a detailed exploration of the Culture universe. Secondly, the characters are well-developed and multi-faceted, each with their own unique personalities and motives. Their interactions and relationships add depth and emotional resonance to the story. Most importantly, I found it to be very emotionally 'charged'. It evokes a wide range of emotions, from excitement and anticipation to sadness and empathy. While it may not be in the same way as Use of Weapons, it still manages to touch the reader on a profound level. Overall, it is an absolute must-read among the Culture novels.

This book is definitely a page-turner that keeps you engaged from start to finish.

The story unfolds in a captivating manner, with numerous twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat.

As you progress through the pages, you find yourself completely immersed in the world created by the author.

The characters are well-developed and their actions and decisions drive the plot forward.

Just when you think you have it all figured out, the ending comes along and completely surprises you.

It is a masterful stroke that ties up all the loose ends in a way that you would never have expected.

This unexpected ending not only adds to the overall enjoyment of the book but also leaves you with a sense of satisfaction and wonder.

Overall, this is a must-read for anyone who loves a good mystery or thriller.

2019 reread:

It was thoroughly enjoyable. I had forgotten enough of the plot-points and twists that it felt like a first-time read. There were several highlights.

The dirigible behemothaurs, the lost stylus, and the visiting Culture scholar were all fascinating elements.

The world-building, or rather universe-building, was truly amazing. In my opinion, nobody else in science fiction has ever done this better.

I particularly liked the sly nod to Jack Vance in the pylon cableway system in one of the Orbital plate deserts and its curious history.

Unlike many Banks novels, this one comes to a (reasonably) happy ending.

I don't remember much about the Idiran War and the Culture's involvement, but it's clear they did something wrong.

So, it's probably not the best place to start if you're new to The Culture, but it's a worthy read or reread. I give it 4+ stars.

My favorite review here is Julie's. And here is a great Gerald Jonas review from 2001 that includes a really good intro to Banks's Culture series.

There are also some useful Culture links. "A FEW NOTES ON THE CULTURE" by Iain M Banks is highly recommended. The Wikipedia entry on Orbital will help you visualize these structures.

2001 booklog notes: A, low-key but very nice. Reread sometime.

The original article is not provided. Please share the article so that I can rewrite and expand it for you.

MOAR!

This simple word holds such power and longing. It's like a cry from the depths of our souls, demanding more of something precious.

GIVE ME MOAR KALCHAR!

Kalchar, whatever that may be, seems to be the object of intense desire. The urgency in this plea is palpable, as if without more Kalchar, something vital is missing.

MOARRRMMFFGHHHH..!

The final exclamation is a wild, almost primal outburst. It shows the extreme lengths to which the person is willing to go to get what they want. It's a passionate and unrestrained expression of need.

In this short but powerful text, we see the intensity of human desire and the lengths we are willing to go to satisfy it. It makes us wonder what Kalchar could be and why it holds such allure.

3.5 is not my favorite Culture book, but it is still enjoyable to read.

The story has its moments that keep you engaged and interested. However, in some places, it tends to be a bit too rambling.

The author seems to go off on tangents that don't always add to the overall narrative.

Despite this flaw, there are still some great ideas and concepts presented in the book.

The world-building is quite detailed, and you can really get a sense of the Culture and its unique characteristics.

The characters are also well-developed, and you can't help but root for them as they face various challenges.

Overall, while 3.5 may not be a perfect Culture book, it is still worth reading for fans of the series or anyone interested in science fiction and thought-provoking ideas.

The Chelgrians, the Homomdans, and the Culture all strive for galactic respectability in this, the 6th Culture novel: Look To Windward [2000]. (This is my second reading of this novel, the first being in 2006).

In my opinion, the Culture series reached its zenith in terms of wit, humour, sophistication, structure, craft, and sheer entertainment value in Excession (1996). What followed seemed to have to be something exceptionally special. Inversions followed in 1998, of which I have little memory of reading in 2006, and then this one in 2000. Neither of these, nor their successors (Matter [2008], Surface Detail [2010], and The Hydrogen Sonata [2012]), shone as brightly as Excession did in the series. Perhaps this is because by then it was an established medium, with the Culture itself, and the Ships and the Minds, the pre-eminent creations, taking science fiction to a loftier level of excitement and invention, but by now, they were familiar.

The ideas in the Culture series, while perhaps not as sociologically complex as Asimov's Foundation and Empire series or Herbert's Dune worlds, were nonetheless vast, cohesive, and thrilling. Space was expanded by the Culture, and the mind too. Reading any of the series put you into a comfortably inspirational and wittily humorous world, which only sagged during occasional pedestrian descriptions (compared to the pace of the plot) or Banks's metaphysical proselytising. However, we can affectionately forgive these as being necessary to place the plot and character.

Getting back to Look To Windward, it simply seems to offer nothing new, especially after Excession. The Orbital is a familiar concept, and the canal, while spectacular, is retro. Banks does have a fondness for such archaic settings in the galaxy of 3030. But here, the pace is lacking. Perhaps it is difficult to create a great story during a (roughly) bi-annual contract commitment that has to fit in with his alternating mainstream fiction commitments and his other non-Culture sf. I'm not knocking this - it works brilliantly for Banks in a career spanning from '84 and this alternation of production since '86 - a massive output of very high quality. But to sustain the benchmark quality of Excession after all that is asking a lot.

Certainly, there is much merit in this book. It explains succinctly the chosen names of the Culture craft, a perennial pleasure for fans. It also discusses and potentially (but not quite) answers the central quandary about the Culture machine intelligence, the Minds, choosing to live symbiotically with their humanoid counterparts. However, Banks does not come to a convincing argument. There should have been an extended discussion as to why such disproportionately powerful intelligences should be interested in living symbiotically with the less able human(oid) species.

Much of the insight in this book is through the eyes of Quilan, the pseudo-ambassador from Chel on a mission after the resolution of the Chelgrian civil war. It is the slow unwinding of this backstory, and the tease of the reveal of the purpose of the mission, that is the book's plot-reveal and tension device. Does it pay off? As mediator between these two civilisations, the Homomdan ambassador, Kabe, stands as moral referee. A separate side-story of the scholar Culture mutant simian Uagen and his friend 974 Praf aboard the living dirigible entity, the behemothaur Yoleus, in the billion-year-old airsphere, is introduced to further the intrigue. However, I found this aspect of the book initially rather dull.

Banks deploys the interleaving of time events well, as he did in Use Of Weapons (1990). The problem is, with this device, you have to have sufficient interest in or liking of or sympathy with the character to appreciate being thrust back into such detail. In this case, Quilan is not an especially interesting character, nor are his circumstances of sufficient emotional impact for you to care what happens to him. Indeed, the main problem I have with this novel is that there are no central characters that are noteworthy or likeable, with the exception of the Homomdan Ar Kabe Ischloear.

Banks is the most exciting sf writer I've read, and there is some class competition. Look To Windward is a second-class Culture novel, where the Culture is first class in the sf pantheon. However, I'd rather have read this than twenty other sf novels I have done. There is a balance in the universe, and it will always be held by Banks's Culture. I thank him eternally for that. And for the affectionate humour and wit with which he gifts it.

This is the 7th book in the Culture cycle and the first one that didn't make me enthusiastic. It's still remarkable science fiction, but I felt that it was too detailed in the plot.

The setup is complex: on one hand, we follow the events of the first book (globally - that war) and the global catastrophe caused by the war: the supernovae explosions initiated by the Culture. The action takes place 800 years later, where the Culture has gathered for a party in a distant system, where the light from those explosions will soon arrive to honor the history of those events. On the other hand, we follow a representative of another race, in which the Culture (which likes to play at progressivism) accidentally caused a civil war that claimed billions of lives. He has some mission, but he doesn't remember it - there is a block on the release of memories about the mission, so he only remembers certain parts as he approaches the goal. A complex intrigue is set up, where all the lines will converge only in the last chapter.

This book is, on one hand, rather slow: there is little action, a lot of conversations and descriptions. We learn a lot about the life of the Culture (perhaps more than in other books), its past, how it is structured and how it interacts with other civilizations. On the other hand, there are many reflections on war, death, immortality, personal responsibility and the meaning of life in a world where no one needs anything and can do whatever they want. The way this is presented: through this unusual world where all priorities are shifted, gives some fresh perspectives on eternal questions. There are several very strong emotional scenes - also related to these reflections. And overall, the book is rather melancholy (in a good sense).

What didn't work was that many details of the final mystery hardly mix with each other until the very last moment and don't support each other's interest. Given that there is relatively little action in general, this all gives a muddled impression of the book. And I really didn't like the ending. Usually, Banks' endings are successful: complex, with twists, so that you go "wow". But here... Something was missing. One line ended perfectly, but the overall plot - was so-so, and it felt like he just didn't think of how to untangle this complex structure of relationships.

But in any case, if you have read other books, read this one too - at least for the details about the structure of the world. For some reason, it's written in the gudrids that this is a good entry point into the cycle, but that's absurd in my opinion. I felt that this book is rather for connoisseurs.

It's truly hard to precisely pin down the exact reason why I enjoyed this novel to such an extent. However, it's likely a combination of several factors. Firstly, the rich contextual vocabulary used throughout the novel added depth and authenticity to the story. It allowed me to fully immerse myself in the world created by the author. Secondly, the artfully woven tapestry of the plot was simply captivating. It fulfilled all the elements that I typically enjoy in a novel. It was a thrilling blend of murder, mystery, and suspense, all intertwined with moments of reflective soul searching in the face of great sorrow.

This is a novel that I would have absolutely loved to critique back in school, rather than some of the classics that I was forced to consume at too early an age. I hope that this doesn't set me up for disappointment going forward, but regardless of what lies ahead, I'm extremely glad that I plodded through a couple of the previous novels to experience such remarkable craftsmanship. The author's ability to create a story that is both engaging and thought-provoking is truly a testament to their talent.

I look forward to seeing what other works this author has in store for us in the future.