Back to Iain M. Banks’ phenomenal Culture series of space opera set in a post-scarcity universe. Here, humans are not really the most powerful known species. Instead, it is the massive AI entities originally created by humans thousands of years ago. It is quite unusual for humanity to (sort of) be the top dog, and this is one of the most distinctive features of the Culture universe. Banks’ Culture setting defies the current trend of dystopian fiction. In this post-scarcity society, all of humanity has the AIs catering to our every whim. As a result, humans have become decadent, self-indulgent, and rather ineffectual. Fortunately, the AIs run everything, and they are loyal to and very protective of the descendants of their creators.

The books in the Culture series are standalones and do not need to be read in any order. Like most Culture books, Look To Windward has a complex (but not convoluted) plot that is difficult to summarize. If you want a detailed synopsis, you can refer to the lengthy official one from the publisher. In a nutshell, Major Quilan, a Chelgrian war veteran, is on a top-secret mission. The objective has been temporarily wiped from his memory, and the details of the mission will gradually resurface as he progresses towards its completion. Meanwhile, renowned Chelgrian composer Mahrai Ziller is living in the Masaq' Orbital, an artificial world and part of the Culture empire. He is about to conduct his latest musical masterpiece at this orbital. These two developments are related, and billions of lives are at stake.

Iain M. Banks was a more literary writer than most sci-fi authors. He also published successful novels in the mainstream. However, compared to the likes of Clarke or Asimov, who were more concerned with writing clear, accessible narratives, Banks was more ambitious with his prose. This means that it takes a little more effort to read his books. Banks was also more interested in telling intelligent, thought-provoking stories than page-turners. For me, this sometimes means that it takes longer to immerse into his narrative, and the pacing is not always so compelling. More than half of Look To Windward seems to consist of dialogue. Although the dialogue is generally very well written, sometimes I just want the characters to stop talking and take action.

That said, the narrative picks up speed towards the book’s conclusion, and the climax is truly worth the wait. Banks is always full of surprises. Culture novels are always a feast for the imagination. The Minds (gigantic sentient AIs) and the drones (highly advanced sentient robots with full legal rights as citizens of The Culture) are always great to encounter in the series. In this book, we are also introduced to strange new alien species and cultures. My favorite is the “dirigible behemothaur”, a race of massive biological spaceships with bizarre biotech. Character development is often lacking in sci-fi novels, but Banks never skimps on this. His central characters are always complex and believable. While Major Quilan is clearly up to no good with his super-secret mission, he is surprisingly sympathetic, and you can’t help but hope that things turn out well for him personally.

Despite the pacing issues, Look To Windward is another good read from the Culture series. It requires some patience and commitment, but if you have read a few Culture books before, you will come to trust Iain M. Banks (RIP) to deliver something worthwhile by the end of the book, and he never disappoints.

Better try not to mess with an almighty war AI, especially if you´re a primitive, status-driven society. Reread 2022 with an extended review.

Some of the topics are huge habitats controlled by a veteran AI and, in comparison, a primitive, archaic culture that plays around with high-tech. Banks thereby criticizes caste systems, the process of deciding for or against war, or cultural imperialism in the prime doctrine style, and the concepts of an afterlife that get misused by ideology.

Brains for each special use. The discrepancy between an AI that should, on the one hand, protect all living beings in its sphere of influence and be as merciless as possible against attackers on the other hand. As if a high-ranking killer general would have to build the best living for all the people under his command. Of course, that´s totally possible, but the option of being governed by a super-killing entity has a kind of overachieving protector taste. The AI gives one of the most badass superiority speeches ever too.

The impact of art. The worth of art and its uniqueness, and how art could be instrumentalized in the future as a tool for describing and criticizing complex topics, are demonstrated by a renegade artist living in exile and sarcastically criticizing his wacky, conservative culture.

Castes and hierarchies. Criticizing these is one of Banks' big topics, giving loads of innuendos about everything that went and goes wrong in human societies. Especially economy and politics, money and ideology, are the maladies that postpone a post-scarcity utopia and lead to things like mind uploads for glory and homeland.

Controlling a technology that could give immortality, but is instead misused to cement sick dictatorships that reduce the worth of humans to socioeconomic status and the family and caste they´re born into, is completely bonkers because of the unused potential of all these conscious beings. With optional use for war, deleting some billion souls to get some more free memory space, or pimp bandwidth.

Giggle while being awestruck. That´s what Banks would have wanted, laugh about the great situations and dialogues satirizing this whole mess and recognize how far humankind still has to go. As always after finishing one of Banks' novels, the reader is left rueful, realizing how minuscule humankind is in relation to the undiscovered and barely understood, endless universe and the billions of years old and advanced civilizations that might be lurking, or hopefully friendly waiting, out there.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

The most captivating aspects for me were indeed in the final quarter of the book or thereabouts. Having perused 7 volumes in the series, I'm beginning to recognize that the primary concern I have with Iain M. Banks' writing is the sense that he has a penchant for penning stories rather than narrating them effectively. By the conclusion of the novel, I'm left with a sense of incompleteness.诚然, I've gleaned some knowledge, and I've grasped various facets of The Culture more comprehensively. I've encountered diverse characters (whom I didn't particularly bond with) and witnessed events unfold for them.然而, that's essentially it. Nevertheless, I'll persist in reading the series, and perhaps I'll establish a stronger connection with some of its other installments.

I'm curious to see if future books will manage to engage me on a deeper level and satisfy that lingering sense of unfulfillment. Maybe there are hidden gems within the remaining volumes that will truly resonate with me and make me appreciate the series in a whole new light. Only time will tell as I continue my literary journey through The Culture.

This was The Culture back to its best. It offered yet another examination of the Culture's interventionist policy and the utopian lives of its citizens, this time through the lens of their mistakes.

Half of the plot centered around an alien on a revenge mission. The Culture had accidentally triggered a civil war that had devastated his people. Meanwhile, the other half followed a dissenter and exile from that same alien race as he experienced life on a Culture orbital. Masaq Orbital, renowned for its extreme sports, had a growing movement of people who no longer backed up their personalities. Instead, they desired to feel the reality of any mistake being a matter of life or death. All of this took place under the shadow of one of the biggest blights on the Culture's history, with the plot set between the supernovae of two stars destroyed in their war with the Idirans.

Iain M. Banks' writing, as always, was full of charm and wit. He delighted in showing readers around the post-scarcity utopia he had created, while still delving into questions about the meaning of an existence devoid of responsibility, work, and danger. Particularly prescient for a book written 25 years ago, he also explored the concept of AI-created art and the purpose of human endeavor if a machine could do it better.

This is my fourth Iain M. Banks novel, and with each one, I find myself more and more impressed. It's difficult to objectively state that Look to Windward is "better" than Excession, as the concept of "better" is somewhat subjective. These two novels are very different, yet both are brilliant in their own ways. Look to Windward is particularly touching on an individual level, thanks to the meticulous attention Banks pays to characterizing the main protagonists.

This novel also offers the reader a fascinating exploration of what occurs when the Culture makes a misstep, despite their good intentions. This mistake serves as a reminder of why Horza chooses to aid the Idirans in their war against the Culture, as depicted in Banks's 1987 novel Consider Phlebas. The Culture's stance towards the Chelgrians seems appropriate to me. Due to their ill-advised interference, the Chelgrians endure a civil war that leads to惨重 losses on both sides. Realizing the代价 of their intervention, the Culture not only acknowledges that they were wrong to meddle in the first place but also takes responsibility for their actions to the greatest extent possible. The Hub Mind that governs the Orbital where most of the novel's action unfolds also feels remorse for the events it carried out during the Idiran war as a ship Mind eight hundred years ago. Somewhere within this lies a valuable lesson about the progress of a species and the ability to admit costly errors.

Of course, it's not all sunshine and roses. The Culture also metes out punishment to those who seek to do it harm, and not in a pleasant manner, as we witness with their E Dust Assassin at the conclusion of the main plot line in Windward. It's truly unpleasant! Overall, what Banks has created in the Culture novels is nothing short of remarkable. Well-developed in every aspect, far-future science fiction doesn't get much better than this. Behemothaurs might just be the coolest creations in all of science fiction.

In my humble opinion, this book is better than Consider Phlebas but not as great as Excession.

It's truly staggering to think about what a troubled, deeply traumatized, and grief-stricken character like Quilan will contemplate doing when coerced by certain shady forces of the military or government.

He is a character who evokes both pity and dislike (using 'hated' would be too strong in this case), as he is turned into a suicide bomber on an almost unimaginable scale.

The Culture universe is astonishingly Utopian, yet, like any Eden, there are snakes in the grass.

The writing is beautiful, and the characterizations, especially of Ziller and Kabe, are brilliant.

The book is dedicated to the Gulf War veterans, and it's easy to see why. As Quilan roams around the orbital he is supposed to destroy, killing billions in the process, he is not alone. He has a passenger in his head who can and will carry out the mission if he has second thoughts.

Even though the subject matter isn't the most pleasant, it is handled beautifully.

This book is well worth reading.

I am still striving to fully comprehend just how incredibly brilliant this book is. It's rather difficult to determine if this is my absolute favorite among the Culture books, and this appears to be a recurring issue with each successive book I peruse within the series.

What I can assert is that this story seems to be the most relatable one in the series. The characters seem to leap off the page with such ease. The plot is tightly constructed, yet it has numerous moving parts. However, I never felt disoriented as it rapidly becomes evident how everything seamlessly fits together.

It is thrilling without being overly burdened with non-stop action. It is contemplative without coming across as aimless or meandering. The subject matter is brutal, but it is not without moments of lightheartedness. Moreover, it conveys a profound and piercing message regarding the aftereffects of war once the rubble has been cleared and the survivors are left to pick up the fragmented pieces of their lives.

Overall, it is flawless in its execution.

It took me quite a bit of effort to get into this particular novel, namely Look To Windward. The plot takes an incredibly long time to start revealing itself. Fully half of the novel consists of meandering sequences that are essentially like sight-seeing tours of the Masaq’ orbital ring, along with a plethora of dialogue. I was just beginning to feel worried, but as it turns out, I needn't have been. After all, this is a Culture novel.

The book contains some rather interesting quotes, such as ‘Oh, they never lie. They dissemble, evade, prevaricate, confound, confuse, distract, obscure, subtly misrepresent and wilfully misunderstand with what often appears to be a positively gleeful relish and are generally perfectly capable of contriving to give one an utterly unambiguous impression of their future course of action while in fact intending to do exactly the opposite, but they never lie. Perish the thought.’

Once the book does finally start to disclose its secrets, it proves to be quite entertaining, although a certain amount of patience is required. The world-building is clearly excellent, and the novel also offers some background information regarding the Idiran-Culture conflict. Apparently, Look To Windward was intended to be a sort of sequel to Consider Phlebas, although there are no recurring characters.

Another notable quote is I fully intend to spend the rest of my existence here, for as long as I’m needed, or until I’m no longer welcome, forever keeping an eye to windward for approaching storms and just generally protecting this quaint circle of fragile little bodies and the vulnerable little brains they house from whatever harm a big dumb mechanical universe or any consciously malevolent force might happen or wish to visit upon them, specifically because I know how appallingly easy they are to destroy.

In the end, it was more or less what I had expected. It's a Culture novel with some thought-provoking underpinnings regarding Culture philosophy. Probably not the best one I've read so far, but given the caliber of these novels, that's not really saying much. Even an arguably "not-so-good" Culture novel is still going to be better than most of the other literature out there.

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O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.
  
- T. S. Eliot, ‘The Waste Land’, IV

3.5 - 4 stars.

This installment is more slower-paced compared to its predecessors. Primarily, it reads like a historical recounting of past wars and the diverse ways of different cultures in relation to the on-going plot of the book. This aspect initially threw me off. However, I still appreciated those moments. My favorite chapter has to be the one centered on the Hub's recounting of its role in the war and its own history.

I find the Minds and the various drones I've read about in the series to be one of the most fascinating aspects of this series. The Minds with their advanced intelligence and complex personalities add an extra layer of depth to the story. The different drones, each with their unique capabilities and functions, also make for interesting reading. It's amazing to see how the author has created such a diverse and engaging world filled with these technological wonders.

Overall, while the slower pace may not be to everyone's liking, I still enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing what comes next in the series.

This was the final re-read of my full read-through of The Culture.

All new territory from here on!

I vividly remembered loving it the first time around, and it didn't disappoint on this re-read either. I truly can't get enough of the core idea behind this series. It aims to create a dazzling spacefaring utopia and then mercilessly interrogate everything it purports to stand for. The fact that it accomplishes this while being funny, poetic, and wonderfully empathetic is to its eternal credit.

Look to Windward is a story of intervention gone awry. If Contacting a civilization goes well 99% of the time, what does the 1% look like? This core conceit is intertwined with more of Banks' lovingly crafted characters. Each character has a consistent and unique voice, philosophy, ideals, and a complex past. In particular, the way the Mind at the center of it all is written is simply mind-blowing. It beautifully evokes the internal struggle of a former soldier who can never forget what it has done and can relive the worst parts of its life a million times over in a fraction of a second.

It makes for a truly engaging and thought-provoking read that keeps you hooked from start to finish.

Look to Windward is a remarkable book in which I believe Banks returns to his forte of telling an engrossing story filled with numerous twists and turns. This time, the narrative unfolds exclusively on the Masaq orbital. The detailed descriptions of the orbital are truly captivating.

The book has several strong points for me. Firstly, the Masaq orbital. While we've seen many orbitals in the Culture series, they often lacked a complete description for clear visualization. Banks rectifies this in this book. Orbitals are circular objects with a diameter of millions of kilometers, spinning around a star. Their self-spinning motion provides gravity on the surface. The surface has plates representing continents, separated by thousands of kilometers and varying in characteristics, from arid deserts to lush greenery.

Masaq is unique as it orbits a star that will explode upon dying, potentially harming the orbital. The people here are adventure-loving, engaging in activities like rowing in lava or modifying themselves to fly like birds. The hub mind that manages the orbital is also distinct. It was previously a GSV mind and participated in the Idrian war, responsible for the destruction of three orbitals. It commemorates the Battle of the Twin Novae by asking a famous composer, Ziller, to present a symphony.

Secondly, the varied species with their background stories add depth to the book. Ziller, a Chelgrian who evolved from tigers, is a rebel in exile on Masaq. He fled his homeland during the caste wars and has spent over 10 years away. Now, with the war ended, his homeland sends an ambassador, Major Quillan, to convince him to return. Ziller refuses to present the symphony if Quillan is present. The hub mind enlists the help of Kabe, a Homondan ambassador, to persuade Ziller.

The story progresses as Kabe, Ziller, and the hub mind take various journeys across the orbital, discussing their backgrounds. We learn about Kabe's past and the history of the hub mind. Major Quillan is a broken man who lost his wife in the caste war and is now on a mission to find meaning in his life and seek redemption.

Finally, the concept of subliming is introduced. Subliming is a fascinating idea where a soul leaves the material plane and exists as pure energy. The Chelgrians have a unique process for subliming using a device called the soul keeper. However, when they discover the truth about the caste war, they stop the sublimation of the trapped souls. If Quillan's mission succeeds, he may be able to help these souls.

With so much at stake, will Major Quillan succeed in his mission? Will Ziller ever return to his homeland? These questions make it essential to read the book. Overall, Look to Windward is a solid entry in the Culture series, and I rate it 4/5 stars.

This is a 5 and a 3 at the same time. Or if you like, a 6 with two stars deducted.

This was my second time through this book.

SF concepts, humour, ethical issues, aliens, interesting AIs, all check. But there are problems.

The Minds are getting a little too powerful for my tastes. One even reminds a listener that they are on the far side of gods.

In fact, the ending of this book surely limits any future books, because it essentially tells us that nothing is going to happen unless a Mind wants it to. That hasn't worked too well for religions on Earth. Neal Asher has handled very-powerful AIs a little better, I think, including having a couple who don't follow conventions.

The ending was predictable re what would happen, although I credit Banks for hiding HOW it would happen.

Some have said that the aliens are very real and believable characters. They are, I suppose, but I fear it's because they are for all practical purposes human. Banks has to remind us regularly that they have fur and midlimbs, because from their behaviour and thoughts we'd never know. Give me Kzinti and Puppeteers and Vulcans, who think and act differently and have different motivations.

It's still a very good book.

Despite its flaws, this book offers a rich tapestry of ideas and concepts. The SF elements are engaging, and the humour adds a light touch. The ethical issues explored make you think. However, the excessive power of the Minds and the somewhat human-like nature of the aliens do detract a little. Overall, though, it's a book that's well worth reading, especially for fans of science fiction.