This is by far the culture novel that I like the least.

It's really a pity because I have been truly enjoying this series up until now.

The story in this particular novel just didn't grip me as much as the others. The characters didn't seem as vivid or engaging, and the plot felt a bit flat.

I was disappointed because I had such high expectations based on the previous installments.

However, I'm still hopeful that the next book in the series will bring back the magic and excitement that I've come to love.

Maybe this was just a bit of a lull in an otherwise great series. I'll definitely be giving the next one a chance.

Apabullante desde la generalidad pero no desde el detalle, que además resulta borroso a veces. It presents a grand and imposing picture on the whole, yet lacks clarity and precision in the details, which can sometimes be rather模糊.

Género. Ciencia-Ficción. The genre is Science Fiction.

Lo que nos cuenta. Dajeil Gelian has been confined in a spaceship for a long time, which has become her home. However, the avatar of the ship warns her that things are about to change. Byr Genar-Hofoen is a diplomat of La Cultura, assigned among the Afrentadores, a warlike and technological civilization. Special Circumstances asks him for help at any price. In the area of the Upper Foliar Eddy, near the star Esperi, something similar to what surprised La Cultura five centuries ago has appeared: an enormous and unknown artifact of a technology that seems to dwarf all the technology known to La Cultura, and which they call Excession. This is the fourth book of the La Cultura series (although some say it is the fifth since there is a previous compilation of the author's stories with some contents related to La Cultura, but not all of them, which poses quite a problem for my psychological rigidity in these matters).

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This is the 3rd book in the Culture series that I've had the pleasure of reading, and once again, it failed to disappoint.

There were times when I felt completely lost and had no idea what was happening, but strangely enough, it didn't seem to matter much.

The basic premise is that an unknown entity has been discovered somewhere in the known universe. It has done something with the ship that discovered it and set in motion a course of action that could potentially lead to a full-scale galactic war.

That's the big picture, but on a smaller scale, and perhaps influenced by this entity (the Excession named in the title), we have various individuals who are being guided or are heading towards each other and this Excession for a variety of purposes.

I haven't described it very well, but essentially, you have the intimate stories of different people like Genar Hofoen, Dajeil, and Ulver Seich who are brought together. There are also stories of past events, such as Genar Hofoen and Dajeil both becoming pregnant after Hofoen sublimates from male to female and their subsequent falling apart.

The stories of the ships are also quite enjoyable. They are basically animate beings in their own right, and even their names are interesting and fun, like the Sleeper Service, the Fate Amenable to Change, the Honest Mistake, and so on.

The universe of the Culture is one of the most unique worlds I've ever encountered in my reading. The stories and characters are all so interesting, and experiencing this world of SciFi makes reading that genre exciting and engaging once again.

I find it extremely difficult to describe in just a few words. You really have to pick up one of the stories and discover it for yourself. And by the way, Excession is actually the 4th book in the Culture universe/series.

So, I found myself in a bit of a quandary with this book. At times, I truly enjoyed it, relishing in the unique ideas and concepts it presented.

However, at other times, it really irritated me. There were just so many narrative threads constantly being tossed into the mix, which unfortunately came at the cost of developing a deep intimacy with any of the characters.

The only exception might be my favorite character in the book, "Sleeper Service". This character had a certain charm and allure that managed to capture my attention.

The book does have a really interesting setting and circumstances. The world that the author has created is full of possibilities and potential.

But for some reason, I just never could get fully pulled in. It felt like my point of view was constantly being ripped away to characters that I was just meeting mid-book.

This made it difficult for me to form a connection with the story and the characters.

It's important to note that this book is much more complex and clever than "Player of Games". And yet, I was completely GLUED to "Player of Games".

Perhaps it's because "Player of Games" had a more straightforward narrative and a stronger focus on character development.

Overall, while this book had its moments, it ultimately failed to fully engage me.

The first 10% of the book was rather slow-paced, but once I got past that, the rest of it was truly enthralling. It wasn't the easiest read by any means, as the ships' names were extremely hard to remember. However, despite this minor drawback, I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience.

On my second read, I found that the ship names were still just as difficult to recall. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that rereading the Culture series is not quite as enjoyable as I had initially expected. There's something about the second time around that just doesn't have the same magic.

Perhaps it's because I already know what's going to happen, or maybe it's because the initial excitement and新鲜感 have worn off. Whatever the reason, I still appreciate the series for its unique concepts and engaging storylines, but I don't think I'll be rereading it as often as I thought I would.

Overall, while the Culture series is definitely worth reading at least once, it may not be the kind of series that you'll want to revisit again and again.

The thing about Iain Banks' Culture series of science-fiction books is their quasi-pseudo-sometimes humorous details.

This is the fifth one I have read, originally released in 1996. (I don't read that fast, to be honest.) Excession is probably one of the deepest, most confusing, and most complex novels I've ever come across from him, and that includes his more contemporary works as well.

I started reading him in the very early 1990s, beginning with the seminal Wasp Factory. Over the years, I slowly made my way through his extensive body of work. After he passed away, I set myself the task of reading all of his works, both the sci-fi and the more contemporary ones. His death was such a shame. One thing I've never forgiven myself for was when he did a signing in my hometown of Chepstow. I missed it, and that upsets me greatly.

Excession: Think of 2001 by Arthur C Clarke and the black monolith that the book deals with. In the Culture, an Excession is an anomaly, unexplainable and of great curiosity to the Culture, so there are some similarities between the two books. It's an incredibly confusing book, weighing in at over 450 pages, with many different characters, different time spans, some really obscure spaceship names (Iain really had a massive imagination), different subplots, and plots within plots, and so on. I found it got quite heavy towards the final conclusion (of what the Excession actually was), but the writing is flawless, and the character development is pretty good (although it can be confusing to work out who is who, especially towards the end). All of these aspects of the novel are what one would expect from the abstract mind of the late Iain Banks.

I do recommend it if you want your brain to be challenged and are into sci-fi. The great thing about the Culture series of novels is that they are essentially all stand-alone, so you don't have to read them in any particular order, which is a positive aspect of the series. If you want your mind to be completely overworked and are into sci-fi and abstractions, then give it a try. I think the best aspect was the names of the spaceships. That was a really unique invention by the author. Sometimes they were quite humorous too. I'll give it a 4, mainly because of the entirely confusing ending. I'm still thinking about it now.

I've been delving into the books of Iain M. Banks for a little over a year now. Excession marked my fourth exploration into the captivating world of the Culture, his envisioned ultimate Utopia. Previously, I was thoroughly impressed by both Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games. However, Matter left me somewhat underwhelmed.

I discovered that Excession tended to lean more towards the qualities of Matter rather than meeting the standards set by the other two. Similar to Matter, it features an ensemble cast of characters, along with grandiose ideas that were absent in the earlier books, as well as cunning and subtle plot-lines and shifts. Undoubtedly, its scope is truly impressive. Nevertheless, its complexity at times hampers the flow of the story.

Perhaps the main criticism is that the large cast of characters and the various plot-lines, especially the sub-plots, are not managed with the level of care and subtlety that one would expect from Banks. I'm beginning to form the opinion that he excels at writing smaller casts of characters from a single perspective, as seen in The Player of Games, rather than attempting to create a huge, all-encompassing spectacle from the outset.

That doesn't mean the book isn't remarkable. It most certainly is. Its scope and ideas left as much of an impression on me as any space opera I've read in quite some time. Its issues simply stem from Banks' desire to make this a multi-faceted masterpiece, which, in my experience, falls just a bit short of his earlier achievements.

Upon a second reading of this extensive and often uneven Culture novel, I find myself upgrading my rating from three to four stars.

My initial encounters with these books have been rather diverse. It's either been a case of being completely astounded, as with "Player of Games" and "Look to Windward," or a situation where I think I might have enjoyed it but wasn't entirely sure, like in "Phlebas," "Use of Weapons," and "Excession."

In the case of all those books that initially received a 3-star rating in the second category, I've since bumped them up to 4 stars and found them much more enjoyable on the second go.

Although I still have 3 Culture books that I haven't read at all yet, I have a hunch that "Excession" will prove to be the most peculiar and mind-boggling. There's an abundance of events happening in this book, and it jumps around among numerous characters, making it difficult to determine what one should truly care about, at least during the first reading.

Rereading it, I still sense that it's a bit of a chaotic read, but I was truly able to value the sheer craziness of the story. I absolutely love reading about civilizations on the verge of tearing themselves apart over an artifact that's simply sitting there, existing.

And the first time around, I'm not certain if I fully grasped the character of the Sleeper Service and its avatar Amorphia, but this time I was profoundly touched by its confession of its motivations and how deeply human it felt, considering the character is a kilometers-long spaceship.

If you're new to the Culture series, by all means, do not begin here. Start with "Player of Games," which I would argue is easily the most accessible entry point of the series. And if you enjoy that one, prepare for a wild journey because these books are an absolute trip.

4/5

This happens to be precisely what I desired precisely when I wanted it. I craved for intelligent galaxy-spanning space opera where a few baseline humans find themselves embroiled in an existential conundrum that the far-superior AI Ships (and Main Characters) have to confront.

And we even have a BDO that ignites an enormous intergalactic war. Woo Woo! Of course, the BDO (big dumb object) is far from being dumb. In fact, it might be smarter than all of them put together. Who can say for sure? I adored the speculation.

Life, love, sex, conspiracy, extremely high stakes, this novel truly had almost everything. But I think I had the most enjoyment laughing at all those damn ship names. "I Blame Your Mother", "I Blame My Mother", "Use Psychology", "Jaundiced Outlook", "It's Character Forming", "Unacceptable Behaviour", "Serious Callers Only", and "Meat Fucker" are just a few that caught my fancy.

This novel held my attention far better than the previous ones. However, to be honest, I think I liked those previous ones more upon re-reading than on the first go. Maybe I'm finally getting accustomed to Banks's writing, or perhaps all my fancies were tickled in just the right measure at just the right times.

These are of a higher quality Space Opera than practically anything else available, but it's of a very specific kind. Tongue-In-Cheek? Absolutely. Out to prove that a beneficent galactic society can still have some truly exciting stories despite the apparent lack of conflict? You bet.

It's like a master's course in Proving It Can Be Done despite all the naysayers. It's nothing like any other Space Opera I've ever read, yet again. Still, I'm continuing on. It's really damn awesome.

I have an intense desire to continue these Culture novels, but I already have so much on my plate. I'll schedule them to read one per month from now on and relish them with delight. :)

So this one has an awful lot of Minds talking to one another, which I like in theory.

However, I should have taken notes because I could never remember which was which. Their names are just phrases, and they mostly talk alike.

Moreover, there's no context to any of them, which made it hard to remain engaged.

Also, a big part of the plot hinges on an overly-dramatic chick about whom I did not care.

I found it hard to believe that a Mind would care about her.

A zillion people have experienced the "terrible" (those are scare quotes) betrayal that she did and handled it better (or worse!).

What makes her so special? She's a nucking futter. Who cares? Not me!

It seems that the lack of distinctiveness among the Minds and the unconvincing central character really detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

Perhaps if the author had provided more context and made the Minds more individual, and given the chick a more compelling reason for the Minds to care about her, it would have been a more engaging read.

As it is, I'm left feeling rather disappointed.

TL:DR: A great and humorous story, but a bit muddled with many sub-plots and characters!

TL: I've been reading Terry Pratchett's books lately, and for work-related book club reasons, I also delved into my other pile of books by authors who left us too soon and started reading Excession. I mention Pratchett because I found Banks' humor to be similar in tone - caustic, sarcastic, and relevant to the real world. Pratchett's down-to-earth characters have an interesting parallel in the spaceship-housed "Minds" of Banks' far-future Culture.

I don't think you need to know much about the Culture to enjoy this book, which is good because I don't know much myself. I've read The Algebraist and Against a Dark Background, but I read Excession anyway. I think a general understanding of the Culture as a far-future social construct, along with what's in the book, is enough.

The story is about the discovery of an "Excession" by the Culture. The Minds, who are like the Culture's minders, think it's an "Outside Context Problem". The subsequent tale follows what happens both inside and outside the Culture, from multiple perspectives including Culture-based ones and those of non-Culture groups like the Affront.

The narrative is told from at least 10 different perspectives, with 3-5 main ones. We get a variety of Minds, humans, and aliens, all with their own mindsets and viewpoints. My favorite was the drone Sisela Ytheleus. Banks manages to pack in several infodumps, and Ytheleus is one of the conduits for these explanations.

I think this book is a joy to read. It's a page-turner, but it's also dense. I didn't feel like I needed to take a break, even though I did need some processing time. I couldn't stop reading for long!

I don't want to discuss the plot too much because I'm not sure I fully understood it on my first read. The plot does resolve in the last couple of chapters, but there's some conniving going on that makes it a bit hard to follow. Also, the chapters told from a Mind's perspective can be a bit confusing because there are so many Minds with long names.

There's a lot to like about this book. The different cultures and Banks' vision of how they might exist are interesting. The characters are all engaging and do interesting things. The humorous tone throughout the book makes it a pleasure to read. There are also some "sexy moments" that might surprise you, but they're not excessive or out of context. Overall, this is a great book that I'm likely to read again and that will make you think about the themes it brings up. I can't decide if it's a four- or five-star book, so for now, I'll give it five.

I'm utterly disappointed.

There are just too many convoluted plots and numerous side plots that it felt like a never-ending maze.

It took me several attempts to muster up the willpower to continue reading.

But alas, in the end, I had to throw in the towel and stopped reading two thirds of the way through.

The story seemed to lack a clear and engaging主线, and instead, it was a jumble of various subplots that didn't seem to connect or build up to anything truly significant.

Maybe I was expecting too much, but this book really failed to capture my interest and hold my attention.

I'm left feeling frustrated and let down, wondering if there was ever a point to all those complicated storylines.

Oh well, onto the next book in the hopes of finding something more satisfying.