**Original Article**: This is a short article. It is about a simple topic.

**Expanded Article**:

This is a rather short article. It delves into a simple topic that is easy to understand. The simplicity of the topic makes it accessible to a wide range of readers. Despite its brevity, it manages to convey the essential points clearly.

Perhaps it is designed to provide a quick overview or a basic introduction to the subject matter. It doesn't go into great detail or explore complex aspects. However, it serves its purpose well in presenting the fundamental ideas.

Overall, this short article on a simple topic can be a useful starting point for those who are new to the area or simply looking for a concise summary. 4.5⭐

ATTENTION CULTURE SHOPPERS

This weekend, we have an extraordinary special for you - an Outside Context Problem! This amazing offer is so unique that most shoppers will only come across it once in a millennium! Look for the infinity symbol tagged on our specially-marked OCP items.

On aisle 1, by popular demand, we are excited to present faction upon faction of Culture Minds, physically embodied by their glorious Mind Ships!!! We have listened to your suggestions and responded! You will find very few examples of those sad, silly creatures known as "Cultured humans" during our festive OCP sale weekend. And that's not all! We proudly announce the debut of two marvelous new Mind Ships. At the front of aisle 1, the lovely and amazing Sleeper Service - a necro-artist and secret agent! And lurking in the rear, unlisted on any official Culture registry, is the remarkable Grey Area - an avenger of genocides and a torturer of torturers! Ignore his nickname "Meatfucker" at your own peril!

On aisles 2 through 11, our hallmark OCP product The Excession is available in ever-widening sizes and ever-changing formats. Whether it's a black swan event, an unreadable black body sphere, a transport system for higher powers, or an ageless conundrum that has appeared since before the dawn of time, the Excession is tailor-made for thrilling contemplation of the infinite and perhaps cosmic oblivion!

On aisle 12-A, we have an exciting, one-time-only Super Special - Warships! Buy one and get 80,000 free! Literally!!

We would also like to draw your attention to aisle 12-B and our brand new line of society, The Affront. This bold new community brings a fresh and energetic perspective to many fronts, including the gender war, the race war, the male-on-male war, and of course, the timeless war between galaxies! You'll laugh at the barbaric shenanigans of this sociopathic "civilization" until your sides split open, with entrails spilling and flying everywhere! BUY NOW - we guarantee you will soon find our special Affront products disappearing fast.

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And now for the review: I liked it. The writing was especially witty in this one, and the concepts were typically grandiose. Sadly, the ending was rather deflating. And there was a feeling of, I don't know... thinness, somehow? Just not a whole lot to think about after putting this one down - a rare thing for one of my favorite authors. But I did love how this Culture novel was all about the fascinating Mind Ships and their various factions. There were so many of them that I had to write a list to keep track. I love the Culture Minds. Besides, who needs humans anyway? Wouldn't you rather read about Mind Ships?

This book has a significant drawback. It overly emphasizes a romance that lacks both credibility and any real noteworthiness. However, everything else happening within its pages is outrageously cool.

"Excession" is filled with socially detached and maladjusted characters. There's a 300km-long spaceship with just one human passenger, who has been pregnant for 40 years. A young man spends decades constructing model ships in solitude as he can't bear the company of others. A drone is displaced into deep space, alone and without memories. And a spaceship spitefully nicknamed "MeatFucker," which violates the taboo on reading human minds and whose interior is a museum of torture devices.

Everyone in this story appears to have an opinion on who is underdeveloped or immoral, even at the civilization level. And in the classic style of the Culture Series, the moral reality is far more ambiguous and inscrutable than anyone anticipates. More than any other book in the series (that I've read thus far), this one disproves the supposed infallibility of the Culture.

P.S. Everyone seems to be extremely excited about "MeatFucker," but I felt it was an underdeveloped character. "Sleeper Service" and "Killing Time" were far more interesting characters to me, not least because they were conflicted gods.

After a hiatus of a few weeks, I have finally completed this book. I now understand the reason why some individuals would consider this as their favorite Culture book. It is intelligent, witty, and humorous, and one can learn a great deal about the Minds. However, for me, it fell short in terms of the emotional impact that The Use of Weapons had and the intricate scheming and planning present in The Player of Games.

Nonetheless, it is a solid addition to the series, which is gradually rising up my list of Favorite SF Series. The book offers unique insights into the Culture universe and its fascinating inhabitants. The writing is engaging, and the story keeps the reader hooked from start to finish. Although it may not be my absolute favorite in the series, it is still well worth reading and exploring.

Overall, I would recommend this book to fans of science fiction and those interested in exploring complex and thought-provoking universes. It may not have the same level of emotional depth or strategic plotting as some of the other books in the series, but it still has its own charm and appeal.

A rollicking romp through the minds of the Minds indeed! Banks's humor is as sharp and on point as ever, adding a delightful touch to the narrative. The worldbuilding in this story is truly vast and rich, painting a vivid and intricate picture of a universe filled with wonder and mystery.

However, there is a slight drawback. The human characters and their drama seem to take a backseat and feel largely secondary and almost impertinent to the grandeur of everything else that is going on. In contrast, in the other Culture novels I have had the pleasure of reading, both the human and AI characters had equally mesmerizing stories that held my attention from start to finish.

Here, the human drama essentially simplifies itself to a petty quarrel between lovers, while the Minds engage in a fierce battle using the untapped forces of infinity. It's quite astonishing that in the midst of one of the most powerful Mind's struggles, its predominant worry is not about the fate of the universe(s), but rather that of the truculent couple. It goes to show that even the concept of infinitude must be composed of the momentary and often mundane molecules of our daily lives.

Overall, while the story has its strengths in humor and worldbuilding, the handling of the human characters could have been more developed to create a more balanced and engaging narrative.

Given that Banks described the story's pivotal Outside Context Problem as being similar to 'a sentence encountering a full stop', one can't help but wonder if it would have been too much to ask for him to add a few more in his novel. God, this read was truly a taxing one.

That being said, this was indeed the most enjoyable and Culture-revealing Culture novel I've ever had the pleasure of reading. It offers a fantastic imagining of how superintelligent AI would react to a Big Dumb object. They collide and conspire within themselves, while others stubbornly seek to resolve a lovers' spat that has been spanning nearly half a century long.

The way Banks weaves this complex narrative is both captivating and thought-provoking. It makes one question the nature of intelligence, relationships, and the consequences of our actions in a world where technology has advanced to such an extent.

Despite the initial difficulty in getting through the text, the payoff is well worth it. This novel is a must-read for anyone interested in science fiction, artificial intelligence, or just a good story that will make you think.

Taking a break from reading those dry-as-dust books for journal review, I reached out to a friend for some fiction recommendations. In response, I was given two of Iain M. Banks' "Culture" novels: Look to Windward and this one, Excession.

I had already read two Culture novels and several short stories set in that far-future context before this, starting with Use of Weapons and The Algebraist. I have found myself growing more and more appreciative of each one, presumably as a result of feeling increasingly at home in the Culture.

However, this is not to say that Banks is the perfect storyteller. His tales are lengthy and generally involve multiple points of view, often nonhuman and often inorganic. Keeping track of the characters and locations can be a challenge as few have familiar names. In the case of Excession, much of the dialog is between Artificial Intelligences embodied in various interstellar ships built by different species. Their conversations are often, but not always, accompanied by long lines of code extraneous to the meaning of what is being communicated. This device can sometimes distract the reader from some of the most important and funniest dialog in the book, as the information contained within is essential to the plot development. And here, especially in this book, the plot is complex, involving spies, conspiracies, secrets, dissimulation, and outright lying. Unfortunately, because so many of the primary actors are shipboard AIs, with few represented by physical avatars, it is especially difficult to keep them and their differences in character and motive straight. The organic protagonists, compared to them, while easier to track, are basically pawns in a grand, cosmic game beyond their understanding.

Indeed, the book as a whole is about limits: the limits of organic beings, both individually and culturally; the limits of the Culture as representing the heights of sentient achievement; and even the limits of the artificial intelligences that rule the Culture and command its ships.

The author truly showcases his remarkable writing skills through the creation of wonderfully developed characters and vibrantly colored worlds. It's as if he has painted a vivid picture that draws the reader in and makes them feel a part of this fictional universe.

However, when it comes to his foray into hard science fiction, things take a bit of a turn. The attempt seems incoherent and confusing, leaving the reader scratching their head at times.

One aspect that really detracts from the overall experience is the frustratingly incessant diatribes of the Mind ship. These rants can become tiresome and disrupt the flow of the story.

Despite these flaws, the third Culture novel, USE OF WEAPONS, remains my absolute favorite. There's something about that particular installment that just clicks with me and keeps me coming back for more. Maybe it's the unique blend of action, adventure, and thought-provoking ideas that makes it so special.

Overall, while the author has his strengths and weaknesses, his work is still值得 exploring for those who enjoy science fiction.

Excession is the fifth book in Iain M. Banks' Culture series, and the books are not in story order. It can be read first, with its new characters and standalone plot. However, some readers might prefer to read in publication order to appreciate the development of the Culture universe. In that case, they should start with Consider Phlebas (Culture #1, 1987).

One way to understand the Culture is by comparing it with other civilizations in the same galaxy. Banks presents two such civilizations in this book: the Elench and the Affront. The Elench were once part of the Culture but split off 1,500 years ago. They prefer to change themselves rather than others, while the Culture aims to change lesser civilizations and act as a broker between more developed ones. The Affront, on the other hand, spend too much time hunting and not enough on being a responsible space-faring species.
Centuries after the Idiran War, a perfect black body artifact the size of a mountain appears in orbit around an ancient star. This artifact, which SF fans call a Big Dumb Object (BDO), is far from dumb. The Culture's warships have been mothballed after the war, and various powers are seeking to seize the "excession" for themselves, with disastrous consequences.
The story features a large number of ship-mind characters with clever names, and the reader should keep track of them and the factions they represent. There are also a few interesting human characters, such as Dajiel Gelian and Byr Genar-Hofoen. Their history is gradually revealed through flashbacks as they are manipulated towards each other. To say more would be a spoiler for one of the important plots in this complex novel. Overall, it was a crazy ride that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The 5th book in the culture series, Excession, is by far the most perplexing book I've read to date. I firmly believe that this book could have been divided into two parts instead of cramming all the diverse plot lines into a single one. Although the story has its merits, Banks initiates a new plot in the middle of another, making it increasingly fuzzy and extremely difficult to discern who is doing what. This time, I'll commence with the book's shortcomings first and then shift the focus to its stronger aspects.

Some of the book's shortcomings for me include:

1. Too many underdeveloped characters. The book commences with a female character, Dajeil, residing on a ship called a Sleeper service. We learn that she has been pregnant for approximately 40 years, and the reason unfolds as the story progresses. The ship notifies her that it must embark on an important mission, which will cause a change in its atmosphere. Next, we are introduced to a character named Genar-Hofoen, who serves as a culture ambassador for a species known as Affront. He is special because no previous ambassador has lasted more than a year with the Affront. The Affront are depicted as a hegemonic society that deems itself superior to all living beings and takes pleasure in inflicting pain and enslaving other species. Genar-Hofoen is informed by his ship that he must undertake a mission to recover a ship captain's memory and persuade it to assume a living form again. These are two of the most crucial characters in the novel, yet Banks fails to provide us with sufficient information about them. Instead, he throws them into different plots and reveals some details about them almost two-thirds of the way through the book, by which time it is too late to connect with or care about these characters.

2. Too many AI ships. In this novel, human beings are secondary characters. The significant characters are the AI minds that essentially govern the culture. We obtain many interesting tidbits about them in this book, such as how they pass their time or plot against each other. However, there are so many AI minds involved in the story that it becomes increasingly confusing to remember each of them. The problem is exacerbated by how Banks describes them. For example, ExGsv12456.TRA.2345678.AttitudeAdjsuter and ExGcv3456.TRA.23789.GreyArea are some of the names of the AI ships. The issue is that you get lost in the names, and what they are actually communicating fails to register.

3. Tiresome dialog between AI minds. The dialog between AI minds can be quite tedious. For instance, ExGsv12456.TRA.2345678.AttitudeAdjsuter says to ExGcv3456.TRA.23789.GreyArea, "I am going to the end of the galaxy." ExGcv3456.TRA.23789.GreyArea responds, "I need to inform ExGsv6781.TRA.436789.FaithAmenabletoChange." ExGsv12456.TRA.2345678.AttitudeAdjsuter then replies, "I have already informed him." This is just a sample of the dialog, and it gets even worse in the audio book because the narrator has to repeat the names of the AI minds repeatedly. After a while, this becomes tiresome, and you start to lose interest in the plot.

Now, let me summarize some of the strong points of this book.

1. AI minds. This book is all about the sentient minds of the culture. We already know from the previous books that the culture is a post-scarcity society where human beings pursue their interests, and everything else is taken care of by the culture. However, the minds are at the top of the food chain in the culture. They decide the direction in which the culture society will progress, which civilizations to contact, and how to deal with them. When you envision an AI mind, you might think of a supercomputer, but in this book, these minds have personalities. The last part of their name describes them perfectly. For example, Attitude Adjuster is a warship that craves war, and Faith amenable to change is always uncertain. Banks provides us with an in-depth look at how the minds operate within the culture in this book.

2. Excession or outside context problem. The central plot of the story revolves around the appearance of a black sphere in the galaxy, along with a star. When the minds probe these two entities, they appear to be some of the oldest in the universe. The minds begin to consider this black sphere as an excession or an outside context problem. The minds attempt every possible way to probe this sphere, but the situation takes a different turn when the Affront start claiming that they own this excession.

As I've already mentioned, this is by far the most confusing book in the culture series, and it gets even worse if you're listening to it on audio. I hope the next book is better. I rate this book 2.5/5 stars.

As someone has already commented, "not even half as clever as it thinks it is."

The characters in this work are irritatingly one-dimensional, and there is very little actual plot to speak of.

The concept of conspiracy and internal politics among the extremely powerful AI "minds" that govern The Culture is, to a certain extent, mildly interesting.

However, unfortunately, every time I picked up this book to read, I couldn't help but envision Banks sitting in front of his word processor, rubbing his hands together in self-satisfaction.

It seems that he may have been overly confident in his creation, believing it to be more profound and engaging than it actually is.

The lack of depth in the characters and the thinness of the plot make it difficult for the reader to truly become invested in the story.

Despite the potentially interesting concept at its core, the execution falls short, leaving the reader with a sense of disappointment.

Perhaps with more development and a greater focus on character and plot, this could have been a more successful work.

As it stands, it fails to live up to its potential and leaves much to be desired.

Excession: A Complex Tale Beyond Meat-Based Comprehension
Excession, the fourth installment in Iain M. Banks’ remarkable CULTURE series, delves into the intricate world of a far-future, decadent, post-scarcity intergalactic empire. This empire, dominated by (mostly) benevolent AIs known as Minds and populated by trillions of diverse citizens, offers a vast and limitless canvas for Banks to explore.

It seems likely that Excession emerged when Banks, seated at his computer, wondered what it would be like to center a Culture story around the Minds rather than humans. However, depicting the incredibly complex and cerebral interactions, motivations, and stratagems of these AIs, which can process a million thoughts in a nanosecond, poses a significant challenge. Their advanced nature makes it almost不可思议 that they bother dealing with organic life forms at all. They often adopt a paternalistic and indulgent attitude towards the humans and other beings they encounter.

The plot of Excession, while simple in outline, is difficult to fully grasp in its details. A mysterious black-body spherical object, dubbed an “Excession,” appears in a remote corner of space. Impervious to most forms of analysis and observation, and seemingly trillions of years old, older than the universe itself, this object is too enticing for the Culture, as well as the curious Elench and hyper-aggressive Affront. As a result, there is a massive mobilization of Ships from various Culture factions and alien species, all racing to determine what this Big Dumb Object is and how they can use it to their advantage.

The true highlight of the story lies in the Minds themselves, especially the names of the Ships. Banks has a unique talent for inventing clever and ironic names for these super-intelligent AIs, names that not only suggest their mind-sets and sometimes their agendas but also provide entertainment in the vein of Douglas Adams. Some of the most memorable ship names include Fate Amenable to Change, Grey Area (aka Meatfucker), Jaundiced Outlook, Shoot them Later, and Attitude Adjuster.

In conclusion, Excession is a book that rewards careful reading, as it requires time and effort to understand the veiled motivations of all the different parties involved. The interactions between the Minds are particularly engaging. However, it must be noted that listening to the audiobook can be challenging, as it is difficult to keep track of the complex plot and large cast of characters. For fans of Banks’ CULTURE series, this is likely a 4-star book, but for those new to his work, it may be better to read it in hardcopy.

Overall, Excession offers a fascinating exploration of the capabilities and complexities of AIs in a far-future universe, and it is sure to leave readers both intrigued and entertained.