Iain M. Banks took a five-year break from the Culture universe to develop ideas and stories for other novels. Now, he returns with "Excession", the fifth installment in the series. This space opera takes us on a grand adventure, exploring the unknown reaches of the galaxy. It reveals wonders and dimensions, while also delving into a story of conspiracy, war, paranoia, cruelty, love, and betrayal. Banks uses his scientifically plausible descriptions to leave us in awe.

In the vastness of the galaxy, the Culture society has explored new wonders. Byr Genar-Hofoen, an ambassador, is tasked with building a relationship between the Culture and the Affront. Meanwhile, an artifact has reappeared in the Esperi system, raising unanswered questions. Genar-Hofoen must leave his comfortable life to find the Eccentric ship "Sleeper Service" and its survivor.
On Phage Rock, Ulver Seich, a young scholastic overachiever, dreams of joining Special Circumstances and traveling the galaxy. When she is offered a secret mission, her dream may come true. Dajeil Gelian, self-exiled on the "Sleeper Service", faces her past and difficult choices when she encounters an old love.
As the ships' Minds of the Culture try to understand the artifact, it becomes the center of attention, drawing the interest of alien species and sentient intelligences. A deep conspiracy is revealed, which could lead to a new war. If not stopped, it could threaten the destruction of everything.
"Excession" consists of twelve parts, each divided into shorter chapters. Banks uses multiple narratives and points of view to develop the plot, creating a complex and engaging story. The large cast of characters, including humanoids, aliens, drones, and Minds, adds to the epic scale. Through this book, Banks shows us an incredible universe of unknown possibilities.

The connection between literature and video games is truly captivating. It's one of my all-time favorite topics to explore. I was overjoyed when I had the opportunity to write for Tor.com about "Excession" by Iain M. Banks, one of the finest science fiction books I've ever read. This remarkable novel has an interesting connection to Sid Meier’s Civilization, a game that, along with Romance of the Three Kingdoms, was highly addictive for me.

"If Use of Weapons delved into the psychological aspects of the Culture's world, Excession takes a philosophical approach, with the AI Minds engaging in war. The Culture discovers an ancient artifact, a 'perfect black body sphere the size of a mountain' and a 'dead star that was at least fifty times older than the universe.' Its mysterious disappearance and reappearance decades later set off a series of events that create one of the most frenetic, entertaining, and metaphysical science fiction narratives I've encountered."

I initially had some reservations about the ending and the human arc in "Excession." However, almost a year later, I have to admit that it has gradually climbed its way up to become one of the Culture books that has stuck with me the most, along with "Player of Games." This was a great and enjoyable review I did with Joe Owens and Kyle Muntz about a year ago, and I'm likely to do a follow-up in the future. I'm also finally reading "Matter," and while it's interesting, I miss hearing from the Culture Minds, which was one of the best aspects of "Excession."

I gave "Excession" 4.5 stars. I absolutely loved it. It's arguably one of the most fast-paced and tense Culture books to date. The Minds are truly badass. I just had a few issues with the ending and the human characters, but I'll write more about that later. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2015/03/on-i...
http://entropymag.org/excession-review/

This is an epic science fiction/space-opera novel penned by an incredibly impressive author. It holds the #5 position in the series. So, regardless of how intrigued you might be by this review (and here's hoping you are), don't rush out and obtain it without first reading some of the earlier installments. Otherwise, your confusion will be palpable.

A mysterious artifact makes a mysterious appearance in a remote corner of space, beside a mysterious, trillion-year-old sun from a different universe. This has the ship Minds, the Culture, and several of its allies in a tizzy and serves as the catalyst for numerous conspiracies, political maneuverings, and deals. It also presents an opportunity for the author to offer the reader a wealth of new perspectives on the Culture.

There are several small aspects of this book that I truly adored. I LOVED the way the inhabitants of Banks' world refer to'space' as volume, as in "..all the ships in the adjacent volume..". It is with such small details that the author effortlessly (at least for the reader) sets the scene of a different time and place. The Excession is filled with many such touches.

The complexity of the intertwining plots is fascinating. I liked how the ship Minds构成了大多数角色、阴谋和情节的实质。In the universe of The Culture, Minds are smarter-than-human AIs, individuals with their own legal rights. Many of them are in ships of various kinds, while some are in stations. Although there are a few human actors - and one exceptionally alien species - as main characters, the majority of our social interaction is with Minds or their Avatars. I really relished the complexity of these relationships. This book takes all the previous notions of AIs as ships from earlier novels and elevates it to entirely new levels of detail and fascination.

The detail! The detail of Banks' world is exquisite, if not intimidating. It's difficult for me to determine if this is sci-fi or space opera; I倾向于sci-fi myself, but perhaps there isn't enough hard tech/science in it for some people. Still, the detail of the different aspects of minds in the Culture, the details of the various lifestyles in the Culture, and the general scene of a whole world operating just out of sight is truly, very impressive.

However, where the detail becomes overwhelming is unfortunately quite early and persists throughout. This is a long book, and by my standards, it took me a considerable amount of time to read. Don't misunderstand me; I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. But at the end of the day, I rather suspect that I missed a great deal of it. One of the main issues I had was actually with the best and most impressive aspect of this book: the use of Minds (mostly of ships) as the main characters. This was perfect for the story. The way the ships were named, the way they communicated their 'inner lives' distinct from their crew whom we barely encounter... It was all incredibly well done and well thought out. But regrettably, most of the time, I couldn't keep them straight in my head. Just like you might say at the end of a bad date, "it is not you, it is me!"

The ships, these formidable, intelligent, individual agents, have names that suit them, chosen by themselves, and occasionally they change them. They also communicate via... some kind of signal? A bit like an email trail...? And directly with each other. So, you have these long discussions between Fate Amenable To Change, Ethics Gradient, Grey Area, and the like. It's great stuff, even if, like me, you can't keep them straight in your head. But it significantly detracted from the story for me.

You see, with such random names, no scene or context to help determine who is who, and no visuals, I really didn't know which faction was doing what. To be honest (and this is embarrassing), it was only in the last hundred pages that by reading a ship's name, I knew who the ship was. There are 452 pages if you include the Epilogue, so I was rather late to that party.

The other downside to this level of character confusion (apart from suspecting my own intelligence for most of the book) is that it makes it difficult to pick up and put down this novel. My lifestyle doesn't allow me to put my life on hold for the entire reading experience. I have to put books down to go to work, deal with stuff, do things. When you're continuously reading, it's easier to keep the context and the characters distinct in your head. But when picking up this book for half an hour of quiet reading time during my lunch break, it would take me a good five to ten minutes to figure out where I was and who was who.

That's a lot of complaints, isn't it? The amazing thing is that I still really enjoyed this book. I doubt I remember all of it, and I'm not sure if I ever fully understood large portions of it. Exactly how many different Mind/Ship factions were there? At least two, surely? Maybe three....?

And yet, despite all that, I enjoyed it, might read it again, will definitely read more of the Culture books, and am generally very impressed by it. Am I a literary masochist? Quite possibly.

As a final note, how good is Banks at describing oceans, seas, and all things marine? The man has an absolute genius for it. In this book, we have a woman living in a tower by a simulated ocean in which marine animals live their lives (yes, that's just how big these ships are and how complex their minds are that they can create and maintain this). To be honest, I have walked on beaches beside real seas that were less convincing than the one he writes about here. It's magnificent!

The fourth novel in Iain M. Banks' Culture Cycle is a book with significant strengths but also some notable weaknesses, at least in my opinion.

Regarding the strengths:

Above all, we have the story itself! The idea of a suddenly emerging large cosmic mystery with potentially enormous possibilities and risks is by no means new, but it works very well here again. I definitely wanted to know what all this meant and where the plans of the various factions would lead.

Equally excellent is the world-building. In no other Culture book before have we learned so much about the Culture itself, the world in which all this is set, and especially about the other, sometimes hostile, major civilizations that are also present here. Very exciting!

The writing style. Banks manages to transform potentially dull descriptions of the history of an orbital station or a ship into his own exciting little stories.

The weaknesses:

The enormous verbosity. Yes, all those background information are really fascinating in themselves, but when one realizes at some point that one has already read half of the book and actually still almost nothing has happened, one can already ask oneself whether the balance here is really so perfect. Even if Banks surely did this deliberately.

The much lamented conversation protocols of the ships among themselves. Although many of them are really very interesting to read, often even extremely humorous, there are simply far too many of them, and they are far too long and confusing, and above all, far too often beginning with completely unnecessary technical jargon.

And, my main criticism: The almost complete lack of believable, or at least interesting, characters! The male main protagonist is at least pleasantly quirky and unscrupulous, but he simply appears far too rarely and we learn almost nothing about his history. However, this does get significantly better in the last third. In complete contrast to that is the younger of the two women. Supposedly highly educated and multi-talented, for a very long time she comes across exclusively as a completely cliched, egocentric and naive party girl. Presumably this was meant satirically or I have missed something, but mainly she just annoyed me. And the fact that some of the most profound characters are still some of the ships that appear almost exclusively in conversation protocols says a lot...

Conclusion:

For fans of the series, of course, a must, especially because of the many background information. But for newcomers, by no means the best entry point. Despite some longueurs, I have really enjoyed reading "Excession" overall.

This book truly fails to live up to its own expectations.

It presents characters that are poorly written, lacking depth and authenticity.

Their actions and dialogues seem forced and unconvincing, making it difficult for the reader to form any kind of connection with them.

Moreover, the AI chatter within the book is extremely tedious.

It drones on and on, adding little value to the overall narrative.

Instead of enhancing the story, it simply becomes a tiresome distraction.

In conclusion, this book is far from being as clever as it believes itself to be.

It falls short in both character development and engaging content, leaving the reader disappointed and unfulfilled.

This book holds a special place among my favorite Culture books.

It has the courage to take the necessary leap. Once the Culture is presented, it becomes clear that humans are mainly passengers along for the ride, while AIs are in charge. This is one of the subjects explored in this somewhat complex book, both literally and figuratively.

I recently reread it and noticed that the human aspect becomes less and less interesting upon rereading. Perhaps this is because it is becoming less and less relevant to the overall picture, regardless of what the humans think.

Instead, we are introduced to a very interesting cast of aliens and AIs, or Minds, who go about their own business and are truly concerned with serious matters. Even though they are slightly anthropomorphic, after all, they were originally created by humans, so it can be overlooked. Generally speaking, they are fascinating. They can be likable or dislikable based on their own traits, and their interactions shape the story.

Finally, I must admit that I cannot be completely objective because I love Banks' naming approach for his spaceships. If the idea of a gung-ho combat ship named Killing Time makes you laugh, you will enjoy the book even more. Consider yourself warned.

This is truly an excellent entry into the world of culture.

Here, there is a slightly different mindset. While we do have a few human perspectives, a significant portion of the maneuvering, backstory, and action involves the minds of some Ship AI.

Some of these Ship AI are so ancient and powerful that they have become rather eccentric, essentially doing whatever they please.

This offers a completely new perspective. It allows us to explore a realm where artificial intelligence has developed to such an extent that it has its own unique characteristics and behaviors.

We can witness the interactions between humans and these advanced Ship AI, and observe how their different ways of thinking and acting shape the story.

It's a fascinating concept that invites us to imagine a future where technology and culture intertwine in unexpected ways.

Overall, this new perspective adds depth and complexity to the cultural landscape, opening up new possibilities for exploration and discovery.

This book is precisely what initially captured my attention towards The Culture.

The very concept of sentient spaceships communicating and propelling the entire plot of a book simply intrigued me to no end.

This particular book is truly a masterpiece crafted by a master artist. However, it's a work of art that I firmly believe one would need to focus on repeatedly in an attempt to grasp the intricate nuances within.

It's not a book that can be easily digested in a single read. Instead, it requires careful examination and multiple readings to fully appreciate the depth and complexity of the ideas and themes presented.

The sentient spaceships add a unique and fascinating element to the story, making it stand out from other works of science fiction.

Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the boundaries of science fiction and the possibilities of sentient technology.

I skipped The State of the Art to read this fifth book in the Culture series, since the former is a collection of short stories. After being disappointed by works like The Martians, I decided not to taint my opinion of the series too early on.

The titular Excession is another term for what the Culture calls an Outside Context Problem (OCP). It's an encounter with an alien civilization far more advanced than one's own, making it impossible to conceptualize their technology within one's own culture's framework. For the indigenous tribals of the Americas, the arrival of Europeans with their large ships, metal armor, and artillery was such a problem. For the Culture, the Excession, which can access the universal Energy Grid in both directions and may be able to travel inter-dimensionally, is an OCP. Even after Banks explains the Energy Grid in detail, it's still hard to fully understand.

Unique to this entry in the Culture series, Excession mainly focuses on the hyper-intelligent Minds that operate or are the ships on which much of the Culture's daily life takes place. Banks' portrayal of these Artificial Intelligences is excellent. They are like people, with all the personality quirks, vanities, and emotional concerns one would expect. We learn about Eccentric ships, Minds that have abandoned the shared values of the Culture to pursue their own idiosyncratic interests. One such ship, Grey Area, spends most of its time using its effector fields to read the minds of humanoids and punishing or rewarding them based on its judgment. We also learn why the Minds value the happiness of the human inhabitants inside them and what they do in their spare time.

As an aside, the names the ship Minds choose for themselves are a source of joy. For example, The Anticipation of a New Lover's Arrival, Serious Callers Only, and the warship Frank Exchange of Views.

These ships discover the Excession in space, and a furious scheming begins to figure out how to best exploit it. This is the basic plot arc, although there are many sub-plots.

However, this is also the problem. The book started off as a five-star read, especially when reading the most entertaining subplots. But as things progressed, I sometimes struggled to follow the other sub-plots or understand how they fit into the larger picture. By the end of the book, the chapters became so short and swapped contexts so frequently that I became impatient for the story to end.

As other reviewers have noted, there are enough good parts to make the so-so parts worth getting through. But I'm noticing a frustrating trend with Banks. Even though I enjoy his novels, I'm irritated that they aren't as good as they could be. I guess that's a good problem to have with an author.

I have perused all the novels penned by Iain M Banks. I first delved into "Excession" in the very year it was released in paperback, which was 1997, and I have revisited this book on several occasions since then.

This is a part of the "Culture" series. For those who might not be acquainted with Iain M Banks, he fabricated a magnificent civilization known as The Culture. Although he never initially intended to write a trilogy or a series, the universe he crafted was so beloved that he repeatedly returned to it. The complete list consists of ten titles: "Consider Phlebas" in 1987; "The Player of Games" in 1988; "Use of Weapons" in 1990; "The State of the Art" in 1991; "Excession" in 1996; "Inversions" in 1998; "Look to Windward" in 2000; "Matter" in 2008; "Surface Detail" in 2010; and "The Hydrogen Sonata" in 2012.

So, "Excession" is the fifth installment in the series. This is an enjoyable book. It is considerably less dark compared to, say, "Use of Weapons," and there is certainly no tragedy as in "Look to Windward." What we have here is a straightforward adventure. Genar-Hofoen, who resides with the Affront, an aggressive expanding civilization, and their attempt to claim a space artifact named the Excession. This places them in conflict with a number of AI or colossal Artificial Intelligence machines called Minds, who also desire to possess this artifact.

There is a great deal of machine dialogue, spaceships with outrageous names, and some seriously entertaining sports and outlandish games provided by the Affront, which have all the entertainment value and high spirits as a group of battle-weary dwarfs on an extended stag night.

This one will bring a smile to your face, especially the ending. Genar-Hofoen has a nice problem to solve. If you could have anything your heart desires, what would it be?

A veces me pregunto porque sigo leyendo los libros de “La Cultura”. Esta duda incluso me asalta mientras los estoy leyendo. Es algo poco amable con el lector, aunque debe reconocerse que el autor no nos toma por tontos. Después resulta que se trata de cómo las mentes/naves que dominan todo se enfrentan a un problema de contexto externo, en este caso una esfera negra, y cómo, al igual que los humanos, no carecen de falibilidad. Luego hay más historias que aportan poco, pero lo nuclear reside en las naves y la política con otras sociedades dentro de “La Cultura”.

De los que he leído hasta ahora, es el libro más explicativo del universo general en el que se ambientan estas historias. No hay un gran personaje ancla; aquí lo principal reside en el comportamiento dirigente de la propia sociedad y sus facciones. Pero se hace tan denso, con tantos detalles que no se pueden pasar por alto. Si bien los VGS y UGC (Vehículo General de Sistemas, Unidad General de Contacto), ya habituales, se suman las unidades militares como las Unidades Rápidas Ofensivas (con sus clases: inquisidor, torturador…), se crea un mundo nuevo en donde es importante la nomenclatura según el tipo de mente que se podría asociar (y los recursos que tiene la nave disponible) y los nombres. Cuántos sindiós que, aún con la traducción, enredan más. ¡Qué confuso se vuelve en ocasiones!

Aclaración: el concepto de “naves de La Cultura”: Hay dos características físicas muy interesantes de las naves de la Cultura. La primera es su tamaño; como hábitats perennes que son, pueden alcanzar dimensiones continentales, albergando en su interior ciudades, ríos y montañas. La otra es la ausencia de cualquier tipo de casco exterior; los límites se establecen mediante campos de fuerza, no apareciendo así ninguna barrera “física”. Las naves de la Cultura son islas flotantes, monumentales trozos de tierra viajando por el espacio. Sin embargo, la particularidad más relevante de las naves es precisamente su vínculo con la Mente que la gobierna. La Mente no es el piloto de la nave, sino que cada parte de la nave está en asociación coherente con la Mente, cada trozo de tierra, cada río y cada campo de fuerza es una extensión perceptiva de la Mente. La Mente es la nave. Las naves de la Cultura son seres conscientes, sensibles y pensantes. Así, sus nombres no son elegidos por los habitantes sino por ellas mismas reflejando su personalidad. ¿Quién no querría recorrer la galaxia en una nave que se llama “Tan Solo Lee Las Instrucciones” o “Problemas De Credibilidad” o “Desde Luego Que Te Sigo Queriendo” o “Salida Dramática, Gracias Y Buenas Noches” o “Caso Avanzado de Patetismo Crónico” o “Pensé Que Él Estaba Contigo”?

I truly love these books. However, if you don't share the same sentiment, I completely understand. The uniqueness of this series is both remarkable and perhaps a bit off-putting. It's the kind of material that you might wish people would write, yet then you come up with excuses not to read it.

Reading the Culture novels is seldom the most enjoyable activity you could engage in. But, once you've completed them, it can signify a total paradigm shift. It's like taking steps towards permanently dismantling whatever version of reality is currently plaguing your existence.

These novels have the power to make you question and reevaluate your perspectives. They offer a different way of looking at the world and can open your mind to new possibilities. Although the reading experience may not always be easy or straightforward, the rewards can be significant.

So, if you're willing to take on the challenge and step out of your comfort zone, you might just discover a whole new world within the pages of these books.