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    Surface Detail
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    Surface Detail
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    Surface Detail
    Audiobook20 hours

    Surface Detail

    Written by Iain M. Banks

    Narrated by Peter Kenny

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters.

    It begins with a murder.

    And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself.

    Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.

    Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful – and arguably deranged – warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war – brutal, far-reaching – is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality

    It started in the realm of the Real and that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilizations, but at the center of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether.

    Surface Detail is Iain M. Banks' new Culture novel, a breathtaking achievement from a writer whose body of work is without parallel in the modern history of science fiction.

    A Hachette Audio production.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateOct 28, 2010
    ISBN9781607887812
    Unavailable
    Surface Detail
    Author

    Iain M. Banks

    Iain M. Banks (1954–2013), one of the United Kingdom’s most popular science fiction authors, wrote such highly regarded novels as Consider Phlebas, Excession, and Inversions. Under the name “Iain Banks,” he also published mainstream fiction, including such novels as The Wasp Factory and A Song of Stone.

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    Reviews for Surface Detail

    4/5

    682 ratings41 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I like me some UK socialist sci-fi writers.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      A bewildering story in which Banks crams a thousand strange ideas into one book. I'm reading the Culture series in order generally, and it seems that as the years went by Banks got more and more complex in his plotting and just threw more and more stuff into every story. The previous book, Matter, bothered me this way, but maybe I'm growing more accustomed to this style, as enjoyed this story better. Anyway, the characters here:-Lededje is the central character, an "intagliate" woman born/engineered with tattoos down to the cellular level, but who is also essentially a slave, owned by a man to whom her parents were indebted. She is murdered by her owner at the start, but surprisingly is reanimated on a Culture ship because of a neural lace built into her brain that she didn't even know about. She sets out for revenge against her owner.-Veppers is Lededje's owner, the main villain in the book. He is the wealthiest man in his society, and essentially a cartoon villain, caring about nobody but himself. He is also buried in a complex conspiracy with some aliens involved in a virtual war over the fate of virtual "hells" in many societies.-Vateuil is a soldier and commander in the virtual war over the Hells.-Prim and Chay are four-legged aliens who sneak into the Hell run by elements of their society, with the goal of escaping and publicizing the barbarity of that place.-Yime Nisokyi is a Culture agent in the section of Contact that deals with the Dead in their virtual environments. As the war over the Hells intensifies and involves the aforementioned Veppers, she is sent to ensure that Lededje doesn't cause a galactic incident by murdering him.-Bettlescroy is a non-culture diplomat/military commander involved with Veppers in a conspiracy involving the Tsungarial Disk, an enormouse warship-building factory abandoned by an ancient civilization which becomes part of a plan to bring the virtual war over the Hells into the "Real".-Unfallen Bulbitian- is a ship left over from the Bulbitian civilization which houses a number of missions attempting to communicate with it. Like many of Banks' ancillary ideas, this one was wholly unnecessary to the plot, and it's hard to understand why it was included.And in this case, the AI ships have big roles to play. The warship "Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints" is actually a great character- a ship built for destruction, usually bored waiting for something to happen, that decides to help Lededje in her quest for revenge, mainly to amuse itself. When a skirmish in space occurs, the ship is so excited to be unleashed it's actually kind of fun.The ship "Me, I'm Counting" is the eccentric ship that gives Lededje her neural lace, allowing her to be reborn after her murder.As with Matter, I wish Banks dialed down the ideas a little to make the story more comprehensible. Still, this was a good time.
    • 3/5
      The writing is clear and easy to follow and there are some intriguing parts of the book, but overall I was disappointed. By the end of the book, I found myself caring very little about what happened to any of the many characters--human or machine--and I felt almost disinterested as to how events turned out in the galactic level conflicts that are part of the book. I've read one other of Iain M. Banks science fiction novels, Excession, which I enjoyed. I've also read two of his novels--The Bridge and Song of Stone. Although it was a hard read, in much the same way that that Saramago's Blindness is a difficult read, Song of Stone was beautifully written and compelling.
    • 4/5
      This one is interesting, a return to those whimsically named intelligent ships, high-tech wonders and galaxy-spanning space opera. Unlike the last couple of Banks novels I've read, this one even has a happy ending, evil punished and protagonists living more or less happily ever after.
    • 5/5
      Science fiction at its best. Interesting characters and great fictional science.
    • 4/5
      First book of the Culture series that I have read. Interesting enough and a good read - describes the idea of a massive intelligence with some degree of detail and interest. I will have to look for the others.
    • 5/5
      Banks very much back to his best in this Culture novel. The "Psychopath" class ship is particluarly funny and true to its type.
    • 4/5
      The quality continues. Superb science fiction by a master of the craft.Someone once said that the job of science fiction writers was not to predict the future, but to prevent it from happening. Banks breaks this rule, his "Culture" seems pretty amazing to me.
    • 3/5
      I have found this book really disappointing. I was a huge fan of Use of Weapons and I had liked to read The Player of Games, and it was intriguing to read The Wasp Factory.This novel lacks the quality that made those former books valuable. In my opinion, Banks' strength lies in forming his characters, showing their feelings, inner motivations, fears, etc. The storyline was only to serve as the environment where these characters move.I had read Look to Windward too, and that was the first disappointment. The characters were strong, but the focus was on the - quite predictable - storyline which only served to enforce the proverb "Do not fuck with the Culture".Unfortunately Surface Detail moves towards that direction. The story is simpler, the characters are shallow. The ending is a disaster: the last 4 pages summarizes the events that happened after the 600+ pages of the books, and the 3-page-epilogue is like the author have realised that there were only moderate twists in the story, so he gives us a revelation about a character that is supposed to be striking but unfortunately I couldn't care less, as that character was nothing special.Otherwise, I can only recommend this novel to those who just want to read something light for a longer period that is not boring, the pace of action is good enough.Oh, and don't fuck with the Culture.
    • 3/5
      Quick read, very entertaining.
    • 4/5
      This is one of Ian M Banks' "Culture" novels, so expect a large backdrop in space and exploration of some interesting ideas about the future. It also has several interesting characters. Some of them die early on, but in this part of space and time this doesn't mean that it's the end of the story as far as they are concerned. There are several plot lines involving each of those characters, but they do all converge by the end. Although the plot is expansive things really do depend on the actions of a small number of people. Very enjoyable.
    • 3/5
      Not as enjoyable a read as Banks' Excession. It had its good moments, but it also had many sections that seemed to drag, tempting me to skim at points. In part this was due to many of the characters being rather bland at best and not really piquing my curiosity, and also because certain sections following some of those characters were largely repetitious and served little purpose for this reader, as the author had already made his points in those areas.Good writing as usual, and a fairly inventive plot, if not entirely believable for me.
    • 3/5
      A return to Culture science fiction by it's creator. It's use of the virtual world, the concepts of high technology in biotech & afterlife experience, was involving & intriguing, & the moral issues involved in such circumstances, well thought out. The plotting for most of the first half was tight, but I felt that the third quarter was flabby & began to lose interest for me. There was a sort of resolution & a return to earlier levels of interest in the last quarter, but it all never really quite worked. This was a shame, because intial characterisation, thoughts on morality and sheer mind bending ideas, were excellent. Good, but not his best work, which I still feel is his first two, or maybe three Culture novels
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book immensely. Iain M Banks seems to be refining his craft and writing for his core fan base. I hope he never begins writing mainstream best-sellers because he would necessarily lose his loyal readers. That said, I could read this again before too long which is something I almost never do.The story dealt with such ugly issues as slavery, sexual abuse, human rights, and the imposition of "morality" by those in authority. The villain was just so deliciously awful that I wanted to knock him down and jump on his pompously virulent head. The heroine was a well-enough fleshed-out character the reader could feel for. The GOU (Abominator-class)Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints ship/avatar were great fun. I saw a lot of myself in the ship's avatar, which although strictly speaking may not be such a healthy thing was never the less a real hoot. My only significant criticism, and one applicable to other Culture books, is that the story wrapped up so hurriedly I'm having to go back and see how the various plot lines were resolved. Many authors spend to much of the story resolving the elements, but this one doesn't do so thoroughly enough. I enjoyed this Culture novel on audio. The audio versions of these books tend to be well done and seem to be read by those who "get" the Culture, including the wit and tongue in cheek humor.
    • 4/5
      This is the one about the Hells. There wasn't a thing wrong with it; I just like other Banks better (Use of Weapons, Player of Games).
    • 4/5
      This is a big read in every sense. Took me a while to get into it but eventually getting more enjoyable as it went on. The ideas being played with have expanded yet again; for the Culture with new sections of Contact explained; the use of virtual hells to keep these virtual civilisations in check: tattoos :-)The start feels disjointed and disparate but Banks slowly brings it all together as he weaves his story. The prose certainly makes it easy to imagine the hell that Chay has to live through. There are bits of humour in among the suffering and the little surprise at the end with one of characters being a familiar face.
    • 4/5
      Another steaming great slice of Culture action; rich and complex, this is a book to savour, and yet not to take to long over, for if you do you will find the multiplicity of characters and plotlines a little hard to untangle. That said, this book delivers everything expected of a Culture novel, and in some ways more. Keep it up, Mr. Banks.
    • 4/5
      Well, here we are, back in the culture. Needless to say it starts off with the familiar, rather disorientating introductory chapters where a whole bunch of what are apparently really disparate stories gradually coalesce into something that really rocks.I'm impressed that Banks hasn't actually allowed this series to become too predictable or tired - as always it's fun to go back to the Culture, there are some things that are familiar and fun; the slightly detached culture human approach to life, the utterly barking culture ships (with some fabulous names); indeed, if, like me, you are a fan of the more badly behaved and outre culture ships, then you are in for a treat here, as this novel features the worst behaved ship you're ever going to meet (the good ship "Falling outside the normal moral constraints". Though at the same time, as with "Matter", we spend rather more time outside the Culture per se, with some of it's less pleasant neighbours. There is more speculation about the nature of virtual existence, and the whole "soulkeeper" business that was explored in previous books - much of the action takes place in virtually created afterlife of particular races - in hell in fact, which is imagined with a particular savagery. Overall it's a good novel in the universe - better than "Matter",I reckon, though possibly not as gripping as "Excession".On the very last page there is a throwaway line that may make you want to re-read the whole thing, as one of the new characters appears, after all, to have been an old friend...
    • 5/5
      Banks' genius is imagining a future removed from labour, sickness, even death, and then royally screwing it all up with people finding ways to pervert utopia and exploit post-scarcity. Just amazing and stunning sci-fi from cradle to grave.
    • 3/5
      Not a big fan, got bogged down in the minute, skipped a bit
    • 4/5
      Some interesting ideas here, especially regarding far-future implications for VR, but overall feel it would have been a better novel at half the length with some of the many subplots removed entirely.
    • 4/5
      One of his better culture stories, possibly the best - Player of Games was my first in this series, and remains a very strong choice as a starting point for an introduction to the Culture, but this one is very strong for those who are already immersed in the world.

      As usual, lots of characters and plotlines twist through to a compelling and not quite predictable finish. Particularly enjoyed the ship "Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints" and his role in keeping things up in the air. Lots of fun.

      The hells are ... hellish. Didn't love reading those sections, but a gruesome characterization of some of the horrors that could come with simulating mind states.
    • 3/5
      The Culture is a galaxy-wide civilization of mostly recognizable humans. There are a few books in the series and while I think they can be read in any order, I've found that the universe that Banks has created has become more detailed and complicated over the series. This is the latest and we learn a lot more about the Culture and the other vast alien civilizations it interacts with. At 654 pages, this is a pretty big novel, as are all of the Culture novels. One problem I have with Banks is that his books get off to really slow starts. I nearly gave up on this one at around 100 pages because I couldn't see where the story was going. But it was worth finishing.
    • 4/5
      Was that a happy ending? Of sorts, obviously, because it's still Banks - but I ended up with a tear in my eye for the first time in a while. Surface Detail wasn't at all what I remembered or expected and was all the better for it.Surface Detail is huge in emotional scope, taking on the concept of death (in a galaxy where being backed up and reincarnated, or effectively digitally immortal are both norms in advanced societies); the afterlife (...and whether we need the threat of Hell to keep us on the straight and narrow); and the delicate balance between justice, revenge, privilege and political expediency.All of which sounds like very heavy going, but leavened here by quality snark, a superbly entertaining Mind that just can't wait to blow something up, and enough sly humour to keep it from smothering you.Full review
    • 5/5
      This book kind of blew my mind (and brought back my rabid Iain Banks fandom, after the slight disappointment that was Excession). It took me a long time to read, partly because it's 600 pages long and partly because the hardback copy I have is too heavy to want to take on vacation, but also because it's thematically so huge that I kind of needed 4 months to digest it.

      There are, of course, several interleaved plots, but the overarching one (introduced early enough for this not to be a spoiler) is a conflict about whether Hells should exist. This being the universe of the Culture, this is not a metaphysical question, but a purely ethical one, because civilisations can choose to have a hell or not, and that choice has become a major division between and within civilisations.

      As I read the book, and plenty happened in my own life and the world in that time, what made me really love it was the number of parallels I saw between its techno-fantasy world and the real world around me. The sadism embodied in the Hells, the repugnant status-quo-at-all-costs reasoning used by those who would justify them, the sometimes hopeless-looking idealism of those who would get rid of them, and the weaknesses and limitations of all the would-be good actors all felt like biting commentary on events this year that Banks couldn't have exactly foreseen. And then there's the moral ambiguities of just what steps may or may not be justifiable in service of a noble goal (not exactly a new theme for the Culture novels, or the best exploration of it I've seen, but certainly an engaging one), and the multiple levels of different actors manipulating each other. Of all the Culture novels, even as it has one of the more outlandish plots, I think it's the one that has most to say about the world we actually live in.

      NB: If you haven't read any of the Culture books before, don't start with this one because it definitely seems to assume you know something of its world.
    • 3/5
      Moments of fun, with an exciting conclusion. (You already know how it ends, of course, but what's not to like about a Culture BOOM BANG POW?) I never really bought into the characters, or cared about the Hell versus anti-Hell plot line. One could also probably skip the first 200+ pages without missing much; isn't it more fun to figure out the setting yourself rather than get it in a lecture?
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book.There is a war between the civilizations that maintain virtual hells and the civilizations that want the hells to end. I agree with the argument that eternal torment is wrong.I loved avatar Demeisen of the ship the Culture war ship `'Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints'. His enjoyment of the thought of going to battle was so fun. He is a very funny character.
    • 4/5
      After I finished reading 'Surface Detail', Iain Banks penultimate Culture novel. It occurred to me this is the 4th last time I will have the pleasure of a new Iain Banks, following the writer's untimely death in May. 'Surface Detail' is a sprawling epic Space Opera, complete with wisecracking drones and rogue GSVs.
      An indentured slave is murdered by her brutal owner. A copy of her mind escapes to the Culture. She is re-lifed and seeks revenge or redemption. A virtual war is being fought to decide whether to allow or to disallow cultures in the galaxy from running Hells, simulated afterlives in which the mind-states of the dead are tortured. The Culture, as always, vows to be neutral. But it just can't help meddling....

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      This one came highly recommended and hand picked by an avid Iain Banks fan. It was certainly entertaining and the author has quite the knack for inventing compelling and surprising sci-fi concepts. In particular, the story arc involving consciousnesses being placed within simulated hells was particularly thought provoking. Unfortunately, he surrounded those interesting bits with loads of blockbuster movie like action that kept the pace of the book moving rapidly, yet didn't allow for the space to allow the more subtle themes to gestate. Overall though, an entertaining read with plenty of high-minded sci-fi elements scattered throughout.
    • 5/5
      Oh, I love Iain Banks.
      He consistently manages to create books which are compelling, complex and challenging while remaining action-filled, exciting and even humorous.
      This is the latest of his Culture novels (the ninth, if I'm correct). As with most of the books, it works as a stand-alone, with only a few tie-ins to other books for the pleasure of the devoted reader.
      This novel entwines the story of Lededje Y'Breq, a woman seeking revenge against her former master and abuser, with the story of an interstellar conflict over the right to maintain virtual "hells" in which the preserved consciousnesses of the deceased are tormented.
      As the topics imply, there's in-depth exploration of questions of ethics, all wrapped in a kick-ass story with plenty of space battles, virtual conflicts and grisly, violent action.