Excession

Author: Iain M. Banks

The only negative accusation that the Culture Novels series receives is that it's too complicated and detailed, with so many AI characters to remember. Now of course, we don't think that would be a problem because our readership is erudite and intelligent enough to handle the level of complexity in these novels! Using his disguise of an extra "M." as a pen name to distinguish (or disguise?) his science fiction writing, Iain M. Banks wrote Excession, focusing on the Culture's Minds. The Minds are super-intelligent artificial intelligence beings and interestingly, the conversations between the Minds are presented in the novel to look like emails without headers. The novel focuses on the response of these AI beings to an alien artifact, the Excession, which is used by a cruel, violent, and socially amoral alien society to sociopathically gain power. Like all of the Culture Novels written by Banks there is the strong theme of morality and how sentient beings preside over humans. Aside from intense themes, Banks draws human characters that are empathetic and relatable, even if they aren't always likeable. The novel is fast-paced, action packed, littered with humor and written in his usual beautiful prose. In 2008, The Times named Banks in their list of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945.

Books in Culture Series (11)

Consider Phlebas

Player Of Games

Use Of Weapons

The State Of The Art

Inversions

Look To Windward

Matter

Surface Detail

The Hydrogen Sonata

Matter