Transition

Author: Iain M. Banks

I wonder if inserting an M in between my first name and surname will magically turn me into a top science-fiction writer like Iain Banks. (Really, he writes non science fiction novels without the "M"!) The world has infinite parallel worlds with a range of dystopian and utopian settings. The novel is set between the time of the Berlin Wall being destroyed, and the 2008 financial crisis. A dark and suspicious organization "The Concern" intervenes in events to create outcomes that The Concern views as socially beneficial for that specific world. The head of The Concern is the ruthless and highly sexual Madame d'Ortolan. Her star agent is Temudjin Oh, an un-killable assassin "flits" between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and Venice. Flitting occurs when a person takes a mysterious drug called "septus", and when an agent flits into another world, they take control of the body of an existing inhabitant, kind of like Agent Smith in The Matrix, and take up that body's own characteristics, like sexual preferences and mental health issues. On the side of the good people, there's Mrs Mulverhill who recruits rebels, and Patient 8262 hiding in a forgotten hospital ward. Between the sexy Madame d'Ortolan, and Adrian (a city trader in a very normal, real Earth) snorting cocaine and referring to women as "bints" (got to love the English slang), I'm starting to wonder why I've only given this novel the number 10 placing. Why you should read this book â€“ because critics can't agree whether it's a piece of literary genius, or a steaming pile of crap. You decide for yourself!