Inversions (Culture) - Softcover

Banks, Iain M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1416583785 ISBN 13: 9781416583783

Publisher: Gallery Books, 2007

Synopsis

Rare Book

About this title

Review:

Science fiction readers know that Iain Banks writes "respectable" novels (such as The Wasp Factory) while his alter ego Iain M. Banks produces equally well-written but often more playful sci-fi--most famously, the gaudy and galaxy-spanning Culture series. In Inversions, Banks is being tricky again. Besides extra moons in the sky and stories of devastating meteor showers that toppled a former Empire, this novel's squalid, pre-industrial world seems to have no sci-fi elements. The two entwined stories feature a woman who becomes personal physician to one kingdom's absolute monarch, and the male bodyguard of a rival and more "progressive" country's Cromwell-like Protector. Both protagonists are mysterious outsiders from farther away than the King or Protector can ever imagine. Readers of Banks's other science fiction will spot the clues to their origins. Others may be slightly puzzled, especially by a seeming miracle which intervenes when the doctor faces torture--but can still enjoy the elegant narrative reversals, reflections and echoes. There are also generous helpings of blood, violence, poisoning, ingenious deceits and high excitement, spiced with political philosophy. Banks continues his pleasant habit of never repeating himself. --David Langford

Review:

William Gibson author of Neuromancer Banks is a phenomenon. Wildly successful, fearlessly creative!

SFX Iain Banks is a tricky fellow. Watch carefully as he assures you there's nothing up his sleeve.

Locus A talent to be reckoned with.

Vernor Vinge author of A Fire Upon the Deep Inversions is a magical interplay of viewpoint and simplicity. At different levels we find the romance of medieval royalty, the horrors that lie below it, and the prospect of a civilization transforming itself into something marvelously better.

Los Angeles Times Banks never does the same thing twice. But he always does it sublimely.

David Brin author of the Uplift series Iain M. Banks has a deep grasp of story, character, and the irony of this strange life that humans are born into. He is a master at portraying the terror and poignant joy that swirl whenever people open their horizons and start to see their dreams come true.

The Detroit News A genuine and original talent.

Vernor Vinge Iain M. Banks' novels are subtle and spectacular.

About this edition

• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1416583785
• ISBN 13: 9781416583783
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352