The Official Unofficial Book Group Book Discussion thread
57 watchers
Dec 2016
11:35am, 7 Dec 2016
19,168 posts
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Diogenes
So, here it is, a place to discuss all the books we in the Book Group thread are reading which are not offical book group books. **** WARNING - THERE WILL BE SPOILERS **** (and go-faster stripes and flared wheel arches too, quite possibly) Having said that, if you are posting a review or comment that contains a spoiler, then please highlight it ahead of time, ta, sometimes one forgets where one is. |
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Dec 2016
11:46am, 7 Dec 2016
19,169 posts
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Diogenes
Anyway, I'll start us off with a few thoughts on The Player Of Games by Iain M. Banks As someone who has enjoyed the books of Iain Banks for many years, I can't quite explain why I have resisted reading any Iain M. Banks for so long. I was recommended to start with The Player Of Games (TPOG) from his Culture series. Despite trying to approach the book with a completely open mind, I was not expecting to enjoy it. I just didn't think it was going to be my kind of thing. I have a similar feeling towards Terry Pratchett. This is odd given that Douglas Adams is one of my all-time writing heroes. Perhaps I feel that there is no room alongside him for others writing in a similar vein, especially comedic, satirical science fiction? Ultimately my fears were unfounded. I really enjoyed and admired TPOG. Banks is a very clever man and an accomplished writer He creates a utterly believable fantastic alternative (or future?) universe with style and ease. I remember reading Tolkien as a child and being blown away by a writer creating a whole other world using words (and maps, maps are always good). Iain M. does much the same here. The realisation of the game of Azad is particularly well done. I was drawn in and engaged by this book, I was interested to see how it might develop and, towards the end and afterwards, it occupied my mind when I wasn't reading it, always a good sign for me. I was satisfied by the outcome. Overall I was glad I had read it, but I am unlikely to read another of his sci-fi books. If I had read this book when I was younger, 28 years ago when it was first published, for example, I dare say I would have become a huge fan and devoured each new edition as soon as it came out. Unfortunately I have come to the series at a time when I want to be reading new work, and when I have a preference for novels set in the real world. That is my problem. Let's move on to my qualms with the book. (Warning: here is where the spoilers begin.) As a more experienced reader (though still naïve in my reading in many ways) I found the overall arc of the narrative quite predictable. From the moment that Gurgeh was set up to go and play Azad in the games it was clear that there would be a number of tense competitions before he finally won through to the final showdown. You knew that his life would be threatened at least once or twice but that he would ultimately survive and prevail. It became obvious that Contact had decided that now was the time for Culture to overthrow the Empire and they'd decided that the best was to do this was to have Gurgeh destabilise them by beating them at their own game. The way this played out was entertaining, but not surprising. I said that Banks writes well, but he does have a tendency to launch into polemic and when this happens his prose gets a very papal shade of purple. The appalling corruption of Azadian society (political, social, sexual, moral, etc.) is laid on very thick, almost too much so, so that you stop seeing the direct comparison to our own society and start to see it as something beyond that, something that could never happen here. It's like being harangued on the street, you stop listening and walk away. He launches his attack like Lo Frag Traff. Finally, a message emerges that a peaceable cultured society will always defeat a bellicose bunch of barbarians, just so long as they have superior technology and weapons. I'm not sure that is what Banks intended, although he did seem to want to warn that if we get to soft and comfortable in our privilege then we become weak and vulnerable to attack from those who don't share our advantages or philosophy. That seems like a timely warning. I found some of the characterisations a little weak. Gurgeh was loosely drawn, just a piece in the game, who became less and less interesting as he became more and more absorbed in the game. The stars of the show were the drones Mawhrin-Skel and Flere-Imsaho. These had more personality than the 'people' (yes, I got that drones are people too) and also provided much of the humour. Sho Za seemed to me to be a recreation of Zaphod Beeblebrox, but without the extra head and arm. Trinev Dutleysdaughter appears to serve no purpose except to highlight the place of women in the Empire. One thing you have to hand to Iain Banks is that he was way ahead of the game on sexual and gender politics. So, to summarise, I really enjoyed reading this book, and was glad that I did. I would have hated to have struggled to get through it, or to have found it average or worse. If I was giving it marks out of ten then I would score it an eight. That's a very good mark. However, I have no desire or need to read any further in the series and I regret this as it feels disloyal to friends who rate them so highly. |
Dec 2016
12:21pm, 7 Dec 2016
27,007 posts
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McGoohan
Very interesting Dio. I'm very glad you didn't start with Consider Phlebas (which I love) but which I think might have seemed off-putting. (Hides from Greppers) By TPoG, IMB's second Culture novel, he was starting to work out more of the structure of that society - or lack thereof. For me, the pinnacle is the next one along, Use of Weapons, which isn't just a great story but also considers the role of the mercenary & espionage sides of a society that deems itself perfect. It also has the most jaw-dropping twist of any book I'd read to that point, the sort that makes you want to read it all over again to see how you missed the clues. But I read TPoG and UoW 25ish years ago when I read anything and everything by Banks with or without the M. I can see how coming to M later wouldn't have the same effect. |
Dec 2016
4:50pm, 7 Dec 2016
26,624 posts
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Night-owl
Watching
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Dec 2016
5:45pm, 11 Dec 2016
7,063 posts
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Seven Little Nemos a-swimming
*joins thread* I love Iain M Banks and I think Use Of Weapons is my favourite one, although Consider Phlebas is close behind. The weird thing with it was that I guessed the twist of the story quite early on, but when I re-read it I couldn't work out how I had guessed it. The bit that I thought revealed it didn't seem to when I read it second time around. It was a strange experience! |
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Dec 2016
6:03pm, 11 Dec 2016
27,059 posts
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McGoohan
The twist in UoW? Never spotted it, first time I read it: I got to that bit - in the penultimate chapter - where the word 'almost' takes on a very interesting meaning and went... 'huh?' (As does Skaffen) - which is of course what you're meant to think. I love that you're effectively told the twist a chapter before the end but it takes the final chapter before you believe it. (That was sufficiently Spoiler-avoidy I hope) |
Dec 2016
10:24pm, 17 Dec 2016
825 posts
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beebop
Watching now.
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Dec 2016
10:04pm, 21 Dec 2016
88,483 posts
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GregP
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky ----- There is much to admire, but also much to tut about. Huge ideas, even huger plot holes. A long, lumbering read and ultimately a crushing disappointment. On the plus side the word 'palps' is used fifty times, which must be something of a record. |
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Dec 2016
11:17pm, 21 Dec 2016
27,190 posts
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McGoohan
There's a Will Self book where he keeps saying 'palp' the whole time
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Dec 2016
11:19pm, 21 Dec 2016
19,498 posts
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Diogenes
I don't think I've read that one, so not a palpable hit.
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