Surface Detail by Iain M Banks

 

This is Iain M Banks’ 11th sci-fi novel, and 8th featuring the utopian socialist space society The Culture. The plot revolves around events in a less advanced society, where a slave called Lededje Y’breg (in sci-fi, no-one can call you Sharon) attempts to escape her owner, fails and is killed… or so it would seem. But The Culture bring her back, and thus begins one of the best types of plot, a revenge plot. There’s also a war going on, in a virtual reality, in order to put an end to hell. Or hells. Really, it’s best to read it to get the idea. Or ideas. The book is so crammed with information that Banks can occasionally seem to be skimming through, say, vast histories of events in The Culture to get to a good bit. That said, these histories are interesting enough to make you want more detail, and you will read on compulsively, because it’s a compelling plot. Lededje’s quest to get revenge upon her hissable ex-owner Veppers is a great spine around which Banks can structure various other, more complicated plots, which eventually collide with the main strand. As usual for a Culture book, it’s a great read. [Ryan Agee]