Iain M. Banks

The Algebraist

Gavin

Satisfying mind candy. (Themes: the fate of citizens in a war between fascists; simulationism as an official state religion; a jolly solipsistic species which enjoys civil war). 

Too full of infodumps and too circuitous to reach his personal best (which I would say is the genre's personal best): it lacks the grander metaphysical framework of the Culture books, which handle civilization at the limit - where philosophy is at last unavoidable because practical matters have been solved and tucked away. It does have a right good baddie - a calm galactic overlord driven to be demonic and obscene for PR reasons. But the protagonist, a thoughtful manipulated academic, isn't interesting. I missed the book's grand conceit the first time I read this: the MacGuffin that drives everything is an epic, lost book called the The Algebraist, described only as being: 

  

  all about mathematics, navigation as a metaphor, duty, love, longing, honour, long voyages home... All that stuff.



3*/5. (Series is 5/5 despite most of its books being 3.5s.)


How does it do as Serious science fiction?

 Social development: Less stark than the Culture books, but still above-average: depicts an extremely long-lived but still lively species...

 Software development: None?

 Actual Science: Little

Danny Engström

Cindy Lieberman

Having read and enjoyed a half dozen of Mr Banks' Culture novels, I thought it was time to try something else of his. This could have been a Culture novel except it lacked much of the humor that many of them have. The various storylines did not come together as well (or as satisfactorily) in the end either. Still, it's by Iain Banks, which makes it a cut above many authors and an interesting read with a few questions to consider regarding the value of life and the meaning of a career if one lives for many thousands of years. How many generations of great-great-great-etc grandchildren can one be expected to keep track of, for example? How does the nature of one's "life's work" change as one's life extends beyond what we can conceive of, etc. Plus an interesting alt. "stillsuit" and some twisted forms of torture.

The Algebraist

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