Look to Windward / Iain M. Banks

 

Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Last year, I read Inversions which was very different from the other Culture novels, so I approached this installment with curiosity. I needn't have worried. Here I found the usual AI minds, sentient space ships, smug drones, and a selection of Culture humans and assorted other beings. I must hand it to Banks, he was able to envision lives, ways of life, and potential non-humans in great profusion and detail.

We also get to kind of circle back to the initial Culture novel, Consider Phlebas, as this book deals with some of the aftermath of the Idrian war which featured in that volume. A representative from the world Chel, which suffered heavy losses during this war, comes to the Masaq' Orbital (a habitat which seems to be a more sophisticated version of Niven’s Ringworld), which now houses the Mind of a former Culture combat vehicle active in the war. Ostensibly, this Major Quilan is there to see if he can lure fellow Chellian, Composer Ziller, to return to his home world and the fold. His visit is timed to coincide with the commemoration of the end of the war, sponsored by the Masaq' Orbital with music provided by Ziller.

This is a secret mission story. We get to witness the Major's background and his training for his current mission, with Banks gradually revealing what is going on. Just as I got used to one thing, he would lead me on to other revelations. I appreciate anticipation as a source of engagement and entertainment—the lead up to Christmas is always better for me than the opening of parcels.

Banks also introduces the titanic Behemothaurs, amazing airborne beasts that live slow and die ancient. They initially seemed to be a distraction from the real action, but hang in there. Mr. Banks doesn't waste the reader's time, he uses these fascinating creatures as part of the spy story.

If you enjoyed this book, I would suggest you might also appreciate the Hyperion Cantos of Dan Simmons. There is a similarity to the presence of AIs and marvellous worlds that might appeal.

Book number 399 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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