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Liked It “Excellent story of sentient spaceships scheming against each other. There are a lot of storylines that mostly converge toward the end, but the ending wasn't all that satisfying. Still, I really enjoyed Excession and look forward to reading more Culture books in the future. 8/10” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Excellent story of sentient spaceships scheming against each other. There are a lot of storylines that mostly converge toward the end, but the ending wasn't all that satisfying. Still, I really enjoyed Excession and look forward to reading more Culture books in the future. 8/10”
Matt Bauer wrote this review Tuesday, April 10, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A veritable Banks classic. Always come back to this when I want a cheer-up, or a getaway.”
gferguson wrote this review Thursday, February 9, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Possibly the best science fiction book ever, clever, funny, entertaining and the author wishes to have fun with us and does. A classic science fiction novel. highly recommended. ”
Raymond Walker wrote this review Wednesday, August 24, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is my favourite Culture novel so far”
Russ wrote this review Monday, August 8, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Banks is word-drunk on his many abundantly hedonistic sci-fi worlds. But he has a lot more fun (as do his readers) mining the "first contact" plot than your typical _A Space Odessey_ Clarke type (not that I don't love Clarke!). Vast but also intimate, Banks' plots provide a huge panoramic backdrop for characters living a day-to-day filled with wonder (and in this case - love). Yeah, there a lot of ships running around in different directions and their names are a bit confusing, but that's not an especially critical component to understanding.”
muque and shylock tomes wrote this review Friday, June 24, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Funny, poignant, a bit confusing, overwhelming. ”
Nessreen wrote this review Tuesday, April 12, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“One of the best books i ever read. It was the first book i read by Banks and it is really amazing how large the world is and the way he spins at least a dozen different plot lines in to one major plot. ”
Sam N wrote this review Tuesday, February 1, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Excession is set in author Iain Banks' multi-volume Culture series and tells of a mysterious black-body alien artifact.
Frank G wrote this review Friday, October 29, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The novel turns out to be less about the titular alien excession than the responses the artifact provokes, especially from the Culture's Minds and a sadistic species, the Affront.
Stylistically, the novel is dense at times, with alternating narratives and facsimile electronic correspondence from many different Minds and the principal human characters. Still, Excession comes together and, in a sense, the novel's elusiveness fits well with Banks' signature theme of ambiguity (moral and otherwise).”
2 of 2 members found this review helpful“The only difficulty I had while reading this book was my inability to distinguish between the ships. For some reason I had trouble remembering who was who, which didn’t help me appreciate the storyline as much as I could have.”
Katrina R wrote this review Tuesday, August 31, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
