“i wrote a review about it a few months ago focusing on the 'matter' in matter ;)http://mutablematter.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/lightly-seared-on-the-reality-grill-iain-m-banks%E2%80%99-%E2%80%9Cmatter%E2%80%9D/i quite enjoyed reading it!”
“This is my first culture novel and i have to say i love the concept. I'm going to read the previous books asap. My dad has them all”
“Banks is kind of on the anti-Bush thing again in Matter. And, it's somewhat reminiscent of Against a Dark Background, in that you can hardly get through a chapter without someone or lots of someones being killed.While I was eagerly waiting for his next Culture book, he seems to be poking fun at his readers by setting it in an almost fantasy-esque setting. There's also a fair amount of what you might call Stephen Baxter navel-gazing, resembling Baxter's Transcendant. At any rate, it's such that I found myself wondering if perhaps he'd just written too many of the Culture books (which he has in fact said in at least one interview; he doesn't want to be pigeonholed as the guy that writes those Culture books and doesn't afraid of anything). The Algebraist was a phenomenal book, while retaining the still sprawling setting of the Culture books, and having a still incredible depth of character without having to dwell on five thousand pages of previous work.Seems to me, much as I didn't think I'd feel this way, that perhaps he's done with the Culture, and should just move on. Not that I didn't like the book, mind.”
