His latest book was a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called The Hydrogen Sonata, published in 2012. A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children. Although it is not a Culture books, there are some winks to Banks' preferred technologies. Here he takes the well used subject of humankind on earth at the end of time and gives it a spin. I thought I saw a couple of winks to Gene Wolfe, but may be it is in my eyes.

Feersum Endjinn by Iain Banks: 9780553374599

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Gadfium, who uses bed meetings as a cover for espionage, much like in The Algebraist (and possibly in The Business, which either way had the ‘count to 1024 in binary using your fingers’ bit). The meeting is one where she declines the comfortably jocular offer of sex (more on that in a moment), yet her relationship with another woman, observatory chief Clispier implies a recognisable queerness: Floor beneath where lying; pressed earth, light brown with a few small stones pressed in it. The song is birdsong. Count Alandre Sessine VII, a military commander who has been killed numerous times, most recently by assassination. He awakes in the Cryptosphere, having lost his eighth and final real-world life, and now has eight virtual lives (which rapidly dwindle) to discover who has been plotting against him and why.

Feersum Endjinn: An eclectic far-future science fantasy

The book is set on a far future Earth where the uploading of mindstates into a world-spanning computer network (known as "Cryptosphere", "the Data Corpus", or simply "Crypt") is commonplace, allowing the dead to be easily reincarnated, a set number of times, first physically and then virtually within the crypt. The crypt has become increasingly chaotic, causing much concern within society. Much of the story takes place within a giant, decaying megastructure known as the "Fastness" or "Serehfa" built to resemble a medieval castle, in which each "room" spans several kilometers horizontally and vertically, and the king's palace occupies one room's chandelier. The structure used to be a space elevator, left behind by the ancestors of those who remained on Earth, with the circuitry of the crypt built into its structure. The world is in crisis as the Solar System is slowly drifting into an interstellar molecular cloud ("the Encroachment"), which will eventually dim and then destroy the Sun, ending life on Earth. Feersum Endjinn is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1994. It won a British Science Fiction Association Award in 1994. Want to help us defray the cost of domains, hosting, software, and postage for giveaways? Donate here: Anoche lo terminé después de haberlo estado leyendo por, literalmente, años para darle una oportunidad. No hay caso. No me gustó nada.Ultimately far too much of the book is basically filler, and the central plot is not well or tightly told. The phonetic sections were impenetrable to me without an audio book, and there was no good reason to have them in that form(apart from showing how Banksy explored so many original approaches). I [ ] had the idea that what virtual reality would become eventually would start to resemble myth and legend.” Funetik Aksent: Bascule's sections are written entirely in a funetik aksent. It takes a while to register that the character is actually very intelligent despite this: his sections are essentially a diary, in which he explains that the thought-interpreter he's using doesn't agree with his unusual brain pattern. It doesn't help that the computer pulls out oddities like spelling "have" as "½" and the overall inconsistency in the spelling. A superb standalone novel from the awesome imagination of Iain M. Banks, a master of modern science fiction.

Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. Banks | Hachette UK

Woak up. Got dresd. Had brekfast. Spoke wif Ergates thi ant who sed itz juss been wurk wurk wurk 4 u lately master Bascule, Y dont u ½ a holiday? & I agreed & that woz how we decided we otter go 2 c Mr Zoliparia in thi I-ball ov thi gargoyle Rosbrith. My daughter's Audi A1 has damp in the driver's footwell but the door seals seem fine, what could be the cause? Sometimes a book has so many incredible elements that it defies easy summary. Compound that with the fact that it shares themes with some of your favorite genre classics, and that it is written by the incredibly-talented Iain M. Banks, and you have the recipe for a very unique reading experience. As I read the story, I was forcibly reminded of some classic books in the genre, particularly Arthur C. Clarke’s The City and the Stars, Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast, and Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, Diamond Age, and Anathem. The novel takes place in 4034. With the assistance of other species, humans have spread across the galaxy, I’ve had Riddley Walker sitting on my TBR shelf since 1985 when I saw it was listed in David Pringle’s SF: The 100 Best Novels. Sometimes I hear it grumbling… ReplyBut don't just think this is just a novel of ideas. The characters and the individual stories were all fascinating and funny and full of great reveals and twists. More than enough for three normal novels, even. :) October 2004 Interview: Iain Banks". Archived from the original on 15 June 2011 . Retrieved 29 January 2009. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown ( link) Each situation is introduced in turn, without resolution, then each resolution is presented one after another after another at which point the narrative curtain is lifted and the impact is demonstrated for us in the physical world. The combined effect, presented in series like this is breathtaking to read, and speaks to the courage and singular sense of purpose present in this character. It’s a fantastic moment. Which would be a real shame because this novel is a real shining star of creativity. It reads like a fantasy adventure and mystery while having all the great trappings of a heavy SF dive. :) In Feersum Endjinn, we see a variation on specific markers of Banks’ ideas around selfhood which he makes a core principle of the Culture: the ability for self to be stored in the Crypt for multiple (maximum seven) reincarnations; the ability to be reincarnated in the sex/gender/ethnicity of one’s choice (choice being conditional here, because the Crypt has its own agenda); the ability to split oneself off into the Crypt; the ability to share one’s self with those split-off selves via ‘implants’, which are more like the Culture’s genetic modifications and enhancements that you’re born with than actual things implanted, and which bear a striking resemblance to the Culture’s neural lace. Plus whatever else I’ve forgotten.