Customer Reviews

Look to Windward (Culture)

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Look to Windward is the seventh book in Banks' science fiction universe based on a utopian society of advanced artificial intelligences and the humans (and other organic life forms) that originally created them, loosely termed the Culture. With each book, Banks has built his plots out of the interstitial area where the idea of this utopia fails, typically in its dealings with other, different societies, through its para-military/intelligence arm called Special Circumstances. This time, the Culture has interferred in the "advancement" of another society, failing miserably, and then must deal with the diplomatic fallout from their actions. That the other society, the Chelgria was a predator-based race with a rigid class structure and a warlike demeanor, makes this all the more difficult.

On this backdrop is placed several interesting characters: the Chelgrian Ziller, a composer who has ex-patriated himself because of his support for the rebels who attempted to overthrow the class structure, and wishes to have nothing to do with his old society or race; the Chelgrian emissary, Quinlan, whose despair over losing his wife in the war between the traditionalists and the rebels will drive him to commit the unthinkable; and the orbital Mind known as Masaq', who has hosted Ziller for years and asked the composer to create a new symphony based on the fading light of two suns--suns that went nova two thousand years ago when Masaq', as a warship, set off a chain reaction that destroyed them and the two orbitals around them.

As in his other novels, this one has several storylines to follow that eventually come together by the climax. Each storyline is given its own chapters, which some people find difficult to follow but I've always enjoyed, although it makes keeping track of the story much more difficult when the time spent reading the book occurs over weeks rather than hours.

It's not that Banks brings anything new to science fiction in his Culture novels; even the Culture itself can be found by looking at some mixture of Cordwainer Smith and Isaac Asimov. His ideas are culled from the classics as well, as in this book the orbital is roughly Larry Niven's "ringworld" mixed with John Varley's world-mind Gaea from his Titan trilogy. But what Banks can do better than those four, and a host of other published SF writers, is create believable characters whose motivations mesh with the unlikely locations and situations he sets for them. There's a reason why this type of SF is called space opera, but in Banks' hands it refers not to the televised soap operas but the sturm und drang of classical music. Yes, there are exaggerations here, but when a Banks' character has amnesia, it becomes a thematic device, not just a crutch to get you from one chapter to the next.

Iain Banks was born in Scotland in 1954 and published his first book - "The Wasp Factory" - in 1984. He has since divided his writing career between writing 'standard' fiction - as Iain Banks - and Science Fiction, as Iain M. Banks. "Look to Windward" was first published in 2000, and was the sixth of his Sci-Fi books to feature the Culture.

The Culture is a symbiotic society - part humanoid and part artificial intelligence. The artificial intelligence element to the Culture can be sub-divided into two parts - Drones and Minds. For the most part, a Drone's intelligence will be roughly similar to a humanoids. Minds, on the other hand, are significantly more powerful than both humanoids and drones. They tend to act as the controlling intelligence behind, for example, the Culture's ships and Hubs (artificial habitats). Minds are also largely responsible for making decisions at the very highest levels of society - only a very small number of humanoid Referrers would be intelligent enough to join the process.

In the first Sci-Fi book Banks wrote, "Consider Phlebas", the Culture was at war with the Idiran Empire - a war they eventually won, though not without a great loss of life. Although 800 years have now passed, "Look to Windward" could be considered a sequel of sorts. A single battle, towards the end of the Culture - Idiran War, had brought the destruction of two stars. The loss of life was not restricted to the combatants, as both systems had supported life. The light from the first star's destruction has only now reached Masaq, a Culture Orbital. Hub, Masaq's controlling Mind, is observing a period of mourning, between the two supernovae - for reasons that become clear later in the book. However, there have also been hints of a very special occasion to mark the arrival of the light from the second star.

Not all of Masaq's residents are Culture citizens, however. One is Kabe Ischloer, a Homomdan who is accorded the title of Ambassador by those on Masaq. (Kabe is a modest, likeable character and occasionally admits to being a journalist). Physically, Homomdans are similar to the Idirans - three-legged, about three metres tall and glisteningly black. In fact, the Homomdans were allied to the Idirans in the early days of the Culture - Idiran war. Another is Mahrai Ziller, a very famous Chelgrian composer. (Chelgrians are nearly as tall as Homomdans, fast, strong and fur-covered. Having evolved from predators, they also seem to enjoy a fight). Ziller, however, is somewhat atypical for a Chelgrian, and his presence on Masaq is a little more controversial than Kabe's. There had recently been a civil war on Chel, known as the Caste War...and, unfortunately, there had been a certain amount of Culture involvement behind the scenes. However, Ziller found Chel society repulsive - despite belonging to the highest, most privileged caste, he has declared himself Invisible and effectively defects to Masaq.

Ziller isn't the only Chelgrian to appear in the book, though - it also features Quilan, a member of Chel's highest caste and a veteran of the Caste War. He has subsequently take holy orders, and is occasionally referred to as a 'Griefling' - largely because he hasn't been able to come to terms with the death of his wife in the war. However, Quilan is later offered a way to deal conclusively with his sense of loss and is sent on a mission to Masaq. Officially, his orders are to persuade Ziller to return home. (Ziller, on the other hand, suspects the Quilan has actually been sent to assassinate him and steadfastly refuses to meet the Major). In truth, Quilan's orders are a little more wide-ranging...and, thanks to his SoulKeeper, he isn't even travelling alone.

Before I'd picked up "Consider Phlebas", it had been a long time since I'd read any Sci-Fi - the main reason I picked it up was of how highly I rate Banks' 'standard' fiction. While it was easily good enough to convince me that it might be worth reading more of the Culture books, "Look to Windward" has convinced me to work my way through the entire series. With Banks, things aren't entirely straightforward : the Culture might be the good guys, and they may mean well, but they aren't entirely pure and flawless. Quilan, on the other hand, should probably be considered one of the main villains - yet he proves a likeable character, and it's hard not to sympathise with him at times. It would have been nice to have seen Uagen Zlepe's story a bit more fully told, but that's about the book's only flaw for me - and it's a minor gripe at that. Excellent stuff, highly recommended.

This book is not on par with Use of Weapons or Excession. With that said, it is an entertaining read exposing all the elements that you come to expect from a Banks' Culture novel. If you are new to the Culture, start with another (Consider Phlebas, Player of Games, or Use of Weapons) and save this one for later.

Insightful clear thought wrapped in a fantastic and surprisingly humorous package. It took me a little while to figure out why Mr. Banks dedicated the book to the Gulf War veterans. Without spoiling the book, think of the "Culture" as USA plus UK and Chel as the middle east, Afganistan, Vietnam...etc.

In the end, I think the Gulf Veterans he dedicated the book to are all the people who lived and survived the war regardless of whether they were Americans, British, Iraqis or Kuwaitis.

Considering the fact that the book was published in 2000 and the subsequent tragedy of September 11th, the book is almost prophetic. I believe it is critical that more people read this book. And the sooner the better.

First, let me say I'm a fan of Ian Banks' Culture novels. Look to Windward is solid and enjoyable, if not quite the pinnacle of Culture books. Others are better reviewers than I, so I'll leave it at that.

What I really want to focus on is the inexcusably bad editing of the Kindle edition. Be warned that if you purchase the electronic edition of this book, you'll grit your teeth every time you encounter one of the DOZENS of typos in the text. I don't consider myself a perfectionist. I've encountered the occasional typo or two in printed books and not been upset. But this book quite literally as 10 times as many typos as any other book I've ever read, and I have read many hundreds of books.

Whoever was responsible for the Kindle edition of this book should be ashamed of themselves.

Mysterious, subtle and thoughtful. Less of a mindless space adventure story with juvenile one dimensional space morons(i.e. Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction behemoth) than a crime fiction novel of sorts that moves with wit and finess, inexorably towards its ultimate conclusion.

Quilan is a Chel. A member of a nation moving out of the shadow of a sudden and violent civil war. It's relationship with the vast Culture civilisation is ambiguous. Quilan is sent as an emissary to a Culture orbital to meet with a famous Chel exile. As we move through the book the past of the central character is slowly peeled away as both he and the reader come to understand the implications fo his terrible mission.Muhahahaha!

This is one of those rare novels that reminds one of how truly satisfying it is to read, wrapped in blankets or draped across a sofa with a coffee in easy reach. The repartee between the Culture figures is almost Vancian (as in Jack Vance)in its quick indulgent interplay. There is little of Bank's (at times maligned) penchant for descriptive violence. Rather mystery blends deliciously with succulent characterization in this truly worthy addition to Bank's Culture series. I growled at times at pointless scences reading through 'Consider Phlebas'(esp the eater scene on a Caribbean-esque beach - Nice book title though!)Such superfluity has been truly expunged in this tight novel. Here I whoopped and chuckled with joy and delight as I read, locking myself in the bathroom so that I might finish it undisturbed by my family. It is perhaps Bank's finest work; Subtle in ways many people seem not to have picked up on. Ho ho.

If you enjoy this then do all you can to read any of Jack Vance's works. The Demon Princes series is as good a place as any to start.

Following the baffling (or intriguing, depending on your point of view) mediaeval shenanigans of Inversions, Iain M Banks has genuinely delivered the goods with this one, giving the Culture aficionados what they *really* wanted. "Look to Windward" is a staggeringly imaginative chunk of hard sci-fi, with some of the strongest characterization and mind-bogglingly grandiose scope since Banks' classic "Consider Phlebus". Who could not empathize with the battle-weary, bereaved Quilan whose tortured soul seeks oblivion, and yet who could not condemn him for the ghastly mission he agrees to undertake? Has absolute power begun to corrupt the Culture? Can they honestly still claim the moral high ground after their ill-judged and catastrophic intervention in the war? This novel touches on some pretty profound ethical dilemmas along the way. There is also much wise and possibly prophetic investigation into the nature of the soul, heaven and omnipotence. Please don't get the impression that this is all heavy stuff though; there is much amusing and witty dialogue between the chief protagonists. Some of Ziller's bon mots will have you in stitches. To the delight of the Culture anoraks, there is also a huge amount of information about Culture minds/hubs, personality backups, orbitals and (delightfully) a roll call of some of the more eccentric Culture ship names. How I would love to visit Masaq' Orbital; I guarantee you will too!

It was truly a pleasure to once again be immersed in Bank's Culture setting, as well as to read a book on the kindle 2 for the first time. I was disappointed, however, in the quality of the kindle conversion. There were frequent typos in this version, and many regions in the text where a section break between plot lines was deleted so that these paragraphs ran together on the kindle, making it difficult at times to detect when a setting or scene had changed.

This would be a good introduction to Iain Banks, if you're new to his books. Probably this and Excession are his two most accessible books.

The book starts with the description of an Orbital. Orbitals are rings (see Freeman Dyson), millions of kilometers in circumference, which orbit a sun. The surface area of these habitats are gigantic. Think populations in the billions. As Banks describes this majestic Orbital, we begin to learn more about the people on it, and the background of the Idiran war (see _Consider Phlebas_, also by Banks).

The core values of Banks are here: Betrayal, Protagonists you really wish you didn't like, Death (lots of it), the Culture and its Minds, and high and hard science fiction.

Perhaps my favorite item from the novel is the notion of the Airspheres: large (planet-sized) habitats in which reside multi-kilometer-long dirigible-style creatures, millenia old. As is typical, Banks even develops these "characters" to an extent that we begin to wish for more information about them. The pages keep turning, and you're left at the end wondering just what hit you.

There are so many different plots and subplots that each could be developed into their own respective novels.

Definitely recommended.

While not a sequel to 'Consider Phlebas', this book results from the consequences of certain events that happened in the idiran/culture war of that novel, namely, the destruction of a couple of stars.
Here, Banks has weaved another tale of intrigue, mystery, drama, suspense, and action that is rivalled only by previpus efforts such as 'Consider Phlebas','Use of Weapons' or 'Against a dark background'. The characters are troubled, as usual!, some have to go to extraordinary lengths to not only 'beat the baddies' but to also survive. (One character in particular has quite a unique way of beating the odds-at the end of the book of course.)
The plot is much simpler than some of Iain's work, but is no less riviting. And the innovative ideas still abound.
This is an author who is at his best and is still getting better, and this one of the best sci-fi books written in a few years!