Customer Reviews

Transition

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book 'transitions' the split between Iain Banks' non-sci-fi output & Iain M. Banks' vast space operas, presenting a sci-fi tale with a contemporary setting.

It is based on the premise that a virtually infinite number of parallel dimensions do indeed exist. The inhabitants of one of them have discovered that by ingesting a drug called Septus, they can transport their consciousness into the bodies of unsuspecting people in other dimensions & thus meddle with the socio-political development of other Earths. They have therefore formed The Concern - an organisation designed to strictly control the use of 'transitioning' & ensure it is used to benefit other worlds. But since The Concern's High Council plays its cards suffocatingly close to its chest, can they actually be trusted? Or could some of its members have adgendas of their own? And who decides what constitutes the greater good anyway? These are questions one of The Concern's assassins has to find answers to when he becomes a piece in a deadly game between his employers & an enigmatic renegade.

I have found that many of Banks' novels (such as The Business) consist of a story which can be summed up in 100 pages, fleshed out with 300 or so pages of florid descriptions & background details. Transition, however, never meanders far from the main plot. It's an expertly-crafted, entertaining & thought-provoking read, which remains gripping throughout. In my view, it's one of his best.

In short, the transition from prologue to epilogue was a thoroughly enjoyable one.

Although I gave this book 5 stars, it's not for everyone: if you like your sci-fi to have a clear and straightforward plot line, conventional narration, and the usual trappings of sci-fi, there's very few of those things on display here. Instead the narration flits disconcertingly between a variety of characters, who, we are informed, may not be reliable (or even identifiable: in some cases we aren't even given a name).

If you're prepared to journey with this cast of unreliable narrators and stick with the journey through the (at times quite slow-paced) initial machinations, it builds to a very satisfying and thought-provoking read - one of Mr. Bank's best, in my opinion.

Great book, I was a bit put off by some pundits commenting that the author was wrong to use "Ian M. Banks" for one of his works of contemporary fiction.

Don't be.

Good sci-fi executed with the flair I've come to expect from I. M. Banks.

Not a Culture book though, looking forward to more of them.

P.S. The reviewer immediately below me, Harriet K., is a fake, a stooge for a publishing house, see the comments associated with her review. Apparently she reviews about 8 books a day on average with 5 stars every time. Amazon you should do something about this sort of blatant marketing rubbish.

I had this book's release date on my calendar... I bought it immediately when it was released. I set aside my reading list and read it immediately. Transitions is very different from the Culture novels, and that's fine with me. The concepts employed by Banks, his writing skills, and the POV methods are very interesting and entertaining. Unfortunately (for me) as the story unwound it began to feel like I was being bludgeoned by a blunt political object. Repeatedly. Without subtlety. Without style or clever nuance. This definately unhinged my ability to really like the novel. I think Mr. Banks could have put forth his message -- as he does in a number of his other novels -- without poking the reader in the eye with it (as another reviewer says)... and repeatedly.

Yes, Mr. Banks, I faithfully read the book from cover to cover, and I got the message. I truly hope this isn't a sign of things to come with your future novels. I read fiction to enjoy a writer's style, plotting skills, excitement, intrigue, clever twists, etc. I prefer the non-fiction shelf for ideology.

This is one of Bank's better books--certainly far better than his last "Culture" novel, MATTER. I liked the way the little narratives fit together (or didn't); it was like putting together a puzzle. A puzzle spattered with blood and brains, of course...

A couple of things keep me from giving this one five stars, though. First, there's the intrusive politics. Yes, Iain, you are a Socialist. Capitalism = Evil = Greed. Got it. Torture is evil; couldn't agree more. All those brokers on Wall Street should be defenestrated. Check. But I read novels for enjoyment, not to be lectured; if I happen to learn something while enjoying the book, if the novel provokes thought as well as entertainment, that's the mark of a superior writer. But in the case of TRANSITION, the political stuff keeps poking the reader in the eye. A dash of subtlety would have improved this broth.

Then there's some stuff that our "unreliable narrator" tells us that is never explained. What's the deal with the sexual molestation thing of the "patient"? Why was that in there? To show men what it's like being molested? What about the "broad shouldered" woman doctor and the dollies? What happened? What was the deal with the catatonic patients? There doesn't seem to be any plot connection...but of course I might have missed it...Banks is awfully clever and subtle--when he wants to be.

I feel guilty about the "unreliable narrator" thing; I once mentioned that Banks used the technique in another (far better) novel--INVERSIONS. I can't shake the feeling that he read the review and was somehow traumatized by it.

One of the few books that I'm going to review before 'finishing' the book(about 10% remains)... Takes a very simple yet profound and always fascinating 'theme' of (alternate realities), and then muddles itself into monotony and gimmicks with revolving 'character' chapters. If it is meant to carry a tone of 'schizophrenia' it succeeds in the 'blunt affect' part of it. Of course when you reach a level of commercial success, you have every right to churn out a 'buck'. Figure with 'Matter' came out 2008, and this book shortly thereafter, it must be rushed and treated with less care. Not a single character in the book is likeable, perhaps that can be a reflection of 'reality', but in fiction, you need a likeable character, at least one. And then there's the blatant preaching of the author's viewpoint on predominant social regimes, which makes me feel hungover before I've even had a dirty martini and its salty and metallic taste. Now that I've had one, I just had to write this review.

Hopefully, the last 10% of the book will surprise me in some way, please, in anyway... something good, or perhaps, something even more sh--tty then the rest of the book occurs in the final chapters.

I've come to expect from Banks science-fiction that makes me think, in ways that other writers don't provide; unlike some fans, who seem to expect a straight-forward Culture novel every time, I appreciate that Banks is quite happy to stretch his oeuvre. Herein, discussions of solipsism tend towards nearly substantial philosophical speculation, and the odd mixture of characters and their interactions is regularly intriguing. That being said, I'm still not so sure about this one: the ending was only moderately satisfactory (I didn't need an explosively complete ending- I've read too much Banks to expect that, happily- but the ending seemed to limp along even more than usual, with only the vaguest of hints of answers to questions that had cropped up); the plot device struck me as too derivative (like I've watched episodes of "Fringe" too many times); and, as one other commentator wrote, Asimov strikes a constant presence. Worth reading? Absolutely. In the upper third of Banks' books? Maybe, but only just.

Ordinarily this would be a spoiler, but it is offered in the Prologue by one of the book's narrators as an ending for readers too impatient to hear the whole story. Readers are left holding this ending while they absorb enough of the story to give it meaning. And they may make a wrong assumption or two. This is a well-written book; not easy to figure out but worth the effort.

The overall plot is straightforward. A shadowy organization called The Concern monitors activities in a large number of parallel Earths. Their operatives transition between worlds using a drug supplied by The Concern. After each transition, operatives remain "themselves," but take on the physical appearance--and some of the mental characteristics--of the host person they have taken control of. The Concern influences events in these parallel worlds through various means, including selective assassination of key players--or potential players--in world events. All of this is supposedly for the greater good. Some of the book's characters, such as the competent assassin Temudjin Oh, the renegade Mrs. Mulverhill, and the unnamed hospitalized Patient 8262, have their doubts. Each recoils from The Concern in a different way. As the story unfolds, we learn more about who each of them are and what they have learned about The Concern.

Fans of "Iain M. Banks" hard science fiction, such as Use of Weapons and The Algebraist, will not encounter the same high-tech, high-Culture environment in Transitions. It is more similar to his previous "Iain Banks" fiction. The Concern is another version of Banks' many-tentacled corporation in The Business and the multinational dysfunctional family business in The Steep Approach to Garbadale. Fans of Kage Baker's "Company" series (which begins with In the Garden of Iden), may enjoy the similar, but more complex machinations of The Concern.

New Banks readers may benefit from some comparisons. The book has something of a Tom Clancy style, perspective-shifting between characters whose stories eventually come together. Banks' characters are different from Clancy's, though. They are darker, of course, and they act based on incomplete understandings of their world. Anne Rice fans (The Vampire Lestat) will enjoy Banks' skillful deployment of unreliable narrators and the patterns revealed by their collective errors in perspective. Banks' style contrasts interestingly with Stephen King's. Although both authors take us into the dark, the reader finishes a King book with much of the hidden territory mapped and understood, if at some human cost. Banks leads his readers into the mists, allows them only glimpses, partial revelations, and the hints of patterns. We draw many conclusions for ourselves and find little certainty. Such is his intent.

This book is highly recommended as a rewarding and thought-provoking read. The writing is nuanced, finely textured, and superb.

Pay attention to everything in the first 50 pages of the book, it won't make much sense to you at all, but it will by the end and you'll find yourself going back to reread that portion to see how you were first led off, after the knots have all been neatly tied at the end. Iain has a devious mind as can be seen in his earlier books. I think he comes up with a base story but his creative mind then winds backwards from that single thread to a gordian knot that then is transferred to words on paper. Transition is a worthy, and murderously bloody tale. It takes the traditional consipiracy plot (which side is which and who is on which?) and weaves it through fresh sci-fi turf that is fascinating and well detailed. He then adopts a film-like disjointed scenes approach to further "transition" the reader to this strange setting of multiverse. I can't think of another book like it, which I think is IB's goal. I got so caught up, I kept forgetting to sip my Grange.

This is the first of Banks' SF novels I have read, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. The novel is told from the perspective of multiple viewpoints, and does jump around in the timeline of events quite a bit, in some of the narratives. While that may be confusing for some readers, once I got the hang of it, it was quite interesting to see what effect this had on the storyline, one in which characters are able to jump into other alternate Earth's fairly easily.

I do not know if this book is part of a greater series of Banks' work, but if it is, I would gladly read more. If it is the start of a new series, then again, I am read to read more.

I have to recommend this work to anyone interested in reading a good novel, with multiple threads that tie together, seemingly disparate at first, but becoming more unified as the novel moves forward.

Enjoy!