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Surface Detail (Culture) Paperback – May 12, 2011

by Iain M. Banks (Author)

219 customer reviews

Book 9 of 10 in the Culture Series

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It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters.
It begins with a murder.And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself.

Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.

Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful thought it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far-reaching - is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality.

It started in the realm of the Real and that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilizations, but at the center of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether.

SURFACE DETAIL is Iain M. Banks' new Culture novel, a breathtaking achievement from a writer whose body of work is without parallel in the modern history of science fiction.

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Editorial Reviews

Series: Culture
Paperback: 656 pages
Publisher: Orbit; Reprint edition (May 12, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780316123419
ISBN-13: 978-0316123419
ASIN: 0316123412
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.6 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 219 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #628 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Hard Science Fiction
- #1668 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Space Opera
- #2112 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Science Fiction

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Gary Bridgman

Middle of the pack for Banks' science fiction, but still great stuff!

May 17, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This was my final unread Iain M. Banks "Culture" series novel. I liked Excession, Matter and Hydrogen Sonata better, but it is still a great story. I was disturbed by the graphic descriptions of the virtual Hell, short digressions into the horror genre, so I tended to skim those chapters very lightly. I don't feel as though I missed any critical plot lines in doing so. In case you are thinking "this guy is a wuss," before I knew about Banks' science fiction, I read his debut novel, The Wasp Factory. That story has ruing many readers' appetites and made them fear for the state of the human condition, but I thought it was hilarious and brilliant. Takes all kinds to fill up the freeway, right?

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curmudgeon

Hugely imaginative, fanciful images, gripping action. Very cool concepts.

March 26, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A few years ago, this book was my entry point into Bank's "Culture" series of novels. I think I read nothing else until I had consumed the entire series. Bank's descriptions of the post-scarcity "Culture" society and overarching sensibility that "..of course; any intelligent species will eventually evolve and produce something like the Culture.." resonated particularly strongly with me. But Culture society is mostly just a backdrop for Bank's hugely imaginative stories-often two or three in play in any given book. Most stories involve characters on the fringes of the Culture and/or their interactions with less evolved civilizations. These interactions often suggest commentary on our own 'civ'.
Banks' writing is hugely imaginative, fun to read, full of fanciful images, gripping action and very cool concepts.
If you need your Sci Fi to be grounded in known theory or reasonable extensions thereof, some of Bank's flights of fancy will give you cause to look askance. But he puts such craft into his imaginings it is easy to forgive.
Surface Detail did not turn out to be my favorite book of the Culture series, but it got me hooked.

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Mr Axolotl

Surface Detail Another Amazing CULTURE NOVEL

July 17, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Surface Detail, the latest from Iain Banks in his Culture Series (although this series is not based on a single character who goes from book to book but rather based on the outer world massive civilization known as The Culture, its agents and their actions), this book is simply amazing. There are many concurrent threads going on which tie up at the end; from the perspectives of various characters, various environments, including HELL (many of them - literally), also you find the ubiquitous Culture overseeing what it can, with the cynical and darkly humorous naming conventions for its ships. Banks is one of a kind, I've been reading him since page 1 of the first printing of The Wasp Factory those many years ago (his first three books are classics and belong in any collection).

Surface Detail is not easy reading but it's fast paced, exciting, suspenseful, darkly funny in spots, vicious, torturous, and contains several surprises. Basically there is a war going on between those who think a moral obligation falls upon its citizens to create a Hell to punish evil doers, fighting against those who believe that the Hells created by people are cruel and immoral, and should be abolished. Banks doesn't hold back, he usually doesn't, so you get a free tour of HELL, but be forewarned, it ain't pretty.

I will read this again soon, right now I am re-reading the other Culture books I have around the house (remind me to order the ones I gave away 10-15 years ago, I want them back!). The word "Genius" possibly gets overused but Banks is a true genius for his complex plots, unique style of writing, depth of characters, creation of powerful alien technology, and for pleasant and unpleasant surprises. I haven't always liked his non-SF books (some are slow, easy going affairs - maybe it's Banks fault for writing to the other extreme so well), his non-Culture SF novels are fine though, more than fine, excellent (The Algebraist, Against a Dark Background are not to be missed). I enjoy The Culture novels best of all the types he writes, with their in-your-face Drones, Minds, Ships with names like Xenophobe and I Blame The Parents. I have pre-ordered The Hydrogen Sonata and can't wait!

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P. Weiser

Good Banks

May 25, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

There's good Iain Banks, and there's so-so (which is still worth buying). This is the good stuff again: I call the characters one-dimensional because they don't change much after their introductory appearances, but the major ones could also be called "complex" due to the initial bends of the paperclip, worked out fully under stress.

There are forces which can best a Ship, and do, so there's not the Superman-without-Kryptonite problem. And the sub- or super-plot of the Dead and their Hells (which I wouldn't mention, except it's in all the blurbs) is like a Klein bottle: which is the inside, and which the outside?

Highly recommended.

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Most recent customer reviews

Noah Solomon

Definitely worth a read, though it can drag a little.

Not the best Culture novel, but even the lesser ones are very good. It suffers a bit from overstuffing - around halfway through the plot feels like it loses its way a bit in the...Read more

Published 1 month ago

David Nicholson

Five Stars

The whole series is fantastic.

Published 2 months ago

Randell J Palmer

Five Stars

One of the best SF novels I have ever read.

Published 5 months ago

dhasenan

He's great at what he does

Banks's technical writing skills cannot be denied. He's great at what he does.

This story is an awkward one to read. It's got a lot of rape in it. And torture.Read more

Published 5 months ago

Kermit R Hookway

Five Stars

Great book. Entertaining and interesting.

Published 6 months ago

Kindle Customer

Outstanding!

Iain M. Banks was an excellent writer with really big forward thinking ideas. This book is a great example of that.Read more

Published 6 months ago

I loved this book

I loved this book. Of course I've loved all of Iain M. Banks books. Too bad he had to leave us.

Published 7 months ago

William Warren

Well worth reading

Great tale from my favorite sci fi author.

Published 7 months ago

Amazon Customer

Iain Banks book

Very entertaining and held my interest.

Published 8 months ago

Rick V

Banks is my favorite author, and this is one of his best

Iain M. Banks is my favorite author, and this is one of his best. Read all of the Culture novels, and save this one for last.

Published 9 months ago

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