Surface Detail (Culture)

I just recently bought that book bout a week ago, still haven't picked up that yet, going through a series of light fiction, just came through Hamilton's Fallen Dragon, after reading the Nick Sagan's series I would read SURFACE DETAIL.

Your posting a nice cultural book. I would like know the continuation of this book. Surface detail, Is it a title of the book? Can you give that book edition?

Thanks for the historical cultural book,

Regards.

As Vertigo stated, CULTURE is the name of the Civilization (Galactical) that lives in the universe created by Iain M. Banks, several not related books are told around that universe.
 
Re: Surface Detail

Possibly in top three. The Player of Games has a simpler and more poignant story that puts it leagues above the rest, and Look to Windward also had something special. Not sure how it ranks against The State of the Art (novella), which was my very pleasant and, IIRC, blessedly nonviolent introduction to the Culture.

A good deal better than Excession. The Use of Weapons and Consider Phlebas never appealed to me. And Matter? The less said, the better.

Very hilarious book in very many locations. The matter-of-factly references to the eccentricity/insanity of various entities/phenomenons is my #1 reason for reading Banks.

Now, this thread has discussed a certain continuity recurrence of the book. But what about the other?

(SPOILER)

Is Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints the same Ship as Grey Area from Excession? They're using the term "Meat(-youknowwhat)" on one occasion, which was Grey Area's nickname. Or is it simply a common Ship expletitive? Their tempers just seem too similar.
 
Re: Surface Detail

Yeah i rated Surface Detail highly and thought it was Banks back to his best. Unfortunately Matter was rushed, but looks like hes turned things around this time. As the ^ posted i would put it within the Top 3. The Player of games has to remain my favourite and Look to Windward also comes close. Consider Phlebas was also the first book i read of the Culture Universe and it did enough to have me hooked ever since.
 
Re: Surface Detail

Regarding the spoiler: Never mind, re-reading Use of Weapons - Diziet Sma says it to Skaffen-Amtiskaw in the flashback.
 
Re: Surface Detail

Heh. Just to add to the minority here I need to say: I don't think Matter is the best book ever, but I like it better than Surface Detail.
Matter is original (in places), deeply disturbing (to me) and picks up speed at the end ("rushed" indeed - but I found that fitting and very exciting).

Now, while I enjoyed Surface Detail a lot while I read it to me it felt like a collection of M. Banks' greatest hits. There were so many motifs I have enjoyed in other Banks books before. I was entertained but... dunno. SD felt much more rushed to me than Matter. When I want to re-read M. Banks I'll get Excession first. Even the Algebraist looks more interesting to me right now than SD.



8)
 
Re: Surface Detail

Demeisen is awesome. I enjoyed the whole debate about Hells and the explosive finalé as well :)

Culture Minds with mean streak always come across better. In a weird way they seem more.... well, human.

The debate about the hells has an interesting subtext I thought; When one of the advocates of hells confronts the witness who escoped from one and had to leave his wife behind, he comes across very much as someone with no faith in other people, who believes evil behavoir can only be avoided through the threat of extreme punishment. This is a stark contrast to the, apperently very successful, philosophy of the culture who have largely eliminated 'evil' behavoir by createing a society where mental and emotional weaknesses are rare and resources are plentifull and freely availiable.

In other words the religious (hence one suspects more primitive in Banks eyes) hells advocate sees them as acheck against inherent human evil. The advanced and peaceful culture have proven 'evil' to be an outgrowth of a bad environment.
 
Re: Surface Detail

Talk about coming late to the party! Good discussion, folks. I won't try to add to it. I did resist reading ahead to the end (and also didn't look at this thread until tonight when I finished the story). I got a good chuckle out of the last sentence. I would have to say that this book approaches epic proportions, even though some of the painstaking descriptive pages could have been shortened. And Banks' literary style makes even those parts enjoyable.

You also say that "there is no ethical or moral argument which can be used to justify the existence of the virtual Hells", and that" Banks attempt to have a pro-Hell Pavulean senator do just that to Prin" was "empty blustering." But he did justify them all the same, and as you say, "either Banks is spoofing the empty rhetoric of the right-wing when they attempt to rationalise military adventures like the invasion of Iraq. Or, he is showing that there is no acceptable argument for morally repugnant acts."

If you read his non-fiction (ostensibly) work: Raw Spirit: In search of the Perfect Dram, you will be convinced that such is indeed the case.
 
Re: Surface Detail

This book came out just in time. Was coming to the end of the culture series, the abominator class ship in this book was a fantastic element in the story. I love when you get to take a look at the cultures offensive capabilities
 
My take on it, from my SFF blog:

The late Iain M Banks wrote nine novels in his SF Culture series (published 1987 to 2012), as well as three other, unrelated, SF stories and fifteen mainstream novels (as Iain Banks). Over the decades I have gradually worked my way through all of his SF books except for the last two Culture tomes and Feersum Endjinn (which I couldn't get into because much of it is in an invented dialect).

Surface Detail is the penultimate Culture novel, published in 2010. For the background I will repeat the summary I wrote a couple of years ago for my review of Matter, the previous volume in the series:

"…the Culture, a galactic humanoid utopia in which almost inconceivably advanced technology provides everything that is needed, immensely capable Artificial Intelligences sort out the mundane business of running civilisation (the most powerful, known as Minds, usually being established in vast spacecraft or space habitats with quirky names), and citizens are mostly free to do whatever they like – live forever, change gender or even species, travel the galaxy. There are various alien civilisations in close contact with the Culture and a lot of others that are not, plus human planetary settlements that don't enjoy the same benefits. Relationships with such peripheral groups are handled by an organisation called Contact, and they apply less diplomatic means when required by means of Special Circumstances, whose agents are kind of blend of James Bond and Jason Bourne with comprehensive bio-electronic enhancements."

As is the author's customary practice, the structure is complex with several different story threads set running, apparently completely unrelated. The first concerns the attempted escape by fabulously tattooed Lededje Y'breq from bondage to the powerful industrialist Joiler Veppers; their paths subsequently diverge to form separate threads for most of the rest of the story. Next up is Vatueil, a soldier involved in an endless series of battles in virtual environments as part of a mysterious war, being revived each time he is "killed". Then we meet Yime Nsokyi, an agent for Quietus, a Culture organisation which rivals Special Circumstances but is concerned with relationships with the dead – who are, more often than not, still "alive" in virtual worlds. Next we are introduced to another virtual world – a representation of a horrifying Hell to which virtual versions of those considered to be undeserving are sent after death. Two academics, Prin and Chay, have managed to make a virtual entry to the Hell in order to collect evidence to argue for it to be shut down. Finally there is the ancient, alien Tsungarial Disk, consisting of hundreds of millions of multi-purpose factories orbiting a star, which appears to be suffering an outbreak of uncontrolled replication. These multiple threads gradually converge into one coherent plot and the pace (mostly rather slow, as is usual with Banks) simultaneously accelerates to a climax involving the usual mayhem.

Other characters are of course the intelligent starships, without which no Culture novel would be complete. My favourite this time is Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints, a warship associated with Special Circumstances, which while pretending to be an old Torturer class vessel, is actually (in its own words) "a borderline eccentric and very slightly psychotic Abominator-class picket ship"; a vastly more powerful vessel which reacts with infectious glee to any opportunity to demonstrate the level of destruction it is capable of.

It took me a while to get into this story and its 600+ pages look rather daunting, but the journey was well worth the time. Top-class entertainment laced with dry humour in the typical Banks style.

The final Culture novel, The Hydrogen Sonata, is in my reading pile.
 
Bumping this.

I’d put off reading Banks’s work after he announced he had cancer. Maybe i wanted to make the Culture go for longer. Decided to finish his Science Fiction books and downloaded those that I haven yet read. (Surface Detail, The Hydrogen Sonata, Matter and The Algebraist.) I start reading this today.

RIP Iain. We still miss you.
 
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Bumping this.

I’d put off reading Banks’s work after he announced he had cancer. Maybe i wanted to make the Culture go for longer. Decided to finish his Sci fi books and downloaded those that I haven yet read. (This, The Hydrogen Sonata and The Algebraist.) I start reading this today.

RIP Iain. We still miss you.
I assume you are aware that The Algebraist is not Culture. Excellent in my opinion anyway!
 
Thanks vertigo, I was. I was going to save this until last as I’m not sure whether I’d get into it or not.

I forgot that I have Matter to read as well.
 
I will most certainly give it a try. Banks is without hesitation my favourite author.
 
I will most certainly give it a try. Banks is without hesitation my favourite author.
Me too! I recently read my last unread Banks book - The Steep approach to Garbadale - which was a very sad moment and I'm now about half way through a reread of all his Culture books which I'll probably follow up with his non-Culture SF (and so back around to The Algebraist :D)
 
I have some of his non sf work and enjoyed what I have read. I intend to go back and get them all in hardback. Consider Phlebas is going to be my first purchase when I get off furlough.
 
I have some of his non sf work and enjoyed what I have read. I intend to go back and get them all in hardback. Consider Phlebas is going to be my first purchase when I get off furlough.
I found his non SF to be more variable; some of it was quite brilliant (if frequently rather grim) and others to be remarkably forgettable. But one thing I'll say he produced lots of variety!
 
I bought The Player of Games first edition last year. (It’s my favourite book.) Not sure if I could afford Banks’s entire back catalogue first editions.
 
I finally finished this. (I got a lot of lifts into work these last few weeks and most of my reading is done on the train.) Wow! What an incredible book. Truly Banks at his very best and sure to be a classic.

Interesting that the EqT civilisations don't appear to get on well with the Culture.

I adored Lededge Y'Breq and Demeisen (Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints) were my favourite parts, but i loved Banks's description of the "Unfallen Bulbitian". Hugely imaginative.

Interesting that Vatueil changed his mind about the Hells. I wonder if that was an indication that he'd forgiven himself?

I might try a re-read of all of his works for 2021. On to The Hydrogen Sonata now.
 
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