Excession

This book was an enjoyable - if slightly difficult - read, in keeping with the quality of THE CULTURE SERIES. It's a stand alone novel; however, it would be extremely helpful to have read the previous four books in the series.

The stakes are high, like multiverse destruction high. There is a large, unrecognizable and impossibly powerful entity that has appeared out of nowhere, and all of the galaxy's major players are positioning themselves for power, for knowledge, or from fear. There is a major conspiracy within The Culture and it's difficult to decipher whom is friend or foe. This is hard SF, first contact and space opera rolled into one.

It was difficult for me to keep track of the characters with so many, and such unusual names, but it was especially difficult to remember and differentiate between the many ships. Fortunately, even if you get as lost as I did it all comes together and Banks gives the reader gentle reminders of who is whom at the end. Excitingly intense and marvelously imaginative, as always.