The Hydrogen Sonata

The author postulates computational power that is absurd. As a ball park calculation each " god computer" would need at least one hundred trillion times the computational power of the fastest computer on earth. Then he goes and makes this sort of thing commonplace and adds the ability to run simulations of an entire species at the level of single entity who are themselves sentient. To put it polity this is crap. Oh yes and there is enough excess processing power for these machines to run multiply simulations while carrying on a conversation Even if you postulate these "god computers" where in the heck do you get the data to model a "person". Let alone all the people in a civilization. This kind of book is typical of people who do not really have a grasp of science. I call this kind of book science fantasy, since it seems the author just substituted tech. for magic with no regard for the science part of science fiction.

Based on its title, my first thought was that this might be a sequel to Banks's recentish non-Culture gas giant book whose name escapes me, but no. Most of what I say below assumes you've read other Culture novels and like them. If not, this is not the place to start. Read: Consider Phlebas Use of Weapons Player of Games Excession The first first, the last last, and the other two in any order. (This is roughly chronological order, and the order of publication too IIRC.) These are in m opinion the best of the Culture novels and give you a pretty good idea of the setting. They also cover the general span of Culture vs. slightly inferior civ, Culture vs. lower tech, and Culture vs. higher tech (first, two middle, and last). Banks has still not managed to produce a good book about The Culture really having to grapple with an equivalently capable civilization. This book represents, by my counting, the third such attempt. This is the most successful attempt, thus far, at pitting The Culture against equivalent tech adversaries, the missing piece as far as I see it (we've had solid installments dealing with how the Culture runs roughshod over far inferior Civs, and its generally unsuccessful encounter with significantly superior tech in Excession, but two recent novels featuring equivalent or near equivalent Civs have been weak). Once again, Banks delivers a new gimmicky kind of world, the Sculpt world, although the gimmick isn't terribly interesting or convincing, and it doesn't really affect the story (very much unlike the shell world in Surface detail). Also, once again we have the virtuoso practitioner of an obscure art form (in this case a musician who has altered her body to play a ridiculous piece of music with a ridiculous instrument) as a semi-willing protagonist. And once again, when the chips are down, the equivalent tech adversaries really aren't. For a change, the story isn't entirely built around getting the main character from point A to B while ships do fun stuff, although there's still quite a bit of that. And finally, Banks tackles the concept of Sublimation head-on (it's the central thread of the story) but ultimately reveals little. In the end, there's not much Banks can say about it, but the little that is said is surprisingly colorless and uninteresting. If you like Banks, this is worth reading. If not, I've probably already put you off.

I love Banks' books, they are thought provoking and require the reader to watch for subtle moves. I had to read this twice in a week, mostly to figure out the underlying plot as to why the revenenters were changed, also because I love the dialogue between the warring ships. Mistake not... is my favorite in a long line of Banks' creations. I can see why the casual reader will have a tough time with this book, mostly because the underlying complexity is lost on the dim-witted.

This book starts out slow and is continually hard to follow. Sentences are constantly broken up by hyphenated segments that lead into different directions then come back to the original thought path. Like I said, hard to follow. I keep reading I hoes that it gets better, but I'm losing confidence and don't think I will be able to finish this book.

Simply put, Ian Banks has a brilliant command of the language, the absurd, the human paradox. I re-read his, yes, long sentences just to savor their perfection. Even, I confess, read them aloud astounded by the rhythm, the humor, the music in them. I leave it others to summarize his many Culture books. Simple me simply enjoys the detail, the demand of readers to pay attention and share the joke. Oh, yeah, he of all authors whom I enjoy (few of them sci-fi) reminds me of Frank Herbert in his intricate, complex descriptions of place, of personality, of plotline. Pay attention. Enjoy the long sentences. They reflect a serious mind delighting in the rich, tasty atmospheres available in science fiction.

Great space opera, one of the best in the Culture series. The overall theme is, does the truth matter, or only what people believe is true? If you have never read a Culture novel, Bank's series now covering about a thousand years in the history of a hyper advanced super society, you should start with Consider Phlebas. If you are already familiar with the Culture this is a must read.

Two chapters in and it's incredibly boring. I stopped reading after an entire chapter dedicated to an alien violin practice. And the prose was excessively verbose. Some sentences ran an entire paragraph. Snooze.

What a talent. everything this guy writes is absolutely fantastic. He is on par with Stephen King.