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Iain M. Banks, the international bestselling author of "The Player of Games" and "Consider Phlebas, " is a true original, a literary visionary whose brilliant speculative fiction has transported us into worlds of unbounded imagination. Now, in his acclaimed new novel, Banks presents an engrossing portrait of an alien world, and of two very different people bound by a startling and mysterious secret. On a backward world with six moons, an alert spy reports on the doings of one Dr. Vosill, who has mysteriously become the personal physician to the king despite being a foreigner and, even more unthinkably, a woman. Vosill has more enemies than she first realizes. But then she also has more remedies in hand than those who wish her ill can ever guess. Elsewhere, in another palace across the mountains, a man named DeWar serves as chief bodyguard to the Protector General of Tassasen, a profession he describes as the business of "assassinating assassins." DeWar, too, has his enemies, but his foes strike more swiftly, and his means of combating them are more direct. No one trusts the doctor, and the bodyguard trusts no one, but is there a hidden commonality linking their disparate histories? Spiraling around a central core of mystery, deceit, love, and betrayal. "Inversions" is a dazzling work of science fiction from a versatile and imaginative author writing at the height of his remarkable powers.… (more)
User reviews
the story is told in two alternating tales, seemingly unrelated, about two central characters. the "The Doctor" vignettes are told from the first-person by the doctor's assistant, and the "The Guardian" vignettes, in the traditional third person. The Doctor happens to be a female who is the King's physician -- unheard of during the time and planet on which this tale occurs. she's irreverent, brilliant, wise, and proud. The Guardian, a lawful good paladin-type, is the protectorate of General Urleyn, the highest station for that particular land. do the stories take place on the same planet, during the same time period on different planets, or otherwise?
if you like low fantasy with clear-cut heroes and bad guys, political intrigue on worlds far-removed from ours (extra moons and suns are always fun!), and a solid tale, pick up a copy. you'll charge right through it, wanting more with each page-turn. *this* is the sort of soap opera i can deal with!
A Culture book, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it. It’s the Culture from the point of view of a civilisation which hasn’t the framework or breadth of perception to begin to contemplate what the Culture is. But then providing inverted points of view of the Culture is
With Inversions we get, um, an inversion I guess, of what Banks seems to normally do with his Culture stories. Huh. Neat how that worked out, isn't it? Anyway, we find ourselves on one of those non-Culture 'backwards' planets that of course the Culture wants to influence (for their own good, of course) and we are thus presented with two different focuses (or I guess foci) in point of view. One follows the exploits of a mysterious female doctor acting as aide and close confidante to the king of one of the major nations of the planet; the other follows the story of the bodyguard of the de facto Cromwellian despot of another as he in turn follows a philosophically different approach in his 'influence' of events. Both of them are, of course, really Culture agents ultimately trying to prove to the other one that their philosophy is the correct one, though of course none of this is particularly obvious unless you've: a) read other Culture novels and b) read between the lines for some of the less explicable events of the story.
I found both main characters to be compelling and, most of all, interesting in a way that Banks isn't always able to pull off. In addition the narrator of the doctor's story-line, her smitten young apprentice, is quite an interesting figure in himself who displays the paradoxical elements of devoted factotum and scheming spy in equal measure. I guess I like it when Banks is understated. It doesn't happen a lot, but when it does it can be very compelling.
But when you know the ways of the Culture, it is clear that the unwitting narrators of the tales are actually describing a Special Circumstances mission, and that agents have been sent down to influence the behaviour of two of the more moderate and forward thinking rulers, and prevent them from coming to harm while they carry out their reforms. So you have a good idea what the 'dark bird' fleetingly seen by a distraught witness to the Duke of Walen's murder really is, and you don't believe for a minute that DeWar and Perrund die in the avalanche that so conveniently prevents their bodies from being recovered.
Loved it. It's a million times better than "Excession".
Whilst there are some vibrant characters (UrLeyn's son Lattens is a joy, as is conflicted Oelph) and entertaining politics, these could belong in any fantasy setting and play second fiddle to the delight of recognising and second-guessing what is really going on. The actual stories of the Dukes' attempts to reveal the good Doctor and the question of whether there is a traitor in UrLeyn's entourage are finely drawn but - I felt - less absorbing than other Culture novels; not least because the relayed narrative device distances us from the protagonists and thus the threat. As ever though, Banks teases us with plenty to think about in the layers within layers of his story.
Given the POV, this is arguably the Culture novel with the least Culture in it, but I found it satisfying in its own right and the late-encountered line that 'she was indisposed due to special circumstances' may be a favourite Banksian witticism.
Meanwhile, there is another mystery. Who is the King's favoured doctor, the woman
At the end, Dr.Vosill has left - and more, has vanished in a mysterious way. And there are mysteries attached to her. She can defend herself in terrifying and frightening ways. And she seems to have no past, even when others try to trace her origins in a distant land.
The powers and knowledge Dr.Vosill posess suggest that she is from an alien society; possibly even Banks' 'Culture' (which would make her a part of Special Circumstances) - but we have to guess this.
Meanwhile, in another part of the world, a monarch's bodyguard tries to protect his charge, even when the monarch himself seems bent on self-destruction; and at the same time, tries to avoid falling in love with the monarch's favourite concubine (who harbours a terrible secret) and fails.
I found this novel compelling reading; and I was pleased that my expectation that the doctor character would turn up in the second plot strand to treat the monarch's epileptic son was not realised. The alien society was subtly drawn with some distinct hints of otherness - this was not an identikit "MedievalWorld (TM)". Definitely interesting.
The stories come together only tangentially and at the end. We never see any of the tech that we've seen in all the other Culture novels. I'm not sure I understood the point of the story. The bodyguard gives some hints that he is from the Culture, but it's never very clear and I'm not sure if I'm missing something or if it's supposed to be ambiguous.
Anyway, the story still moves along well, though I rate it the lowest of the Culture novels that I've read.
Honestly, I wasn't terribly impressed with
Banks has certainly written books I liked more. This was a decent read; not bad, certainly, but nothing special either.
Spoilers below.
Well, it's clear (to me, at least) that this is actually a Culture book, merely told from the other side. Even so, I don't think it added much that we couldn't already have figured out about the Culture. One could argue that it wasn't meant to, but I suspect that Banks specifically intended to tell a tale of the Culture's interference from the point of view of those being interfered with.
As further spoilage, I nailed early on the fact that Oelph's master was Adlain. (Despite toying with the thought for a bit that it might be DeWar.) I wasn't expecting the narrator of the other half of the story to have been Perrund, though.
Anyway, It's this sense of nuance that I feel is lacking in today’s SF, where a kind of cheap nihilism and cynicism reigns. I enjoy “Black Mirror”, but over the years it seems to have adopted a more teenage sense of nihilistic transgression that becomes a little tiresome and seems out of whack with humanity in general (at least if you ask Steven Pinker or Johan Norberg).
“Star Trek” is an interesting example, but it does involve a lot of hand waving: even with the backdrop of the wars, there's very little explanation of how the politics actually holds together compared to say Babylon 5. It's still a good example, as the Federation have an Utopian ethos, but it does do plenty of interestingly hypocritical meddling of its own. Another good example of Utopia is Asimov's Foundation novels and the suggestion (which seems to being revived in popular culture re: “Game Of Thrones”) that what may eventually bring people together is an existential and alien threat rather an a humane and winning argument.
I think Banks always left it up to the reader to make up their own mind on whether they considered it an Utopian society or not, and even though I know they might not be considered highbrow, the way he was always able to show the almost symbiotic relationship between the Culture's anarchic positiveness and freedom within with its aggressive desire to pacify and manipulate other societies: all of course in the name of good (how often have we heard that in real life). Interestingly, both the Culture and Gaia involve a sacrifice of autonomy in a sense.
"Inversions" is possibly the most character-based of the Culture novels with two beautiful love stories at its heart. At times it might seem like the coma/dream passages from "The Bridge" until the knife missiles appear at the denouement and you realize you are seeing Special Circumstances from the inside...
On my first read I had not at first picked
The main theme I am taking away from this story is something I have known for a long time, i.e. we can never be sure of history, or even the present. As for predicting the future, we only run the risk of making fools of ourselves by trying to do so, even in relation to what appear to be the most obvious potential outcomes. There are various points in the novel where this point is brought to the fore, e.g. on page 22:
”I have read, I think, all the various accounts of what happened in Tassasen during that momentous time, and the most significant difference between those reports seems to be the defree to which they depart most outrageously from what actually happened.”
Also, on page 22:
”-so truth is a question of where one stands, and the direction one is looking in at the time.”
Iain goes on to explain how the past is unknowable because any accounts we read or hear are invariably going to have been filtered in some fashion and amended, and that the present is just as unknowable as time must pass to gain access to the different accounts which will have been distorted based on viewpoint, stance, bias, or whatever, of the source of the accounts.
A key element of this book is its description of how Special Circumstances personnel may operate. It also introduces the debate of how a superior civilisation should behave towards a less developed civilisation.
This is a book I would recommend for fans of Iain M. Banks Culture novels, but it is not a must read. It is, however, an enjoyable read.
4.5
In fact, the entire book takes place on a single planet, whose level of technology is roughly medieval. There is no reference to other planets, space travel or even technology of any sort. Think Game of Thrones without dragons or magic. This is not science fiction by any stretch.
The book consists of two threads. In one thread, the protagonist is a female doctor, charged with care of the local King. In the other, the chief character is a bodyguard for the Lord Protector, who has recently deposed a King (think Oliver Cromwell). The two “kingdoms” are on the same planet, though widely separated and have only very remote relations.
The story lines are moderately entertaining, though if you are looking for science fiction, or even Culture, you might be disappointed. So far, all the Culture books I have read pretty much stand on their own. If you are reading Culture for science fiction, I would advise skipping this one.
Of the four Culture books I have read, I thoroughly enjoyed one, A Player of Games. Two others, Use of Weapons and Excession, I found difficult to follow. This novel was a disappointment. If my next Culture book does not rise to the level of A Player of Games, I am probably done with Culture.
The world of the Culture is hinted at in places in the novel, but in fact it drives all the action: the reason for the split narrative, is that the protagonists represent two opposing views on how to intervene in other civilizations and cultures, a debate that often plays out on a larger scale in Banks other work. The genius of the book however is that what is essentially a philosophical investigation never feels heavy-handed. This is a novel of ideas that never throws those ideas or the dilemmas in your face but trusts in the reader to notice them, think about them, or not. The two stories are tightly focused on their own action and plot arcs, but always implicitly interwoven (and then explicitly so) but the ideas that play out on sprawling epic canvases in Banks other work are presented on a smaller stage which, ironically, gives them a chance to breathe and assume greater impact. This accounts, I think, for the way book continues to nag at me even many months later.
The two protagonists are also two of the most interesting characters that Banks has crafted. He is often (unfairly, I think) slighted for being a better writer of action than he is of people, but the characters here are refreshingly ambiguous; admirable, annoying, conflicted, frustrating and frustrated.
It is a violent book, sometimes disturbingly so, and each tale takes place in lands that seem to have been abandoned by morality in any meaningful sense. This is typical of one of Banks preoccupations: if you remove one or more pillars that people often rely upon to guide their behavior, what remains?