Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Orbit (2012), Edition: First Edition, 528 pages
Description
Suspected of involvement after the Regimental High Command is destroyed as they prepared to go to a new level of existence called Sublime, Lieutenant Commander Vyr Cossont must find a nine-thousand-year-old man to clear her name.
User reviews
LibraryThing member RobertDay
This latest excursion into the universe of The Culture is a hunt for a particular McGuffin. Many have commented on the fact that a big part of the McGuffin gets revealed early on in the book, and so the plot loses much in the way of tension. Well, that may well be true; but rather like 'Excession'
There is a lot in this novel about personal development or personal journeys. In the end, it seems to me to come down to the musician, Vyr Cossont, who gets mixed up in the hunt for the McGuffin because of her past associations, and who returns in the end to her starting point after some fairly hair-raising adventures; and to the Gzilt politician Banstegeyn (who I visualised rather as the UK former Deputy PM, John Prescott), who seems rather unpleasantly duplicitous, but who achieves a sort of personal inner peace before the Subliming of nearly all of the Gzilt race to a higher plane of existence at the end of the novel.
As ever, there is a lot of detail in this book, especially about the Culture, its origins, and some of the other races in Banks' increasingly detailed universe. There is a lot of talk of Subliming, a sort of secular ascension. And there is a lot of chat between ship Minds, which I didn't find as fascinating as it was in 'Excession'.
I get the feeling from this book that it will end up, when we see the final tally of tales from the Culture, as being a middle-order book whose adventure and plot development is 'merely' OK, but which is much more important for filling in background information. Perhaps the most telling comment appears very close to the book's climax, where a Culture ship Mind tells a Gzilt vessel: "You people have spent ten millenia playing at soldiers while becoming ever more dedicated civilians. We've spent the last thousand years trying hard to stay civilian while refining the legacy of a won galactic war. Who do you think has the real martial provenance here?" The accepted wisdom is that The Culture is a hedonistic society of plenty; Banks has contrasted it in this novel with the supposedly martial Gzilt, where every citizen has a rank and can be called to the colours at any time. Which is the stronger civilisation? The Gzilt, who play at soldiers and get themselves into some serious turmoil as a consequence, or the Culture, who take up arms only very reluctantly but make sure that when they do, they do it right.
There is the usual exotic scenery and races that we have come to expect from Banks: a musical instrument that the player has to sit inside, and that is so difficult to play that Vyr Cossont has had two extra arms added to her body to enable this (I suspect Banks has heard the 1960s spoof BBC radio early music concert entitled 'The Shagbut, the Minikin and the Flemish Clacket': it's on YouTube, look it up); or the insectoid Ronte, a race who like to express their political, diplomatic and military intentions through the medium of dance. And there are the trademark Banks set-pieces, with lots of Things Exploding.
I suspect that many people will return to this novel in future re-readings and re-evaluate it somewhat. For now, all that needs to be said is that this is a Culture novel. Enjoy the ride.
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(to which this book has been compared), the McGuffin isn't really the sum of the novel.There is a lot in this novel about personal development or personal journeys. In the end, it seems to me to come down to the musician, Vyr Cossont, who gets mixed up in the hunt for the McGuffin because of her past associations, and who returns in the end to her starting point after some fairly hair-raising adventures; and to the Gzilt politician Banstegeyn (who I visualised rather as the UK former Deputy PM, John Prescott), who seems rather unpleasantly duplicitous, but who achieves a sort of personal inner peace before the Subliming of nearly all of the Gzilt race to a higher plane of existence at the end of the novel.
As ever, there is a lot of detail in this book, especially about the Culture, its origins, and some of the other races in Banks' increasingly detailed universe. There is a lot of talk of Subliming, a sort of secular ascension. And there is a lot of chat between ship Minds, which I didn't find as fascinating as it was in 'Excession'.
I get the feeling from this book that it will end up, when we see the final tally of tales from the Culture, as being a middle-order book whose adventure and plot development is 'merely' OK, but which is much more important for filling in background information. Perhaps the most telling comment appears very close to the book's climax, where a Culture ship Mind tells a Gzilt vessel: "You people have spent ten millenia playing at soldiers while becoming ever more dedicated civilians. We've spent the last thousand years trying hard to stay civilian while refining the legacy of a won galactic war. Who do you think has the real martial provenance here?" The accepted wisdom is that The Culture is a hedonistic society of plenty; Banks has contrasted it in this novel with the supposedly martial Gzilt, where every citizen has a rank and can be called to the colours at any time. Which is the stronger civilisation? The Gzilt, who play at soldiers and get themselves into some serious turmoil as a consequence, or the Culture, who take up arms only very reluctantly but make sure that when they do, they do it right.
There is the usual exotic scenery and races that we have come to expect from Banks: a musical instrument that the player has to sit inside, and that is so difficult to play that Vyr Cossont has had two extra arms added to her body to enable this (I suspect Banks has heard the 1960s spoof BBC radio early music concert entitled 'The Shagbut, the Minikin and the Flemish Clacket': it's on YouTube, look it up); or the insectoid Ronte, a race who like to express their political, diplomatic and military intentions through the medium of dance. And there are the trademark Banks set-pieces, with lots of Things Exploding.
I suspect that many people will return to this novel in future re-readings and re-evaluate it somewhat. For now, all that needs to be said is that this is a Culture novel. Enjoy the ride.
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LibraryThing member ChrisRiesbeck
For all the explosions and running around, this comes across as more of a leisurely ramble in the Culture universe. Ship Minds dominate the action and much of the dialog. The plot is pure MacGuffin stretched out a bit too long for my liking. "If we just get here, we'll know. Ooops, not quite, but
The action is standard British space opera where megawatts of energy are expended in nanoseconds and piles of bystander body parts accumulate with never much concern. At least this time, the good guys occasionally send out some hardware on the side to try to rescue those they can.
Like the plot, the dialog is also stretched out a bit much a times. There are pages of convivial chit chat that do little to advance the story, apparently on the premise that since computers can communicate so rapidly, they can take their sweet time doing it.
But it is entertaining dialog, and the main humanoid characters are fun to follow -- even the bad guys.
Though the Hydrogen Sonata is mostly coasting on prior books, it's still readable enough to recommend.
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this next trip will do it. Hmmm, not that either." The action is standard British space opera where megawatts of energy are expended in nanoseconds and piles of bystander body parts accumulate with never much concern. At least this time, the good guys occasionally send out some hardware on the side to try to rescue those they can.
Like the plot, the dialog is also stretched out a bit much a times. There are pages of convivial chit chat that do little to advance the story, apparently on the premise that since computers can communicate so rapidly, they can take their sweet time doing it.
But it is entertaining dialog, and the main humanoid characters are fun to follow -- even the bad guys.
Though the Hydrogen Sonata is mostly coasting on prior books, it's still readable enough to recommend.
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LibraryThing member Vermilious
The Hydrogen Sonata, for better or worse, will always be the last Culture book. The death of Iain M. Banks hovers over the whole book, impossible to escape even three years out. Some of that is the effect of the subject of the book, and some of it happens in the action, but that sense of death, of
The plot is sufficiently space-operatic. A whole civilization, the Gzilt, is about to kick off into several dimensions above and within our own, a place where cultures go when they are ready to retire from galactic realpolitik. It’s a difficult technological journey, meaning that only high-level civilizations can go. The Gzilt are roughly as old as the Culture, having been one of the races in on the negotiations to start the Culture as a whole, and as such are technologically about equal. When a diplomatic ship carrying a message about Gzilt history is destroyed under fishy circumstances, about a month from the drop-date of the whole species, a Culture ship in the local volume notices it, and is asked to investigate. What follows is a mad dash, from the Culture and the Gzilt alike, to uncover the truth of the Gzilt’s history and technological prowess, with an eye towards how that knowledge might affect the transition into the next life.
The text is filled with various ways that people try to combat the boredom and difficulty of life. There is a lengthy discussion of what it means to create whole digital people for the purpose of forecasting, and what sort of cruel god that makes you. The wonderful Mind-to-Mind discussions return, full of problems that only hyperintelligent AIs can possibly begin to have, and the catty comments that come with it. There is discussion about the nature of living forever, and choosing to forget memories, as well as how people go into and out of oblivion, unable to describe what they lived for or why they might return someday.
Throughout the whole book, there is a real sense of dread and defeat as well. Aliens are slaughtered in numbers not seen since the earliest, darkest, Culture book. This is also the first time we really see ship to ship combat among equal civilizations, and while there is some triumph, there is defeat as well. The Culture loses, properly and completely, at more than one occasion.
One also notes how much time has passed. This is a book about the trip into the hereafter, roughly a thousand years after we all first joined the civilization. And, ultimately, it is a fitting end, filled with the humor and joy that we expect, the ideas big enough to fill chalkboards of math and make our brains hurt. But it’s a book about death, and the ways that we approach it. I wonder, still, what Banks knew when he was writing it. May he rest, like his creations, in peace.
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dread, undercuts the whole thing. The plot is sufficiently space-operatic. A whole civilization, the Gzilt, is about to kick off into several dimensions above and within our own, a place where cultures go when they are ready to retire from galactic realpolitik. It’s a difficult technological journey, meaning that only high-level civilizations can go. The Gzilt are roughly as old as the Culture, having been one of the races in on the negotiations to start the Culture as a whole, and as such are technologically about equal. When a diplomatic ship carrying a message about Gzilt history is destroyed under fishy circumstances, about a month from the drop-date of the whole species, a Culture ship in the local volume notices it, and is asked to investigate. What follows is a mad dash, from the Culture and the Gzilt alike, to uncover the truth of the Gzilt’s history and technological prowess, with an eye towards how that knowledge might affect the transition into the next life.
The text is filled with various ways that people try to combat the boredom and difficulty of life. There is a lengthy discussion of what it means to create whole digital people for the purpose of forecasting, and what sort of cruel god that makes you. The wonderful Mind-to-Mind discussions return, full of problems that only hyperintelligent AIs can possibly begin to have, and the catty comments that come with it. There is discussion about the nature of living forever, and choosing to forget memories, as well as how people go into and out of oblivion, unable to describe what they lived for or why they might return someday.
Throughout the whole book, there is a real sense of dread and defeat as well. Aliens are slaughtered in numbers not seen since the earliest, darkest, Culture book. This is also the first time we really see ship to ship combat among equal civilizations, and while there is some triumph, there is defeat as well. The Culture loses, properly and completely, at more than one occasion.
One also notes how much time has passed. This is a book about the trip into the hereafter, roughly a thousand years after we all first joined the civilization. And, ultimately, it is a fitting end, filled with the humor and joy that we expect, the ideas big enough to fill chalkboards of math and make our brains hurt. But it’s a book about death, and the ways that we approach it. I wonder, still, what Banks knew when he was writing it. May he rest, like his creations, in peace.
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LibraryThing member aadyer
A very good, if at times, melancholy, swan song for a modern SF master. Overly long, & in need of severe editing & pacing in the middle third, it remains readable throughout. An elegant premise, with much in the way of satirical comparisons to the modern world, it concerns a young aliens journey
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into looking into the foundation of the Culture, & the difficulties of a civilisation about to Sublime. Worthy of a look for Culture fans, & certainly that for SF fans. Not his best, but far, far from his worst. Goodbye, Mr Banks, it's been good. Show Less
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
I couldn't wait for this one to come up on my wish list... I checked it out from the library. The first thing I noticed was that Mr. Banks has a new jacket-flap photo. Aaagh! He looks old! That means I'm old too!
I love all of the Culture novels, but some are better than others. This is one of the
The Gzilt culture have scheduled the time at which they, as a culture, will Sublime - leave the concern of this world behind for a higher plane of existence.
Before this happens, a young woman from Gzilt, Vyr Cossont, has made it her life-work to successfully play one of the most difficult pieces of music ever written - the Hydrogen Sonata. (Too bad that from an aesthetic perspective, it sounds godawful, and pretty much no one wants to listen to it.)
However, on a higher galactic level, events concerning the Gzilt are afoot. An elder race has a secret concerning the Gzilt's primary religion, and revealing that secret might interfere with their Subliming. Or not. Maybe it wouldn't make a difference at all. However, for some reason, someone cares enough about this mystery to blow up and murder a Culture Mind ship - which captures the attention of a bunch of nosy/aloof Minds, who choose to investigate.
The only lead they have is rumors of a man who is said to be the oldest human alive - and by coincidence, Vyr Cossont had a passing friendly acquaintance with him a few years back. She gets recruited to help track him down to try to find out what he knows....
All this, and a ton and a half more, get tied together in a complex, philosophical, grotesque, eerily beautiful, and oh yeah - funny and action-packed narrative.
I love all of the Culture novels, but some are better than others. This is one of the
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better ones. The Gzilt culture have scheduled the time at which they, as a culture, will Sublime - leave the concern of this world behind for a higher plane of existence.
Before this happens, a young woman from Gzilt, Vyr Cossont, has made it her life-work to successfully play one of the most difficult pieces of music ever written - the Hydrogen Sonata. (Too bad that from an aesthetic perspective, it sounds godawful, and pretty much no one wants to listen to it.)
However, on a higher galactic level, events concerning the Gzilt are afoot. An elder race has a secret concerning the Gzilt's primary religion, and revealing that secret might interfere with their Subliming. Or not. Maybe it wouldn't make a difference at all. However, for some reason, someone cares enough about this mystery to blow up and murder a Culture Mind ship - which captures the attention of a bunch of nosy/aloof Minds, who choose to investigate.
The only lead they have is rumors of a man who is said to be the oldest human alive - and by coincidence, Vyr Cossont had a passing friendly acquaintance with him a few years back. She gets recruited to help track him down to try to find out what he knows....
All this, and a ton and a half more, get tied together in a complex, philosophical, grotesque, eerily beautiful, and oh yeah - funny and action-packed narrative.
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LibraryThing member rivkat
A Culture novel in which an entire civilization is about to Sublime—leave our world for some indescribable other, as many but not all civilizations do after a while—and Culture ships are drawn in to intrigue, as a long-ago race left a message about the civilization’s treasured holy book that
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might interrupt the Subliming. Some people would rather that information stay very secret, and are willing to kill rather indiscriminately to keep it so. Banks can make even vicious deeds seem pleasant, presenting them as only logical according to the doer’s carefully rationalized perspective; the enjoyable stuff here is the banter between Ships and the descriptions of carefully customized environments in a post-scarcity universe. Does any of it matter? That’s a question each entity must answer for itself. Show Less
LibraryThing member eldang
Excellent Culture yarn that now feels more like a swan song than I think Banks could have intended, because it deals mostly with what happens when a civilisation feels it can't progress any more. Lots of intersecting subplots hinging around who knows what and the limits to even the god-like Culture
There's also a strong theme here about whether knowing the truth about things matters. If I didn't know it had been written a few years ago, I could easily have taken it as deliberate commentary on today's society and politics, but I suppose that's just a mark of great fiction: however much it's set in escapist sci-fi utopia it's of course also about people and how people interact.
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Ships' ability to cross space and time... subplots that by the end get woven together coherently.There's also a strong theme here about whether knowing the truth about things matters. If I didn't know it had been written a few years ago, I could easily have taken it as deliberate commentary on today's society and politics, but I suppose that's just a mark of great fiction: however much it's set in escapist sci-fi utopia it's of course also about people and how people interact.
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LibraryThing member bulbul
A mild disappointment. The entire book is actually nothing but a chase after a single piece of information. We got some nice action, some lovely scenery, the usual assortment of Eccentric and outright weird Minds, Drones and humans and even some background on how the Culture came to be, but, like
All in all, another opportunity wasted.
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tetrachromat says, one kept wondering what the point was. The comparison to Excession is actually too kind: here the personalities of the Minds don't even get to shine through - in Excession, the, um, Excession was a big effing deal. Here, the chase after the Zidhren is kind of pointless and even the Minds involved in it admit that whatever the find is probably not going to influence the Gzilt Sublimation. As for the human characters, the oldest dude in the Culture is mildly interesting, but not enough. The main protagonist is an example of a favorite trope of a outsider thrown into the middle of a wide-reaching conspiracy and she acts her part well (the repeated gag with her cumbersome instrument is hilarious), but the problem is that even when her life is threatened, we don't really care, because the whole plotline is, as noted above, pointless. Same is true of the main antagonist, if he can indeed be called that - the big event is already set in motion and one just doesn't feel any threat or urgency. This is only underscored by the big revelation which is spoiled very early and when it finally comes, it doesn't come of as a big deal at all. With the religious aspect, one is reminded of one of the many Da Vinci Code knock-offs (like Khoury's 'The Last Templar') where the 'truth' to be revealed simply wouldn't have any effect on anything in any version of reality.All in all, another opportunity wasted.
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LibraryThing member Fledgist
A story in the Culture milieu in which music, politics, conspiracy, and a great deal of wit are all involved. This is a book that transcends space opera.
LibraryThing member gbsallery
Precisely honed, glinting with the years of finesse Banks has delivered to his craft, this is quite simply one of the finest Science Fiction books ever written. The Hydrogen Sonata is greater, even, than Excession - it demonstrates total mastery of form, style, drama and characterisation which may
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remain unequalled for some great time to come. Staggeringly, gigglingly good. Show Less
LibraryThing member ZetaSyanthis
Reviewing books in this series is damned difficult, since they're all so incredibly complicated and unique. That said, here goes...
The pacing is good, and as always, the characters are rich and defined. With this and his last two books in the series, the Minds and their avatars are starting to feel
I have a feeling that this is going to get upgraded to a 5/5 from a 4/5 by the time I'm finished processing it in a few days...
The pacing is good, and as always, the characters are rich and defined. With this and his last two books in the series, the Minds and their avatars are starting to feel
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more and more real. As always, the plot is intricate and well-woven, with that should-probably-be-patented tweak Banks like to throw in. (I swear he enjoys messing with his readers, but in a good way!) This book, like Look to Windward and Surface Detail before it, asks an ethical question that I'm not sure anyone is qualified to truly answer. I'm torn on the resolution, but it's a hell of a book. I have a feeling that this is going to get upgraded to a 5/5 from a 4/5 by the time I'm finished processing it in a few days...
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LibraryThing member nmele
This latest Culture novel ranks as one of the most interesting, readable and fascinating. I love the way Banks uses the tropes and concepts of science fiction to write thickly plotted novels with interesting characters and examine/play with ethical and moral questions. Very entertaining and very
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thought-provoking. Show Less
LibraryThing member dgold
Just finished. Overwhelming impression is one of a deep and abiding sorrow, a keening lamentation for the vicissitudes of real life. Banks started the Culture in a dark place, but one which held, in the form of the Culture, the prospect of a better greater future.
Now, 10 books later, the mood is
Now, 10 books later, the mood is
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instead a bitter, exasperated nihilism. The Culture retains its stature, but the rest of the Galaxy remains a nasty vicious mire, with different gauzy decorations. Show Less
LibraryThing member MichaelBrookes
Another great sci-fi novel from Ian M Banks. While it doesn't quite hit the majest that was Excession it is still a cracking read. As with all his books he takes a single big idea (in this case subliming) and weaves an interesting tale around it.
The ships remain the stars of the Culture and this
Highly recommended.
The ships remain the stars of the Culture and this
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book probably has one of the best ship names so far.Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member chaosmogony
I was a bit let down that this felt like a rushed, if not watered-down, version of earlier Culture books. Maybe Use of Weapons has just set the bar too high for me. Still worth reading, and still more entertaining than most things in this genre.
LibraryThing member pierthinker
Another great contribution to the Culture series from Banks with his usual multi-layered approach to society, technology and the simple art of living in the far future when the galaxy has become a neighbourhood (almost!) with the oddest of neighbours to rub along with. As always, the Minds -
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artificial intelligences embedded in interstellar spaceships - are the stand-outs, with their quirky, funny combination of god-like omniscience, disinterested fascination with people and ultimately more humanity than any of the species on show. This novel tackles the great themes of individual human actions when great religious or philosophical events are in motion and how the greatest can have base desires and be prepared to destroy for it, especially when absolution is near. The sublimation of an entire race into another dimension of space where notions of self become blurred but a higher 'purpose' can be conceived clashes with personal desires and the inter-twining of the histories of many races. However cynical or false the actions of individuals, I always am uplifted by the flow of history to a greater place that is the Culture. Show Less
LibraryThing member SChant
Excellent - a great return to his best form after the slightly sub-standard Matter and Surface Detail.
LibraryThing member Caomhghin
The latest Culture novel and, alas, the last. It takes place almost entirely outside the Culture among the Gzilt, who have chosen not to use AIs and never joined the Culture. The basis of the story is the Gzilt’s decision, after a referendum, to sublime – go into another dimension, sort of go
Subliming might look like going to heaven. It isn’t. Banks certainly makes it very clear that everyone goes, good, mediocre and bad so long as they follow the rules. If you go on your own as a human you just evaporate but going en masse something survives. But it has nothing to do with morality, religion or your actions.
The novel is about religion, culture and boredom and the ridiculous. Partly Banks is showing us that even a residual religion such as the Gzilts’ can produce lots of viciousness in its protection. Certainly religion figures a fair bit in the novel elsewhere with a visit to a weird monastery where you listen to ear numbing sound featured also and an AI that came back from Subliming and behaves rather like a monk. That said it is politics rather than religion which is the driving force for all of the killing and destruction. So is the fault in religion or politics? In other Culture novels we see Special Circumstances behaving in often appalling ways for the greater good. Is that politics?
An unofficial group of Minds want to find out what is going on but they don’t interfere – much. As they never pass on their findings it is pure curiosity. In not interfering they dramatically outgun and outrun all their Gzilt peers and one of them shows great altruism. But they are largely staving off boredom.
So are we to assume that the Minds are better at running civilizations, more civilized, more technically sophisticated and probably even more humane than humans? Yes I think we are. Possibly they have a higher moral status but really only because they have a better idea of what is going on and are pretty emotionless. And they make the ‘humans’ look totally ludicrous most of the time as well. But some of the humans are rather endearing. Oh dear, just like pets.
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to heaven. We mostly follow a member of the Gzilt as she is pursued by initially unknown members of her own people who are behaving in a generally appalling way. The Gzilt are unusual in having scriptures based on a prophet who apparently got his science right so there must be something in their religion, mustn’t there? As a result they are supposed to regard their religion as still valid in some way unlike other advanced races. One doesn’t see much evidence for this although the origin of the scriptures is at the core of the story. At the same time their politics leaves a lot to be desired. Without the AIs it is corrupt, brutal and venal – all too human in fact. Also strangely all Gzilt are all members of the military – sort of permanent reserves – so your social position relates in part to your regiment rather than country or planet etc.Subliming might look like going to heaven. It isn’t. Banks certainly makes it very clear that everyone goes, good, mediocre and bad so long as they follow the rules. If you go on your own as a human you just evaporate but going en masse something survives. But it has nothing to do with morality, religion or your actions.
The novel is about religion, culture and boredom and the ridiculous. Partly Banks is showing us that even a residual religion such as the Gzilts’ can produce lots of viciousness in its protection. Certainly religion figures a fair bit in the novel elsewhere with a visit to a weird monastery where you listen to ear numbing sound featured also and an AI that came back from Subliming and behaves rather like a monk. That said it is politics rather than religion which is the driving force for all of the killing and destruction. So is the fault in religion or politics? In other Culture novels we see Special Circumstances behaving in often appalling ways for the greater good. Is that politics?
An unofficial group of Minds want to find out what is going on but they don’t interfere – much. As they never pass on their findings it is pure curiosity. In not interfering they dramatically outgun and outrun all their Gzilt peers and one of them shows great altruism. But they are largely staving off boredom.
So are we to assume that the Minds are better at running civilizations, more civilized, more technically sophisticated and probably even more humane than humans? Yes I think we are. Possibly they have a higher moral status but really only because they have a better idea of what is going on and are pretty emotionless. And they make the ‘humans’ look totally ludicrous most of the time as well. But some of the humans are rather endearing. Oh dear, just like pets.
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LibraryThing member pgmcc
I have always enjoyed the Culture novels. They are like a comfort blanket to me. I enjoy wrapping myself up in the whole Culture universe. This is probably why I am more tolerant than some other reviewers regarding The Hydrogen Sonata.
That having been said, I would not regard this novel as the best
Beyond this point in my review I will be mentioning points about the book that I liked or found less than satisfactory. If you haven’t already read the book you may wish to leave the rest of this review until you have done so.
I found one thing that could be considered a negative in the story. This was the philosophising and moralising by the Culture minds. Some of the discussions went on a bit too long and I felt newcomers to the Culture novels could find this a bit off-putting and could make the book seem a bit of a slog.
The things I found positive about the novel include the discussions held internally by individuals about whether their original selves or copies of themselves are the real them, and also the idea of the original being being jealous of a copy of himself. This reminded me of the excellent treatment of the same subject in Ken MacLeod’s novel, Newton’s Wake.
I also enjoyed the moralising about simulations and any entities created in the simulations. While eminent scientists, such as Roger Penrose (see The Emperor’s New Mind) believe we are unlikely to develop sentient artificial intelligence, it was still interesting to read the discussion on what should or shouldn’t be done with simulated worlds that have been created as part of an experiment.
There was also discussion on the meaning of everything and whether one could find meaning in life without a religious framework, a question that was answered in the positive.
All in all I enjoyed reading this novel and I found the philosophical and moral discussions of interest. While I didn’t find it to be the best Culture novel I did find it satisfactory and it did not damage my comfort feeling when reading one of Iain M. Banks books set in the Culture universe. Perhaps when I am reading a Culture novel I have a false sense of security that makes me feel I am being watched over by drones that will protect me from any nastiness that might surround me and that cradle me in their fields and ensure that the parameters of my immediate environment are kept at optimum levels.
Oh! I think it has suddenly gotten cold. Where did that draft come from?
That having been said, I would not regard this novel as the best
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Culture novel, but rather an adventure with, for me, a few highlights and a few lowlights. I would also suggest that it is better read knowing something of the nature of the Culture minds and ships, i.e. read other Culture novels before taking up The Hydrogen Sonata.Beyond this point in my review I will be mentioning points about the book that I liked or found less than satisfactory. If you haven’t already read the book you may wish to leave the rest of this review until you have done so.
I found one thing that could be considered a negative in the story. This was the philosophising and moralising by the Culture minds. Some of the discussions went on a bit too long and I felt newcomers to the Culture novels could find this a bit off-putting and could make the book seem a bit of a slog.
The things I found positive about the novel include the discussions held internally by individuals about whether their original selves or copies of themselves are the real them, and also the idea of the original being being jealous of a copy of himself. This reminded me of the excellent treatment of the same subject in Ken MacLeod’s novel, Newton’s Wake.
I also enjoyed the moralising about simulations and any entities created in the simulations. While eminent scientists, such as Roger Penrose (see The Emperor’s New Mind) believe we are unlikely to develop sentient artificial intelligence, it was still interesting to read the discussion on what should or shouldn’t be done with simulated worlds that have been created as part of an experiment.
There was also discussion on the meaning of everything and whether one could find meaning in life without a religious framework, a question that was answered in the positive.
All in all I enjoyed reading this novel and I found the philosophical and moral discussions of interest. While I didn’t find it to be the best Culture novel I did find it satisfactory and it did not damage my comfort feeling when reading one of Iain M. Banks books set in the Culture universe. Perhaps when I am reading a Culture novel I have a false sense of security that makes me feel I am being watched over by drones that will protect me from any nastiness that might surround me and that cradle me in their fields and ensure that the parameters of my immediate environment are kept at optimum levels.
Oh! I think it has suddenly gotten cold. Where did that draft come from?
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LibraryThing member stuart10er
Great read. A sister civilization to the Culture is considering "subliming", that is to disappear in the great beyond. Not heaven, not the force, but something similar.
Some nasty details come to light just before they are ready to sublime and a faction within the government starts killing people to
Some nasty details come to light just before they are ready to sublime and a faction within the government starts killing people to
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cover it up. A group of Culture ships decides to stick their "noses" into it with explosive results. Show Less
LibraryThing member ub1707
A good way to go out. Thank you Mr. Banks
LibraryThing member sloopjonb
Um. Meh. There is the usual amusing chatter between ships with silly names, and the idea of Subliming was quite interesting, and Cossont's mother was very funny, but the plot was in the end an essentially pointless runaround with a very flat ending. And the whole thing was way too long. (And what
While I'm at it, I have a gripe about sci-fi in general which is pertinent here: I find aliens who aren't increasingly annoying. There wasn't any point whatever in making the Gzilt anything but human: why bother? It didn't even generate any good gags.
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was Zaphod Beeblebrox doing in there, masquerading as one Ximenyr?). Not the best way for IMB to bow out. While I'm at it, I have a gripe about sci-fi in general which is pertinent here: I find aliens who aren't increasingly annoying. There wasn't any point whatever in making the Gzilt anything but human: why bother? It didn't even generate any good gags.
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LibraryThing member Ma_Washigeri
...and another half star but not quite 4. Loved it of course as I love all the culture books. Not quite sure about all the ship Minds dialogue. Probably because I can't read it fast enough - began to pall. Loved the Elevenstring and enjoyed hearing more about subliming.....
LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
Another wonderful book in the Culture Series - Ian M. Banks manages to capture the hard science fiction, but with interesting characters that a reader really cares about. In this book - the Gzilt Civilization is preparing to Sublime - that odd place where cultures go when they reach the end of a
So... this is the setting that we come to, and it is big. We have small stories and big stories, old and new, all weaved together in something that make for an excellent book. Its not just a great Science Fiction Book, but great literature. I've read other stories in this series (Consider Phlebias, and Player of Games). I enjoyed reading both of them, but I think that this book is where everything comes together perfectly.
I love how the Hydrogen Sonata (or as its official name "T.C Vilabier's 26th String-Specific Sonata For An Instrument Yet To Be Invented" is used as a metaphor for the entire story - It adds a level this book that is quite beautiful.
Highly recommended.
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civilization. What the sublime is... no one is quite sure, except you become more than you are. This isn't a book about the sublime. Its a book about an ancient mystery that has come to light - and for a Culture Mind, there is no greater allure. On top of it, we have two civilizations with low-tech that want to raise their tech-level, using what is left behind of the Gzilt worlds.So... this is the setting that we come to, and it is big. We have small stories and big stories, old and new, all weaved together in something that make for an excellent book. Its not just a great Science Fiction Book, but great literature. I've read other stories in this series (Consider Phlebias, and Player of Games). I enjoyed reading both of them, but I think that this book is where everything comes together perfectly.
I love how the Hydrogen Sonata (or as its official name "T.C Vilabier's 26th String-Specific Sonata For An Instrument Yet To Be Invented" is used as a metaphor for the entire story - It adds a level this book that is quite beautiful.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member HenryKrinkle
Let's see . . . a 9000 year old man who has his eyes replaced with a second set of ears, a woman who has "augmentation surgery so she can play an instrument, the Antagonistic Undecagonstring, which is impossible to play without four arms, a party promoter with 53 penises and a cabal of world
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weary,sarcastic sentient spaceships. These are just a few of the characters in Iain Banks shaggy dog thriller/space opera, "The Hydrogen Sonata". Banks is one of the best prose stylists writing in English. Show Less
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Science Fiction Novel — 2013)
RUSA CODES Reading List (Shortlist — Science Fiction — 2013)
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (Finalist — 2013)
Prometheus Award (Nominee — 2013)
Locus Recommended Reading (2012)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Science Fiction and Fantasy — 2012)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2012-10
ISBN
0356501507 / 9780356501505