Iain M Banks - The Algebraist

Fassin Taak is a slow seer, who undertakes delves, explorations of Dweller culture and knowledge. The Dwellers are inhabitants of gas giant planets and are among the most ancient and long-living creatures in the galaxy. While investigating some of their library materials, Taak unwittingly uncovers a clue to a legendary network of wormholes, rumoured to be secretly used by the Dwellers in their incredibly long excursions through the universe. It’s immensely valuable information that is in danger of being misused if it gets into the wrong hands, but word of its existence has leaked out. The whole system is on the brink of war, with attacks already being launched by troublesome Beyonder and E-5 Disconnect factions and a particularly bloodthirsty character, the Archimandrite Luseferous. Taak is charged with finding out the key to the conflict that his clue has uncovered, taking him on a journey to the far reaches of the galaxy.

The plot of Iain Banks’ new novel is fairly straightforward and there’s unfortunately nothing really much else to the story than is outlined above. Not being a Culture novel where the rules are taken for granted, leaving the author room to focus on characters, ideas and themes, ‘The Algebraist’ spends about 100 pages just setting us up with a new universe before we even know what the story is about, and it’s a further 100 pages before anything actually starts to happen. There’s an awful lot of padding here. If you prefer lots of universe creating and alien history then this might be good news, but even that’s not terribly original, seeming like left-over elements from Excession and even a bit of Babylon 5 in there. Once the story does get moving it’s a standard quest plotline, each place Taak arriving at leading him further on. Two other potentially promising plot threads featuring the Archimandrite and Taak’s friend from youth Sal are sadly underdeveloped and just fizzle out.

Nevertheless there are a few splendid Banks moments here – the exquisite cruelty and tortures of the Archimandrite Luseferous, the hilarity of the Dwellers and their unusual customs and behaviour – typically black Banks humour in other words. A few twists and revelations bring The Algebraist to a reasonably satisfactory conclusion, but all in all, and particularly after the brilliance of Look to Windward, this is the customary disappointing non-Culture SF book from Iain M. Banks.

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