Internet Apocalypse

Matter is the first of Iain Bank’s books I’ve read, not counting the Wasp Factory that I read quite a few years ago. I think he writes his science fiction under a slightly altered pseudo name as his fiction is published under the name Ian Banks. I checked and it IS the same author, but never mind I digress.

Matter is a novel that is part of a group of stories called “The Culture Novels”. They are all set in the same universe, a universe far in advance of present day where mankind has long since colonised new worlds, discovered new technology, abolished money and of course, has come into contact with various species of aliens. “What’s New?” you might ask, “this sounds very familiar, very similar to almost every other sci-fi book I have ever read” and of course, to a small degree, you’d probably be right.

What sets this book apart from your card board cut-out sci-fi is not just how rich the detail of the world is, and it is described perfectly as you journey through the story, really allowing the reader to immerse themselves within it. Sometimes it takes more than just a good descriptive narrative to really bring a reader into the story. So many times I’ve tried to immerse myself in a world that, for all the adjectives its author can throw at me, just does not take my interest. What really brought ‘Matter’ to life for me was the design on the many different civilisations you will come into contact with while reading the story. Banks has created a universe where humans and aliens of various levels of technology, from feudal civilisations that have only just discovered gunpowder weaponry, to The Culture, a highly advanced super race of humans that live their lives completely without consequence, their technology granting them the ability to not only completely control every part of their own physiology, but actually transcend their bodies altogether. The ideas behind the civilisations themselves, the ships they travel in, the worlds they inhabit and the way they communicate with each other, every facet is, at least to me, unique and refreshing. It is so difficult to find a story so truly original in a genre that is so full of copies & clichés as science fiction seems to be. I haven’t been exposed to anything as fresh as this since the DUNE novels.