The Algebraist
by Iain M Banks Review by Keith Brooke There's something very odd about this book, something I still haven't quite managed to work out. I can't remember a time when I've been something like three quarters of the way through a novel and still haven't decided whether I'm going to give it a rave review or a stinker. And now, all the way through, and having had a couple of days to reflect ... I'm still not sure. Parts of The Algebraist are very very good: there's some excellent comic characterisation, some brilliant writing, some smart and sophisticated manoeuvrings, some great set-pieces. I wouldn't be surprised to see it on the award shortlists in 2005. I'd feel disappointed if it won, though, for despite all its merits, The Algebraist just doesn't quite do it for me. Seer Fassin Taak is a well-connected man, whose very long life is spent studying the history and legend of the Slow Dwellers of the local gas giant Nasqueron. He also takes pleasure in the wilder side of life, much to the dismay of the older generation. Saluus Kehar is the playboy son of one of the most powerful industrialists in the Ulubis system, destined to inherit the family firm and all that goes with it. Taince Yarabokin is a military hotshot, destined for great things. An incident involving these three and a Big Alien Artefact resonates throughout their later lives and through the pages of this novel. Indeed, one of the truly impressive aspects of | |
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