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mark monday's Reviews > Inversions
Inversions (Culture, #6)
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Still waters run deep within Inversions, concealing strange schemes and fierce ambitions, reservoirs of grief, questions on the nature of humanity, longings for death and for love. In terms of setting and scope, this is an intriguing outlier in the Culture series. Yet it has all of its masterful author's hallmarks: ironic and emotionally detached prose, an eye for the small thing symbolic of greater things, a fascination with systems of power and individual culpability, and an ease with ambiguity - in the slow unwinding of his mysteries and in portraying the compelling opacity of personalities carefully holding themselves restrained.
Inversions is a medieval historical saga rich with courtly intrigue that is actually a challenging speculative work of futuristic fiction, that is actually one small link in a glittering and ornate space opera chain that spans galaxies, that is actually an intimate chamber piece tracking important moments of personal change and psychological development, that is actually two parallel stories that detail the sociopolitical impact caused by two very different change agents, that is actually a tense and tightly wound mystery about hidden pasts and hidden plans and hidden agendas, that is actually an empathetic feminist tract, that is actually a classic Banks critique of the successes and pitfalls that occur when a technologically superior culture engages with a less advanced culture, that is actually a cheeky yet highly intellectual experiment in illustrating cultural relativity versus individual responsibility and morality - and the always painful collision between the two. This is an objective book about subjectivity. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the book has levels.
Unusual for Banks, there are also twin love stories. Both are subtle and understated, never taking charge of the plot. One starts slowly, moving from awe to lust to admiration to a despairing devotion; the other is rendered so discreetly that it is fairly disguised, until suddenly the masks are off and love becomes the reason for swift and necessary movement.
4.5 stars, may go up to 5 after I finish all of these wonderful Culture standalones and contemplate which were my favorites. This one is quite high in the ranking.
Inversions is a medieval historical saga rich with courtly intrigue that is actually a challenging speculative work of futuristic fiction, that is actually one small link in a glittering and ornate space opera chain that spans galaxies, that is actually an intimate chamber piece tracking important moments of personal change and psychological development, that is actually two parallel stories that detail the sociopolitical impact caused by two very different change agents, that is actually a tense and tightly wound mystery about hidden pasts and hidden plans and hidden agendas, that is actually an empathetic feminist tract, that is actually a classic Banks critique of the successes and pitfalls that occur when a technologically superior culture engages with a less advanced culture, that is actually a cheeky yet highly intellectual experiment in illustrating cultural relativity versus individual responsibility and morality - and the always painful collision between the two. This is an objective book about subjectivity. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the book has levels.
Unusual for Banks, there are also twin love stories. Both are subtle and understated, never taking charge of the plot. One starts slowly, moving from awe to lust to admiration to a despairing devotion; the other is rendered so discreetly that it is fairly disguised, until suddenly the masks are off and love becomes the reason for swift and necessary movement.
4.5 stars, may go up to 5 after I finish all of these wonderful Culture standalones and contemplate which were my favorites. This one is quite high in the ranking.
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Reading Progress
June 6, 2020
–
Started Reading
June 6, 2020
– Shelved
June 20, 2020
– Shelved as:
x-culture
June 20, 2020
– Shelved as:
z-iain-banks
June 20, 2020
– Shelved as:
scifi-modern
June 20, 2020
– Shelved as:
into-the-past
June 20, 2020
–
Finished Reading
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Justine
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Jul 05, 2020 04:20PM
Wow. A very strong recommendation from you on this one.
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Justine you need to read the Culture series!
Great review of my fav Culture novel!
I'm still working through the Vorkosigan Saga, so maybe after that:)
Terry wrote: "Great review of my fav Culture novel!"Thanks! This is also favorite one so far. Although who knows given recency bias. My 4 star Culture novels are Consider Phlebas, Player of Games, Use of Weapons, and Look to Windward. Had to give this one the edge with an additional .5
Justine wrote: "I'm still working through the Vorkosigan Saga, so maybe after that:)"
I still need to finish that awesome series.
This is one of my favorite Culture books. Though Look to Windward is still #1 for me.
the tragedy at the heart of Look to Windward, and they effect it had on both the protagonist/antihero and the hub mind, will always stick with me. especially that mutual decision by the two of them at the end.
mark wrote: "the tragedy at the heart of Look to Windward, and they effect it had on both the protagonist/antihero and the hub mind, will always stick with me. especially that mutual decision by the two of them..."Indeed! I don't think I had seen this idea executed this perfectly in any scifi book before or after.
Yes, same here. It was such a moving, sorrowful, yet somehow transcendent ending to those stories. Perfectly accomplished. And then the astonishing chapters that followed! What a shift in tone, it was breathtaking. But despite those following chapters, what I still mainly took away from the novel was its empathetic understanding of grief and despair.
Mark, I've only read the first Culture novel in print, the rest on audio. This series stays with me long after I've finished and I feel the need to read them again. Unfortunately, Audible doesn't have Inversions available (4-7 are not listed). Might just have to read them in print. But a friend told me this series is not consecutive, so it's okay to skip around. I've already read 10 without having gotten to 4-7.
Consider Phlebas is fantastic, I hope you enjoyed it.Definitely ok to skip around!
I read it 3yrs ago on the S.F to Chicago train. His writing reminds me of PF Hamilton (though Banks stays on topic much better).
Hamilton is another favorite, but for me not in the same league as Banks. that said, I think I actually have enjoyed everything I've read by Hamilton and that's not true for Banks. it's just that Banks is a deeper writer for me, and when he's on, he's really on, in a way that leaves most other genre writers behind.
I love his Commonwealth series but haven't enjoyed his other works. Pandora's Star is phenomenal, one of my top 5 sci-fi. Mind blowing awesome. That's so rare an experience for me. Banks is superior on average but even Consider Phlebas doesn't reach the heights of PS. Hydrogen Sonata, not even close imo. It's too esoteric. Hamilton similarly gives humans godlike tech, but Banks' civilization is invincible.
Commonwealth series was incredible - so far at least, I haven't read the last one. My first exposure to him was his Night's Dawn series, which I also loved. Horror in space! I also enjoyed Fallen Dragon and Great North Road. I have yet to read his Salvation books or his Greg Mandel trilogy, although I have them around. One of these days!
I think I have a knee-jerk reaction sometimes to books that don't agree with me right away and I give up too soon on them. A lot of ppl have said GNR was excellent; but I gave up on it fairly soon when the plot seemed to be so foggy (I'll give it another try). Heard good things about Fallen Dragon so that's definitely a to-read. Night's Dawn also haven't read. Thanks for the suggestions.
You have to love this book for all of things that it doesn't say, the subtlety of it all, and the confidence of the writer to know that he doesn't have to spell it out for the reader, a trust all too rare these days.
wow, this is such a poetic and fabulously well-stated review that it's left me feeling at a loss for words for my own review, I really just don't think I could conjure anything of substance more to say about it and I feel as if I understand the book better after reading it.
Thanks Alicia! This is a wonderful book, so rich. I probably should have given it 5 stars.
