It’s been a while since I’ve finished a book, I spent some time skimming some roleplaying game books and some reference stuff for a PBEM game character that I ended up not playing because the game turned out to be defunct, but I had the books out from the library, so I read a bit of them anyhow.

I’d actually started Excession by Iain M. Banks before this, set it aside reluctantly for this little project – which was not an easy thing as the book hooks you fairly early and well.

Excession is set thousands of years in the future (it’s never really specified). Artificial intelligences are pervasive and form their own societies. Most of humanity is the AIs it has created (directly or indirectly) make up a state called ‘The Culture’.

The term excession refers to an anomolous event – in this case the appearance of an object that can tap both levels, for lack of a better term, of hyperspace. This has some very rather profound implications, including the ability to access younger and older versions of our universe. Needless to say this catches the attention of some other entities beside the culture.

Much of the story revolves around a cadre of ship-borne AIs and their attempts to prevent both a war which would wipe out another race and to keep others from contacting the excession. A parallel thread invovles the captain of a ship who, 2,500 years ago, encountered a star 50 times older than the universe (and thus believed to be from a future version of our universe) who lives on one of the most eccentric of the eccentric ships. The ship will only let one person talk to the captain, her estranged lover Byr Genar-Hofoen – because the ship wishes to reunite them.

The personalities of the people and ships are well developed and some decent of character development takes for three main characters. I found the various cliques and societies of ship AIs to be fascinating, perhaps the most fun aspect of the novel.

This was my first Iain M. Banks read and he is definitely on my list of authors I want to read more. His writing style, in Excession at least, was very playful and tongue in cheek at times. For example there is a race of fun-loving, belligerent, offensive, and sadastic aliens known as the Affront.

If you are looking for an action-packed, far-future, original scifi novel, look no further than Excession.