Review:
"This is an engrossing novel of ideas ornamented by fantastically cinematic set-pieces."-- The Guardian (UK)
"Surface Detail is the type of widescreen space adventure we've come to expect from Banks, full of elaborate games, spellchecker-busting names, salty dialogue and, above all, a thrilling sense of the limitless scope SF affords an author's imagination."-- Financial Times (UK)
"Banks' labyrinthine and devious ninth Culture space opera novel...adeptly shifts perspective between vast concepts and individual passions."-- Publishers Weekly
Praise for Surface Detail:
"Banks' ability to combine humor and horror, the cosmic and the human, as he builds an action-packed story on a moral framework, as well as his wonderfully original characters and, of course, the lavish descriptions of weapons and spaceships, makes "Surface Detail" all you could ask for in a space opera. Nobody does it better."-- Times (UK)
"One of Banks' best Culture novels to date."-- Booklist on The Hydrogen Sonata
"Scotland-resident Banks' Culture yarns, the science-fiction equivalent of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, brim with wit and wisdom, providing incomparable entertainment, with fascinating and highly original characters, challenging ideas and extrapolations, and dazzling action seamlessly embedded in a satirical-comedy matrix."
-- "Kirkus Reviews"
"One of Banks' best Culture novels to date." "Booklist on The Hydrogen Sonata""
"This rich, sweeping panorama of heroism and folly celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Culture, Banks's far-future semi-utopian society.... The action tumbles along at a dizzying pace, bouncing among a fascinating array of characters and locales. It's easy to see why Banks's fertile, cheerfully nihilistic imagination and vivid prose have made the Culture space operas bestsellers and award favorites." Publishers Weekly"
"One of Banks' best Culture novels to date." Booklist on The Hydrogen Sonata"
"It's fantastically good fun that throws in some big ideas about life, the universe and everything, and like the unabashed leftie that he is, Banks manages to get in there a few sizable shots at unthinking, dogmatic religiosity for good measure." SciFi Now"
Book Description:
The new Culture novel from one of the most exciting science fiction writers of modern times - a tour de force of storytelling, world-building and imagination.
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