Transition

Banks usually splits his novels between contemporary fiction and science fiction, but here he publishes what is obviously a science fiction story under his ‘contemporary' nom de plume. I'm unsure of the reasons for this, but it is certainly his most enjoyable novel in quite some time, certainly an improvement on The Steep Approach to Garbadale, which was just The Crow Road reheated.

The story, told from the point of view of several characters, but mainly that of a man called Temudjin Oh, is about an organisation called The Concern, which intervenes in the affairs of alternate realities for supposedly benign reasons. They do this using the talents of ‘Transitionaries', people who can flit between realities with the aid of a drug called Septus. With me so far? Good.

But the head of the Concern's central council, Madame d'Ortolan, has her own agenda, and Oh finds himself a hunted man. A renegade called Mrs Mulverhill comes to his aid and he finds himself caught in a power struggle for control of The Concern. It's an ambitious storyline and thankfully free, for the most part, of Banks's recent penchant for making his character's mouthpieces for his political rhetoric.

Banks is no stranger to mixing genres, his earlier novels such as Walking on Glass and The Bridge featured fantasy elements, but here the whole story is fantastical.

However I do have reservations. The structure is fragmented to say the least and the start of the book is very confusing. You're not sure what the hell is going on and it takes perseverance to get a grip on the story. As ever Banks' can tell a good tale but what I'd really like is for him to return to the form of Espedair Street or The Crow Road - brilliantly told contemporary fiction. However, well worth reading.

This one is pretty much a hybrid Iain Banks and Iain M. Banks where Sci-Fi meets twisted social dissection. Think The Bridge but not quite as good. It took me a few attempts to get into this, all the narrators and stories found me flicking back and forth to help me anchor myself. I don't think I ever fully “got” it but I did enjoy the ride. Expect some gratuitous sex and violence and recurrent confusion if you attempt it. Probably only suitable for Banks' aficionados, particularly those who drift further towards the M. side of his works.

Based on the cover blurb, I passed over this book many times before actually reading it. Thankfully the blurb doesn't really do it justice.

I would describe this novel as quintessential Iain Banks, and I mean that in a good way: the multiple, intertwining narratives; the examinations of (a)morality; the touch of transhumanism and associated thoughtfulness about what it actually means to be human. It has some science fictional elements, but (despite what my library thinks) is not a Culture book (unless – as is always a possibility – I missed an oblique reference somewhere that would place it within the same universe). It's essentially a spy thriller that makes use of the many-worlds interpretation, executed with Banks' typical cleverness, finesse, and finely-tuned sense of irony. On the whole, it's not the Banks novel that has moved me the most deeply, but I feel like it would be a pretty good starter book for someone not quite ready to commit to the Culture.

“Lying here, during all this time after my own small fall, it has become my conviction that things mean pretty much what we want them to mean. We'll pluck significance from the least consequential happenstance if it suits us and happily ignore the most flagrantly obvious symmetry between separate aspects of our lives if it threatens some cherished prejudice or cosily comforting belief; we are blindest to precisely whatever might be most illuminating.”