Use of Weapons

"Use of Weapons" est le troisième roman du cycle de la Culture de Iain M. Banks. Je viens de le terminer et à chaud, je ne saurais pas dire s'il est aussi réussi que "The Player of Games", son prédécesseur dans le cycle, ou juste en-deça. Dans tous les cas, c'est un excellent roman de science-fiction, qui fait preuve d'une intelligence rare.

La structure narrative, avec ses deux lignes temporelles, l'une chronologique, l'autre antichronologique, n'est pas toujours simple à suivre, et je ne suis d'ailleurs pas certain d'être capable de résumer toute l'histoire complète du début à la fin et de la fin au début, mais quoi qu'il en soit c'est passionnant du début à la fin.

J'avais lu beaucoup de bien de ce cycle romanesque de Iain M. Banks et je dois dire qu'après avoir lu les trois premiers romans, c'est aussi bon que je l'espérais. De quoi me rendre encore plus impatient de lire la suite, ce que je vais m'empresser de faire !

thoroughly enjoyed ‘Use of Weapons’ and would place it on par with ‘Player of Games’. I am, in truth, not so keen on guns-blazing sci-fi, so my enjoyment of ‘Use of Weapons’ was tempered by those aspects, though I enjoyed the anti-war sentiments it entertained in the books later stages. There was little political intrigue, and the book focused heavily on the character of Zakalwe, his psychology, his history, and on the various conflicts he had been active in – but his character is far from shallow. He is no token heroic figure. It was this aspect that I enjoyed the most – attempting to understand why Zakalwe functioned the way that he did, and Banks did a fantastic job of adding complexity to this main character without revealing too much. I was kept guessing right up until the end.

Banks also does a fantastic job of giving a sense of place to the various planets and systems we are lead through. Some have more flesh than others, but the various levels of development, the natures of the conflicts, and the situations in which Zakalwe finds himself are far from repetitive and highly imaginative. The danger here is always that, if the characterisation comes across as weak, then the reader has nothing to grip on to.

It’s also the first of his sci-fi books that have reached the level of horror I have experienced in his literary works. There’s a Cronenberg feel to the situations in ‘Use of Weapons’. Visceral, in some cases almost comic gore, a real blood spatter drama to some situations.

I finished this a few weeks ago and I had trouble thinking of the review. I was in a stressful place and this book has a lot of back and forth in timelines and the engine that moves it forward was to me a bit clunky. I kept getting lost, having to re-read, and when you struggle both in real life, and in a book, it just makes it slow going which then leads to demuring if it's a good one. As the book concludes it has a massive saving grace in the culmination. Otherwise I thought it was a 3* at the time.

Upon my reflection though and reading the next in the Culture series I realize how the overall series is mapping out. It's operatic-sodal, yea it's my new word. There is a cannon and these are mini-views into those lifes. They could span hundreds, maybe a thousand years, and we get these snapshots into the timeline.

This book was far more story driven on past discrepencies, family feudal, and the Cultural stance of walking it's fine--fine--not-so-fine line of messing with others.

If I re-read this in a few more months I think I would enjoy it more. Due to the way it was written and my mindset I think a lot of the mire was self-imposed. It is not flawed in its style, prose, or thoughts. Just be somewhat aware that the way it winds its world, history, and current tense may take a more pragmatic approach than the previous, or the next in the series.

Have fun, and enjoy the culmination.

I just finished Iain M. Banks' 'Use of Weapons' yesterday. It's a science-fiction/space opera about this intergalactic operative/agent of some shadowy organization which manipulates governments in order to promote peace in the universe.

It was a bit slow in the beginning, plus the structure of showing fragments of the main character's past can be confusing. But it picks up relentlessly past the middle part and becomes just explosive in the end.

I liked the portrayal of the AIs. They usually are funny and quirky, providing the much-needed levity to all the bleakness and darkness in the novel.

This is my first sci-fi of Mr. Banks. The very first novel of his I've read is 'The Wasp Factory,' which is a whole different kind of novel. I am more of the cyberpunk sci-fi type, but I've read and liked several space operas like Dune, Hyperion, and Revelation Space.

Themes of this book: guilt, atonement, remorse, war, memories, and of course, weapons.

Just a footnote: Prior to finishing the novel, I picked up and randomly sifted through this very slim book called 'The Bluffer's Guide to Philosophy.' There's a part there talking about ethics. It says there are two main lines of thought in ethics: utilitarian and deontological ethics. The first, (and this is my understanding of it, a simplification), goes by the dictum: 'the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people' as the measure of good/morality. Deontological ethics is more complicated, but I gather it's the one that says 'do only the things you want other people to do to you and to other people ...', or something like that. Basically why I bring this up is this - if a person becomes remorseful/grows a conscience and atones for his past misdeeds by doing countless good works, does this expiate that one single act of brutality that he has done?

I’ve tried to read this book at least twice before and bounced off. I haven’t read the previous books in the series, and though this Culture novel is reputed to be the best entry point, there is no on-ramp for the new reader.

It turns out to be a fun space adventure with an unfortunately difficult structure, featuring two-fisted mercenary Zakalwe: a professional military advisor and covert agent of the Culture.

The Culture, while peripheral to the action, is the most interesting idea present: a post-scarcity society of space wizards who are vastly powerful and vastly moral. Their disregard for physical and resource limitations locates this book in fantasy rather than science fiction.

They also provide the perfect backdrop for a character like Zakalwe: a no-nonsense military man who barks tough-guy one liners at his effete handlers and incompetent clients. Honestly, I’m a sucker for that stuff. I read Tom Clancy books and like them.

But half of the chapters break away from the action for flashbacks to Zakalwe’s centuries-long history of warfighting. Some of those are worthwhile (like an entertaining episode where Zakalwe is briefly beheaded), but in most of them he just drinks and broods about his mysterious dark past. It all leads up a twist that the astute reader will see coming a light-year away.

So I qualify it as good, not great. There are interesting ideas and engaging scenes if you can get to them. Just be ready to skim.