electronic resource, 339 pages
English language
Published April 6, 2008 by Orbit.
The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action.
The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.
The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a lost cause. But not even its machine could see the horrors in his past.
anarchist John Wick but sad and filled with trauma. just needs a hug really.
Content warning General spoilers
Sorta hard to follow - the two streamed structure really had me confused about what was going on until I had some hindsight at the end. Most of the important bits of the story were not lost, but I wish I had a stronger idea of what was going on. The whole thing felt very dream-like. The Elethiomel reveal doesn't really fully justify it. I love all the drones and minds in the culture, regardless of how unhinged they are.
This book really does hit home on how immoral and sorta imperialistic special circumstances is. There is a fine line to be walked between imperialism and benevolent interference, and I feel like special circumstances always ends up on the side of spreading their ideology to everyone regardless of the means it takes to get there. I think beychae's notes on that near the middle are pertinent to that.
I likely will revisit this and read again - I feel like I took too long to read this so the beginning wasn't too fresh in my mind while I was finishing it.
A little confusing at first before realizing it was sort of two stories going in opposite directions. It was a bit of a drag..
Not a fan of the end and it's twist, got sort of a schizophrenic impression of the protagonist when he acted traumatized by horrible things he was the sole cause of. Horrible chairs. Pretend the twist didn't happen and the whole book makes more sense.
Content warning Spoilers for the plot of Use of Weapons, including the ending
This is the second Culture novel I've read, the other being "Consider Phlebas".
I was a bit disappointed by the previous book's outside view of the Culture itself, which I had seen described in advance and was curious about. This novel similarly has primarily an outsider's perspective, but it still manages to give a better glimpse into what life in the Culture is like, with several interludes of luxurious post-scarcity hedonism, and an apparent near transcendence of aging and death.
The plot concerns the moral grey areas and hypocrisies of the Culture's interactions with other societies. They abhor violence themselves when confronted with it, but are not above employing a man like Zakalwe to wage war on their behalf, or abandon their allies on a whim in the wars they choose to fight. Yet they do so in order to prevent larger scale wars, and retard the growth of fascist movements that don't consider everybody in the Culture, and many outside it, to even be people.
I found the structure of the novel a bit confusing, especially initially. Alternating chapters follow two strands of Zakalwe's life, with one moving forward and one backward in time. They come to a head in a pair of chapters, and an epilogue, that reveal exactly the type of monster that the Culture has partnered with. The payoff is worth the confusion.
My least favourite of Banks' "The Culture" novel, but I’m reading them all again for lighter reading when I’m too tired for anything heavier.
There is probably as much social commentary as character development.
"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 …
"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 !
Reminded me of [b:Chasm City|89185|Chasm City|Alastair Reynolds|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309203334l/89185.SY75.jpg|2926628] by [a:Alastair Reynolds|51204|Alastair Reynolds|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1521740247p2/51204.jpg].
Good:
dynamic between Diziet & Skaffen-Amtiskaw
2 storylines were a bit confusing at first but made the ending really gripping
big reveal has enough foreshadowing to make it enjoyable
Bad:
present time storyline is basically succession of fetch quests (with infinite resources at each step)
* I would have liked more insight into the chair incident (how does one do that?)
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 …
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.
Use of Weapons is a great book, I really enjoyed the Culture's meddling in other societies.
The timeline is confusing in the beginning, it really comes together by the end. And the end... is haunting...
Darker than the first two books, I liked it a little less, because the Culture was shown a little less, on the other hand, it's darker side was shown, so there's that. I love it that these books are all separate stories with only the world they happen in connecting them. It's wonderful.
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 …
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.
Reread; still one of the most gripping works of science fiction I've ever read. And discovered at least one wrinkle I had missed in the first 3 (4?) reads; Banks was very, very good at what he did.
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 …
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?
Banks seems to have very quickly begun struggling with the limitless potential of the universe he created. It only took two books for him to return to the identical premise of his first book, that of a deliberately anachronistic, contrarian, but morally-driven professional warrior used by but not part of the Culture, and haunted by a long bloody past. On the whole, it was better the first time and did not need to be repeated. I was also deeply unimpressed by the "reveal" at book's end. This rut of Banks' is all the more frustrating for the occasional glimpses he gives of a vast universe where not everyone curses and drinks like a 20th century American, and indeed may not even be humanoid, carbon-based, or involved in military conflicts. Surely he could devote more than a chapter to those stories.
Phenomenal. One of the best SF books I've ever read. I can see why so many people have told me this was their favorite of the Culture books.
