As always from the Culture novels, this is lots of fun. There's another crisis in the offing, and a bunch of ship-Minds gathers to work out what to do.

At its core, this is a mystery novel: where is the oldest guy in the Culture, and what does he know?
Along the way, we're treated to some of the most spectacular battle sequences.

I most certainly did enjoy this a lot. The tiniest criticism is that, for the first time, it all felt a little familiar: somehow, Iain M Banks has always managed to make every previous novel seem like a journey into unfamiliar territory, despite the familiar backdrop of the Culture. That he has managed to keep that going across the previous (nine?) Culture novels is amazing.

Don't let this put you off - it's still a thumping good read.