Dweller (Banks)

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Dwellers are a fictional species featured in The Algebraist, a science fiction novel by Iain M. Banks.

As described in the novel, Dwellers are extremely long living inhabitants of gas giant planets, similar to the Solar system's Jupiter, which is described in the book as not having enough water for them.

Dwellers are described as consisting of two discs, similar to a yo-yo, with various appendages at edges and hubs. They are large in adulthood, with small examples being about five metres in diameter and larger examples ranging up to ten metres. They are neutrally buoyant in a gas giant's atmosphere, and move by rotation of their disks, called "roting".

Their long life (individuals live for millions of years, the species has existed for billions), has made them anarchic and wise. They use the idea of kudos to define their sense of value within a society, and will trade or bet kudos like money. They claim that they have existed since the "first diaspora", at roughly two and a half billion years after the creation of the universe.

They pass their time in intrigues and ritualised 'war', giving the superficial impression to some that they are less than formidable, although it is widely noted that species who interfere with them tend to suffer bad consequences. In reality, they are very capable of defending themselves.