Use of Weapons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Unknown Orbit edition cover | |
| Author | Iain M. Banks |
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| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Culture |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Little, Brown |
| Released | February 1, 1990 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 352 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-356-19160-5 |
| Preceded by | Canal Dreams |
| Followed by | The State of the Art |
Use of Weapons is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1990.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
It is the third Culture novel. The story is a biography of a man called Cheradenine Zakalwe who was born outside of the Culture and was recruited by the Culture's euphemistically named Special Circumstances agent Diziet Sma to work as an agent intervening in more primitive civilizations, and his attempts to come to terms with his own past.
[edit] Plot summary
The book is made up of two narrative streams, interwoven in alternating chapters. The numbers of the chapters indicate which stream they belong to: one stream is numbered forward in words (One, Two ...), while the other is numbered in reverse with roman numerals (XIII, XII ...). The story told by the former moves forward chronologically (as the numbers suggest) and tells a self-contained story, while in the latter each chapter is successively earlier in Zakalwe's life. Further complicating this structure is a prologue and epilogue set at another time entirely, and many flashbacks within the chapters.
The forward-moving stream of the novel deals with Diziet Sma's attempts to re-enlist Zakalwe for another "job", the task itself and the payment that Zakalwe wishes for it. The backward-moving stream describes earlier "jobs" that Zakalwe has performed for the Culture, ultimately returning to his pre-Culture career as a general on his homeworld.
[edit] History
Banks wrote a much longer version of the book with an even more complicated structure (Banks: "It was impossible to comprehend without thinking in six dimensions") in 1974, long before any of his books (science fiction or otherwise) were published. The book's cryptic acknowledgement credits friend and fellow science fiction author Ken MacLeod with the suggestion "to argue the old warrior out of retirement" (to rewrite the old book) and further credits him with suggesting "the fitness programme" (the new structure). MacLeod makes use of similar structures in his own novels, most notably in The Stone Canal.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
It is widely considered to be the best of the Culture novels, but also one of the least accessible due to its relatively complex structure. The Culture wrestles with its usual dilemma of whether or not to intervene in the affairs of other species.
As in Look to Windward and A Song of Stone, the main theme is the horror of war.
The book also includes, for the first time in a Banks novel, the possible beginning of another story. After the dénouement of Zakalwe's story, Diziet Sma visits a hospital in a less advanced civilisation. There she finds a heroic but crippled soldier and offers him renewed health and a job, presumably as a Culture mercenary. This section is entitled "States of War" and is labelled a prologue. As Banks has never announced any plans to write this story, it may be seen as adding a cyclical element to the story of Use of Weapons. As the central two strands of the novel cycle around to finish at essentially the same point, many readers find this circular interpretation appealing.
[edit] Bibliography
Use of Weapons, Iain M. Banks, London : Orbit, 1990, ISBN 0-356-19160-5, ISBN 0-7088-8358-3, ISBN 0-7088-8350-8, ISBN 1-85723-135-X (UK) ISBN 0-553-29224-2 (US)
[edit] External links
| Iain M. Banks books |
|---|
| Consider Phlebas • The Player of Games • Use of Weapons • The State of the Art • Against a Dark Background • Feersum Endjinn • Excession • Inversions • Look to Windward • The Algebraist |
