Excession
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| Author | Iain M. Banks |
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| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Culture |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Orbit Books |
| Released | 1996 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 451 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-85723-394-8 |
| Preceded by | Whit |
| Followed by | A Song of Stone |
Excession is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1996.
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[edit] Plot introduction
It is the fourth of his novels to feature the Culture. It is a large-scale space opera, with a complex plot following many characters across large volumes of space.
[edit] Plot summary
The book details the Culture's response to an "Outside Context Problem", the Excession of the title (essentially a Big Dumb Object), is a perfect black-body sphere that appears mysteriously on the edges of Culture space. It appears to be older than the Universe itself. The Excession is mysterious and ineffable for a while, and then disappears after a brief interaction with the Interesting Times Gang, taking with it a number of individuals. From the epilogue, the Excession appears to be a sentient entity, acting essentially as the foot of a bridge for a procession of even higher beings which travel between universes and other vaguely defined spaces. The Culture universe is analogous to a river that the procession crosses. The Excession determines the suitability of the species and societies it encounters to be enlightened as to some unknown further existence beyond the Universe. Due to the ruckus caused by the Excession it deems the Culture not suitable for enlightenment and moves so that it will not disturb the 'savages' any more, hence its disappearance at the end of the book.
One of the main plot elements is the relationship between the Culture and a civilization appropriately named the Affront, a sadistic species which views all other sentient beings (including other members of their own species) as tools for their amusement. Rapid Offensive Units stored during peacetime in the asteroid Pittance are the focus of a double-cross within the Culture. Genar-Hofoen, a Culture diplomat and his ex-lover Contact agent Dajeil; the Zetetic Elench, who split from the main body of the Culture; the Eccentric GSV Sleeper Service; and the unusual GCU Grey Area, all play parts.
Sublimation, encountered for the first time in Consider Phlebas (the Dra'Azon custodians of Schar's world are a sublimed species), is used again here. It becomes an important plot device in Look to Windward.
Messages between ships, which resemble e-mails or instant messages, are used as a stylistic device.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
The book, more than any of the other Culture novels, focuses on the Culture's Minds as protagonists.
When asked about his focus on the possibilities of technology in fiction, Banks said about the book:
'You can't escape the fact that humanity is a technological species, homo technophile or whatever the Latin is. Technology is neither good or bad, it's up to the user. We can't escape what we are, which is a technological species. There's no way back.'[1]
[edit] Bibliography
Excession, Iain M. Banks, London: Orbit, 1996, ISBN 1-85723-394-8
[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 |
