Inversions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the book by Iain Banks. There is also a 1981 book of art with the same name, by puzzle designer Scott Kim.
| Inversions | |
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| Author | Iain M. Banks |
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| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Orbit Books |
| Publication date | 1998 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 393 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-85723-763-3 |
| Preceded by | A Song of Stone |
| Followed by | The Business |
Inversions is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1998. It is considered a novel set in his Culture universe. However, the term 'The Culture' is never used anywhere within the book, and unlike most other recent edition SF novels of Banks, does not carry the 'A Culture Novel' tag on the cover.
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[edit] Plot
It tells the story of two influential, and possibly extraplanetary, strangers within two competing societies on a world whose state of civilisation broadly resembles that of early modern Europe. The two entwined stories are of Vosill, or 'The Doctor', who looks after one kingdom's absolute monarch, and the bodyguard, DeWar, of a rival and more "progressive" country's Cromwellian Protector.
Vosill believes she can moderate the conservative, authoritarian rule of the king by argument and good works, while (it is heavily implied) also secretly assassinating those she considers a personal danger or a threat to a more positive future for the kingdom. DeWar in turn becomes convinced that someone connected to UrLeyn is trying to kill him. Both, it turns out, are mysterious outsiders from farther away than the King or Protector can possibly imagine.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
Like many other Banks books, Inversions has an interlaced structure; the grandson of the purported reporter of some of the events portrayed introduces the reader to the tales of his grandfather, thus giving three or four distinct layers of supposed narration (the two original fictional "authors", the fictional "editor" and Banks himself).
The two interlopers, intimate friends in the Culture before each came to intervene in the affairs of the world, develop different notions of the extent to which they can morally enforce change on an unwitting "weaker" society. Their respective outlooks are reflected in the way they choose to intervene in their respective societies.
The book stands out in the context of the Culture novels for the relatively confined space in which it is set - the other novels tend to span many worlds, and often much longer timespans. Inversions represents the most intimate portrayal in the Culture series of the ways in which Culture citizens can affect the paths of other societies.
[edit] Culture book?
Banks has said "Inversions was an attempt to write a Culture novel that wasn't".[1]
[edit] Bibliography
Inversions, Iain M. Banks, London: Orbit, 1998, ISBN 1-85723-763-3
[edit] References
- ^ Cultured futurist Iain M. Banks creates an ornate utopia (from a Science Fiction Weekly Interview)
[edit] External links
- New Iain Banks Novel Sets Archaic Setting Against the Stars (book review on Space.com)
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