"The Algebraist" by Iain M. Banks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Banks doesn’t disappoint with this parallel title to his Culture series. Though written in a familiar style, this book deals with a unique universe in which pockets of human-origin species have spread about a galaxy rather tenuously linked by fragile wormholes. In the centuries-long isolated ward of Ulubis system, a researcher and ambassador of sorts finds himself embroiled in interstellar war, amusing xenopolitics and dealings with ghosts from his past. There’s a lot of plot on offer but, as ever, Banks arranges it marvellously.
I originally picked this up thinking it an offshoot Culture novel, given its quite similar cover art, but it is not despite some familiar transhuman themes. So The Algebraist might appear at first to lack the depth wielded by these other books. I think, however, that for once we have a book which focuses much more intently on inter-personal relationships and a more free-fall sort of adventure than the Culture series, in which the universe itself is a prominent and pleasant focus. It does ramp up the swearing and violence though, so is a less friendly read to those who like their sci-fi ‘15-rated’.
Fassin Taak, our protagonist, comes into contact with all manner of scary, charming and eccentric individuals on his whirlwind travels. We also come to understand a villain with a most deliciously macabre manner. This change in focus serves as a welcome break from the usual, political enemies of The Culture’s Contact division. Certainly the opening chapter, in which the Archimandrite Luciferous toys with his past enemies, is one of the most wonderfully unsettling things I may ever have read.
The three stars I grant this book are not a mark-down, but a statement of my utter satisfaction. At the end of the day this pleased me but didn’t wow me like Banks’ other works did, but that can hold merit in itself.
