In Review

22 November 2008 00:53 BST

Matter by Iain M Banks

Published by Orbit, out now, hardback, 593 pages, £18.99.

In a nutshell…

Witty Intergalactic, travel novel

What's it all about?

In a galaxy far away, there is a shell world - a multi-storey planet held up by numerous towers - and the laser-welding medieval Sarl people of the eighth level. The great king is killed by an ally, Tyl Loesp, and the heir Ferbin - assumed dead in battle - escapes with his manservant Holse to seek help and revenge through Kafka-esque bureaucracy, spybots and edust.

The younger prince's life is in danger from Tyl Loesp who aims to have him bumped off and take over after decades in the shadows. Meanwhile his sister - seconded away with the Culture - "a mongrel pan human and machine civilisation" - returns home for a culture shock.

We travel with them through the levels of the planet and across the universe. A short precise doesn't really give justice to the complexity and fun to be had on the way.

Who's it by?

Iain (M) Banks lives a schizophrenic literary life. With an M he delves into sci-fi - as with Matter - while without an M Banks is the author of The Crow Road and The Wasp Factory.

An understandable distinction, but criticised by many fans for needlessly undermining his sci-fi output, which as much literary strength despite the robots and strange species.

As an example…

"'Smell the air', Chilgitheri told them as they settle into the welcoming couches... 'You'll smell nothing unfilterd for a while, but this is the authentic scent of Buthmass'.
'It stinks,' Holse said."

What the others say

"The story's superbly kinetic endgame, meanwhile, seems a little squeezed. Here, Banks gleefully mashes together tropes from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the materiel of his universe works at maximum efficiency." - Guardian

"The conclusion is unexpectedly savage, emotionally powerful, and impossible to forget. Matter, it turns out, is not so much about the physical stuff as it is about what truly matters." - Times

So is it any good?

Verging on 600 pages with a 17-page glossary of key terms explained, Matter could well be off-putting to one - such as this reviewer - not au fait with the Culture universe.

However, access is easy into the multi-layered planet of Sursamen and well worth it. In the world of sci-fi often mocked for poor writing and an overdeveloped sense of importance, Matter is both well-written, witty, fun and a good read.

Beyond the story of a prince's escape and journey to avenge his father's death, and a princess's return home from the equality of the Culture to the misogyny of the Sarl, Banks creates a travelogue through a new universe and the many levels of Sursamen.

There are parallels with our world, the Iraq war, sexual politics, and surveillance society but - as with Tolkien - Matter is as much about a journey through a new world as a damn find intergalactic yarn.

Stories of spacemen will - unfortunately - turn many away, but Matter is well worth putting literary prejudices aside and enjoying a great novel of marvellous comment and intricacy

8/10

Daniel Barnes

"I enjoyed Matter tremendously. Throughout it are hints of Hamlet, which provide another layer, and which prefigured for me the violent endgame." - Carolyn Corkindale