Iain Banks - Transition
The absence of the middle initial M in Iain Banks' name on the front cover suggests that Transition is being sold by his publisher as one of the author's mainstream works, as opposed to his equally successful science-fiction books.
In fact, this 24th novel from the critically and commercially successful writer makes that distinction almost completely obsolete, its complex and wildly imaginative storyline ostensibly set on Earth, but infused with such mind-boggling phenomena as to make that setting seem stranger than any alien planet.
The critics to review Scottish novelist Iain Banks’ new novel Transition can’t agree on whether the book is a masterpiece or a hunk of junk but I've had a lot of fun with it, although it's not a simple one to read, needs attention and patience. Banks creates here an universe of infinite different but related worlds, giving his mind free rein to create and describe all sorts of weird and wonderful alternatives to our society. Although the rapid changes of perspective often become frustrating and confusing, this is also a properly thrilling read. Well, as a matter of fact, perhaps I'll manage to find some place left in a shelf for this one.
Sinopsis:
"A world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse, such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light. But does it need the Concern: an all-powerful organisation with a malevolent presiding genius, pervasive influence and numberless invisible operatives in possession of extraordinary powers? On the Concern’s books are Temudjin Oh, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice; and a nameless, faceless torturer known only as the Philosopher.
And then there’s the renegade Mrs Mulverhill, who recruits rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, hiding out from a dirty past in a forgotten hospital ward. As these vivid, strange and sensuous worlds circle and collide, the implications of turning traitor to the Concern become horribly apparent, and an unstable universe is set on a dizzying course."
The critics to review Scottish novelist Iain Banks’ new novel Transition can’t agree on whether the book is a masterpiece or a hunk of junk but I've had a lot of fun with it, although it's not a simple one to read, needs attention and patience. Banks creates here an universe of infinite different but related worlds, giving his mind free rein to create and describe all sorts of weird and wonderful alternatives to our society. Although the rapid changes of perspective often become frustrating and confusing, this is also a properly thrilling read. Well, as a matter of fact, perhaps I'll manage to find some place left in a shelf for this one.
Sinopsis:
"A world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse, such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light. But does it need the Concern: an all-powerful organisation with a malevolent presiding genius, pervasive influence and numberless invisible operatives in possession of extraordinary powers? On the Concern’s books are Temudjin Oh, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice; and a nameless, faceless torturer known only as the Philosopher.
And then there’s the renegade Mrs Mulverhill, who recruits rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, hiding out from a dirty past in a forgotten hospital ward. As these vivid, strange and sensuous worlds circle and collide, the implications of turning traitor to the Concern become horribly apparent, and an unstable universe is set on a dizzying course."
You will find more (and better) here:
http://www.keepingthedoor.com/2009/09/08/iain-banks-transition-gets-mixed-reviews/
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/transition-by-iain-banks-1777592.html
http://www.iain-banks.net/uk/transition/
