The Algebraist (spoilers)

[phantom power]

It's my first Iain Banks book. I like him. I'm glad I learned about him on this forum.

I felt a bit let down by it, entertaining as it was. The entire plot-line regarding the rape/murder of Ilen by Sal, followed by the revenge quest of Taince... What was that for? It didn't connect in any way with the main story. I didn't see how it figured in the character development of Fassin, at least (again) as it pertained to the main story. And then there was this mysterious piece of metal that Sal kept. It gets treated with all this foreshadowing, and then simply is never mentioned again.

Loved the Dwellers, though. There should be more aliens that hilarious. But it would have been entertaining to explore how a technological civilization develops, entirely without land. What are the innovation pathways?

I was pleased with myself that I guessed the answer to the wormhole mystery. Freshman physics pays off, after 15 short years.

[eppur_se_muova]

1. If you possibly can, locate "Player of Games" -- his 2nd SF novel.

At least it was the second printed, don't know if it was necessarily second in terms of date of writing. For whatever reason, it is hard to find now.

It uses one of my absolute least favorite plot devices -- that of a struggle based on games -- you know, our chess champion vs yours in single combat for the fate of the universe. I had to *make* myself start reading the book because of that, even though I already knew I liked his SF. It turned out to be a great read. The Culture decided from the outset that "Hell yeah we're gonna cheat!" which strips out a lot of the pretentious suspense re the game that usually fills such stories, and replaces it with suspense on other issues. A darned good read, IMHO.

If you've already read "Consider Phlebas", "Player of Games" is a nice return to The Culture. If you haven't, POG won't spoil CP for you. (There is something to be said for reading an author's book in the order in which they were written, even when he hasn't deliberately connected them together.)

Check out his Wiki bio -- he's quite the leftist!

[phantom power]

2. I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.

Lucky me, Christmas is coming up. The season when I celebrate Christ's birth by compiling a list of stuff I want.
:evilgrin: