Against a Dark Background

Iain M. Banks

Jul 2009 · Sold by Orbit

About this ebook

From science fiction master Iain M. Banks comes a standalone adventure of one woman on the run in an isolated galaxy. 

Sharrow was once the leader of a personality-attuned combat team in one of the sporadic little commercial wars in the civilization based around the planet Golter. Now she is hunted by the Huhsz, a religious cult which believes that she is the last obstacle before the faith's apotheosis, and her only hope of escape is to find the last of the apocalyptically powerful Lazy Guns before the Huhsz find her.

Her journey through the exotic Golterian system is a destructive and savage odyssey into her past, and that of her family and of the system itself.

Ratings and reviews

Not my favorite from the Iain M. Banks releases. It's not really part of the Culture series, but still follows a similar style (albeit mostly on a single planet, no Culture contact). The book includes many characters that overlap and, while the plot seems a simplistic goal, it gets quite lost along the way.

Pages missing in two chapters in the middle of sentences to be obvious. A pity, quite an excellent book. I'll try to find a print copy.

I read this semi anually! The only comparable bookis actually by the same author, "matter". It is fantastic!

About the author

Iain Banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984. Consider Phlebas, his first science fiction novel, was published under the name Iain M. Banks in 1987 and began his celebrated ten-book Culture series. He is acclaimed as one of the most powerful, innovative and exciting writers of his generation.