Excession

· Hachette UK
4.7
345 reviews
Ebook
464
Pages

About this ebook

The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.

'Banks is a phenomenon'
William Gibson

Two and a half millennia ago in a remote corner of space, beside a trillion-year-old dying sun from a different universe, the artifact appeared.

It was a perfect black-body sphere, and it did nothing. Then it disappeared.

Now it is back.

Diplomat Genar-Hofoen of Special Circumstances is sent to investigate but, sidetracked by an old flame and the spoiled-brat operative Ulver Seich, and faced with the systematic depravities of a race who call themselves the Affront, it's anyone's guess whether he'll succeed . . .

Praise for the Culture series:

'Epic in scope, ambitious in its ideas and absorbing in its execution' Independent on Sunday

'Banks has created one of the most enduring and endearing visions of the future'
Guardian

'Jam-packed with extraordinary invention'
Scotsman

'Compulsive reading'
Sunday Telegraph

The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata

The State of the Art

Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist


Also now available:
The Culture: The Drawings - an extraordinary collection of original illustrations faithfully reproduced from sketchbooks Banks kept in the 1970s and 80s, depicting the ships, habitats, geography, weapons and language of Banks' Culture series of novels in incredible detail.

Ratings and reviews

4.7
345 reviews
Ian Birch
December 23, 2015
Fantastic story, brilliantly told. This book is one of my all time favourites. Packed with imaginative characters, intrigue, action and humour. Just persevere with the first chapter. I had a few false starts because of it. (It seemed a little slow to get going but intriguing enough that I would pick it up and try again).
6 people found this review helpful
Koma K
February 28, 2014
The Culture series is excellent, it started with a whimper with Consider Phlebas but improves dramatically in other books. You do not need to read the culture series in any particular order. If you don't like highly advanced AI minds you will by the end of Excession :)
7 people found this review helpful
A Google user
September 3, 2016
This may be my favourite book of all time. There's a way that - despite the fact that the main characters are machines complex behind human comprehension - it's communicated in such a great way; relatable, driven by fear, timidness, anger and defiance that makes it so relatable. A great, great book. Best of The Culture.
1 person found this review helpful

About the author

Iain Banks (1954-2013) 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.

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