Surface Detail

« Surface Detail » est le neuvième et avant-dernier tome du cycle de la Culture de Iain M. Banks. Malgré ses qualité indéniables, c'est peut-être celui que j'ai pris le moins plaisir à lire. Certains passages m'ont beaucoup plu, mais je dois avouer que j'ai fini par me lasser de la multitude de scènes d'action, qui n'ont jamais été mes scènes préférées dans la littérature de science-fiction.

Le roman parle principalement de réalités virtuelles, de religion, de pénitence, et du concept de réalité, le tout au sein d'un récit de vengeance digne d'une tragédie grecque (c'est un compliment venant de moi) et de complots intergalactiques pas toujours aisés à suivre. Nous suivons plusieurs personnages plus ou moins sympathiques et attachants : il y a ceux dont j'ai suivi les aventures avec plaisir, ceux que j'ai adoré détester, ceux qui m'ont ému, et ceux qui m'ont laissé totalement indifférent.

Ce roman m'a donc laissé avec une impression contrastée : des idées lumineuses, une créativité toujours géniale, des passages réellement sublimes, mais avec des personnages inégaux, un récit un peu trop confus à mon goût, et des scènes d'action trop fréquentes et trop longues. J'ai parfois eu l'impression de lire deux livres en un : l'un centré sur la psychologie des personnages et la philosophie, tendant vers ce que j'avais tant aimé dans « Look to Windward » ; l'autre plus proche de la SF militaire, qui n'est pas franchement mon sous-genre préféré dans la science-fiction.

Quoiqu'il en soit, cela reste tout de même de la très bonne science-fiction, supérieur à la moyenne des publications dans ce genre. Il ne me reste désormais plus qu'un roman à lire pour achever ce monumental cycle de la Culture.

This was not, to my mind, one of Banks' best novels. There were times that it seemed to drag a bit, and the scenes in Hell were not to my taste. I also felt that there was too much emphasis on main villain Veppers and not enough on the Quietus agent sent to deal with the problem.

Having said which, Banks off his form is still up there with the best, and it's well worth the trouble. There are memorable characters, with the Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints being particularly so. And, as always, it's full of stunning ideas and details, a setting on a grand scale, where things aren't always black-and-white.

So it's not a full 5 stars, but I'll give it 4.5 rounded up to 5, which will do nicely.

The book in one quote:
“What?” the angel cried. “will you have no thought for your immortal soul?”“Oh, fuck off,” Chay said.

I had to give this book a few days to let its impression settle in my mind, and I didn't want to let Culture fatigue color my opinion on the book. For anyone that's not counting, this is book 9 of 10 and we are fast approaching the finish line on this series. As the second of the “newly released” (this millennia) Culture novels, I think I am starting to see a pattern or commonality in these releases: this book, like Matter, is of immense quality but is retreading some of the themes previously discussed in the series. Surface Detail is all about death and the after life, and for my money has one of the most interesting premises in the whole series with a virtual war between the multitudinous heavens and hells of the greater galactic community being the centerpiece conflict. Parallel to the main course, Banks has a feast of philosophical themes and ethical questions on offer that are sure to be ringing around your noggin for a good long while. I found this book to be very similar to Excession in its sprawling scope and multiple plotlines, and similar-to-but-not-to-the-same-degree as Excession my chief complaint is that the book can feel disjointed at times, and it can be difficult to keep track of all the different characters and settings.

The story follows a variety of characters in different parts of the galaxy, each of whom is grappling with the idea of the afterlife and the role that virtual reality can play in it. Banks' vivid imagination is on display prominently, from the diverse array of cultures and technologies to the virtual hells that some societies create to torture their dead. The political and social structures of the universe are complex and nuanced, and the different factions well developed. The text is rich in fuel for an ethics debate on the purpose of hell and what its existence says about the nature of god, or in the case of the story, the societies who have created their own. I keenly noticed the influence of Salman Rushdie in Banks' previous works especially whenever he tacks towards religion as a subject-and this book is no exception. The conflict between the two factions in the afterlife is essentially a debate about what is the best way to handle the afterlife and how justice is defined.

The central plotline concerning Lededje and Veppers is what pulls the whole book forward and it is as compelling as it is thought provoking. The relationship between the two characters and their place in the larger narrative concerning the war for the afterlife is rich with metaphor and raises my favorite moral/ethical concern of the book. Veppers our token megalomaniacal interplanetary tycoon escapes the punishment that trope and convention demands. Separate from Banks' love of subverting trope, this situation serves to illustrate the need for a hell (a detail not observed otherwise by the plot) as some people are just too powerful or well connected for them to ever face the music in their own lifetime (unless you happen to be besties with a top-of-the-fucking-line abominator class death machine cum spaceship). Hell serves as the place where Veppers and people like him would ostensibly face justice for their transgressions in the real, but as the novel takes great care to illustrate, hell is an evil torturous place that no “good” person could be operating without being morally compromised.

Out of all of the Culture stories so far, this felt to me to be the least “Culture” of them all. Not only does this book have little to do with the Culture from a narrative/plotting standpoint but the themes being discussed don't have the same taint of “this is what the Culture does/believes so it's obviously correct,” that's the signature of the series. As I read on I couldn't help but feel like this story would have faired better as its own series comprising two or three separate books. I don't mean to complain about the excessive number of plotlines/characters/subplots because I never got lost in the story the same way I did with Excession, and more importantly they all connected at the end rather miraculously. That said, as a standalone Culture entry there are issues with the pacing and if I had been proofing this, my suggestion would have been to give the plot room to run as its own series. The series wouldn't even have to be entirely outside the Culture universe, the small nod to Use of Weapons and the venerable Zakalwe at the end could have, like in Inversions, only hinted at the larger context of the series.

TL;DR: This book can be complex, meandering, and dense at times but is very compelling and thought provoking. The imaginative premise and quality of the writing is top notch. I would say this one was for the fans and that it may not be the easiest read for the general public.

Yes there are some very serious themes in this but also a ton of Banks showing off his humor.

Story: Basically a revenge tale at heart but also a lot of politics and religion.
Character: Main character and some of ship Minds are excellent, main baddie a bit thin.
Setting: Fantastical Space settings for sentient entities in the “real” while the parts set in a simulation of “hell” are super creepy and violent.
Language: Banks in full flow in this one with great humor.

Overall good stuff but just feels thin or maybe should have been edited down?