No Gravitas Allowed -- The Iain [M.] Banks thread

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > No Gravitas Allowed -- The Iain [M.] Banks thread

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

outlier posted:

Recently finished "Matter" which left me unsatisfied for hard to define reasons. Maybe the story was too cluttered with alien races and cultures. Maybe it's because 80% of the book passes for the main group assembles and plot gets going - before that it's just a travelogue. Maybe it's the almost casual way in which characters are disposed of.

I felt most of Matter was not too bad but the ending was just way too rushed.

# ¿ May 30, 2009 14:27

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 21:58

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

Entropic posted:

It's really a good thing that the Minds are so benevolent towards humans in The Culture, 'cause if they ever decided to go all SkyNet they could wipe everyone out in the time it takes you to blink.

I think in one of the books somebody asked a Mind that question but I forgot the answer. Something like they could wipe out the humans in the Culture but they choose not to because they want to observe them like guinea pigs or for entertainment.

# ¿ Jul 7, 2009 17:40

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

FelchTragedy posted:

Well they kind of feel benevolent towards their ancestors. They have the unwritten rule not to read the minds of their charges out of this respect, which they are not bound to but choose to respect - or they face a measure of shunning. Also it doesn't cost them anything to run the habitats of their charges. If they didn't want to do it they aren't obliged to. They are just people-ish. When they are created they are made with a personality and influences from their creation. When some were made to have no personality or connection to the humanoid races, they immediately choose to sublime.

The end of Windward suggests thatthe Culture no longer exist after 1 Galactic Cycle. Do you think it means they all sublimed or simply died off?

# ¿ Jul 8, 2009 01:58

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

WE DOIN IT NOW posted:

I'm pretty sure this is actually stated in Look To Windward when the societies in the Universe are being explained on a technological level. They mention the Culture as being one of the races that has reached its peak and simply chooses not to sublime for whatever reason. Think it happens in one of the chapters on the Behemothaurs.

Does the ending of Look to Windward suggestthat the Culture died out eventually or they sublimed instead?

# ¿ Oct 9, 2009 06:24

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

Oberleutnant posted:

Hey skanks. A Gift From The Culture is being made into a film directed by Dominic Murphy.

THat's pretty cool. Would have preferred to see Player of Games as a movie though.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2009 02:56

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

Turpitude posted:

I fwiggin' loved Matter to the bitter end.

I loved Matter but I just felt it got more and more rushed as it came to the ending. Like heading into a black hole.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2010 02:56

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

Entropic posted:

It kind of meanders along slowly for hundreds of pages then suddenly falls off a cliff and decides to be an action movie in the last couple chapters.

Hahaha yeah, it was like a spaceship casually cruising around then suddenly encounting a black hole and speeding faster and faster till hitting the singularity.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2010 05:59

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

NmareBfly posted:

And don't forget that it's of particular interest not because it keeps eating ships, but because the way it's connected to the hyperspace grid implies that the Culture could learn from it how to escape the heat death of the universe which is one of the only tech questions they still have floating around.

Technically couldn't the Culture just sublime and escape the heat-death? I am currently re-reading Excession and it mentions that parts of the Culture have already sublimed but the majority don't want to do so yet.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2010 07:36

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

Entropic posted:

I really liked the "Afterlife" stuff hinted at in Look to Windward, so this sounds like it could be awesome.

I would to see a book which involved the Sublimed. That could be pretty cool.

# ¿ May 11, 2010 10:46

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

Verloc posted:

I think a large part of why the Dwellers work so well is because of the Luseferous story arc. There's a huge amount of effort spent building him up as this very human stereotype of moustache-twisting villainy, all the human characters/factions are frantically preparing for the dramatic final showdown in true SF trope fashion and then *WHAM* Luseferous runs smack into a wall of alien psychology and technology. The point of the character and his arc was to be ultimately pointless because he tries to deal with the Dwellers like he would humans or at least other Quick species, and winds up getting absolutely nowhere because of how completely different they are.

Yeah I really liked that section where Lusefereous was trying to negotiate with the Dwellers and they were so utterly nonchalant about it.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2010 18:13

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

mcustic posted:

Two large obstacles stand in way of a Banks' book made into a semi-decent film. The first one is, his aliens are just too alien, not just dudes with stuff on their heads Star Trek style, not to say anything about the Minds. I'd hate to see a film in which Minds look like old dudes in robes conversing in some sort of paradisy VR environment, and I'd hate it even more if Homomda or Afrronters were "humanized" for a film.
The other big problem would be that the coolest things about the Culture can't really be shown, they have to be told. You'd need terrible unfilmable infodumps to introduce even the simplest concepts such as glanding or neural laces.

Leaving that aside, I'd love to see Player of Games on film. I believe that one would be the easiest to film since Azadis look fairly humanoid. However, making the CGI for the game of Azad would be very challenging. Bill Murray should do the voice for Mahrwin-Skel.

Consider Phlebas is fairly filmable, but at a danger of the last third looking and feeling like AvP, which is absolutely a horrible thought. James Callis would make an awesome Horza, though.

Wow, this sounds so goony.

I agree that out of all his books so far, the Player of Games is probably the easiest to translate into a movie. Azad would be challenging but not impossible. Maybe they'll take some artistic liberties with the way the game is visualised.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2010 17:54

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

Ask him if we're going to get to see more SC agent + SC drone combos. Would love to see a pair of them finally get to go all out.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2010 20:48

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

BastardySkull posted:

Yeah I should have worded this better. I'm wondering how people imagine them to look like 'inside'. I'm guessing that would just be some sort of containment field/vessel. I've always imagined them to be similar to the positronic brains from the I, Robot movie.

That might be about right. I remember reading that most of the Mind is in another higher dimension or something. The Mind we can see is just the anchor to the world and there are biological parts as well I think.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2011 07:48

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

BastardySkull posted:

Inversions isn't strictly 'A Culture novel' so I'm not doing it I'm afraid! I haven't even read it actually, I should get round to it.

Yeah this is going on the back. I've actually mocked up the front covers of 2 already just to try and get a feel for the style. Keeping a slightly modified version of the current text with the same font for now.

Pretty nice covers dude, you appreciate them more once you've read through the books.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2011 04:16

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 21:58

alkanphel: Mar 24, 2004

drat those are nice! I wish they could be the real covers, I really like the Matter one as well.

# ¿ May 9, 2011 02:43

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