Consider Phlebas

I remember seeing this in a book shop with a shiny silver highlight on the cover, and recognisng the name of the author of "The Wasp Factory", which I had read and really enjoyed. But what was he doing in the SF section, and what was the "M" all about? I guessed correctly that here was an author living a double life in so-called literature AND my home base of genre fiction, especially SF. And I found his SF was far superior to his realistic fiction or whatever you call that rubbish :-).

On early readings I didn't quite absorb the brilliant creation of Banks' future utopia the Culture, partly because this first novel highlights a character who has turned against this pan-galactic anarchist society, and worked for a religious extremist society sworn to destroy it. It's like Banks wanted to stress-test his perfect society by portraying one of its apostates first up.

Anyway, it's a great book, as the horrible Idirans and the Culture operatives race to rescue a stranded "mind" one of the super-powerful artificial intelligences which are at the core of the Culture.

I turned the last page of Banks' 'Consider Phlebas' a couple of nights ago, and I enjoyed (almost) every moment of it. Having read a great deal of Bank's literary works, I knew what to expect from his style. Strong pace, clear sense of character and motivation, complex themes presented in layman’s terms - not patronising, but welcoming, understanding - yet continuing to prickle at the back of your mind, encouraging you to read more. It was every bit as I expected, and more, as I hadn't expected his science fiction settings to have the same epic feel as other writers in the genre, and the final moments of the text were a complete surprise.

It felt great opening up another work of science fiction. It felt like coming home after a long trip. Like a long awaited hug. 'Consider Phlebas' opens and ends with violence. Shuttles are rocked by the impact of missiles and lasers as a number of ships engage in armed conflict open fire on one another. The races could not be more different - a race of three legged religious fanatics waging war with a race of sentient machines. The protagonist is caught in the middle, and then becomes a valuable tool in the conflict - his race, as a Changer, grants him access to a planet no other would dare step foot on. It just so happens that on that planet there is a thing-that-both-parties-want, and so the scene is set. Horza, the protagonist, needs to collect himself and get the thing-that-both-parties-want and deliver this to the three legged Idirian's before the sentient machines (the Culture) can get to it first.

Much of the novel takes place in the immediate aftermath of Horza's rescue from near death. Saved by the Idirian's, he is given a task and then launched into space following a battle between the Idirian's and the Culture. With nothing to hand, Horza has to start from the very beginning. The first half, perhaps more than half, of the novel is Horza finding his way in the world. I can imagine some - particularly those fond of pulp fiction - may find Banks' approach slow. It takes Horza a long time to get to where he needs to be, but I found that journey to be the most satisfying aspect of 'Consider Phlebas'. Horza's failing upward grounded me in the world and made the setting feel real and human, a number of incidents were the consequences of accidents and mistakes - either by Horza, or by others. This slow build allowed me to sink deep into the systems Banks was describing, and it never felt as if Banks was forcing exposition.

In fact, the only part in which I felt the text wobble was when Horza's party did eventually make it to the planet he had been tasked with investigating at the inception of the book. The setting narrowed violently - from the vastness of space where operatic battles played out around space stations, into tunnels deep beneath the frozen wastes of a forgotten planet. A solid third of the text takes place on this planet - and the tunnels are as constricting for the reader as they likely were for Banks' writing. His descriptions are continuously informative and insightful, however, even whilst trapped below the earth, but the ‘epicness’ is lost, and I too felt the sluggish trudge from one tunnel to the next.

Perhaps this is intended.

For those who haven't read the book, and intend to, then please do not read on

Horza's failure in the books final moments completely blows open traditional science fiction in which the protagonist saves the day. The long and drawn out section in the lower tunnels tests the abilities of all of those in the party, costing most of them their lives - and I closed the book thinking, 'and for what?' I felt then that the 'epicness' of previous chapters and sections were a kind of ruse - the task the main character had been given, if achieved, would not necessarily have ended the conflict, and yet he was so driven.

I was not surprised to find that, on closing the book, I continued to think long and hard about what had happened and what it had meant. An aspect of Banks' writing style, no doubt, as he so often sinks his teeth into morality, ethics, politics and philosophy. When I think back on 'Consider Phlebas' I think back on the presentation of the races - Horza's ruminations as to what the Idirian's are like, what they value, the make-up of their culture, and then too his thoughts on the Culture, and his own views on the two. It is a text in which the world is introduced through a character who very much wants to see his aims fulfilled, but who is defeated at the final turn. His is one of the many who fought and died; one of the many who had a task, and sadly, it was not achieved. In the words of the great KV - so it goes.

I've already purchased the next book - Player of Games.