Customer Reviews
A muddled let-down - By: Daniel Fearon, 31 Dec 2007 
I'm going to have to go against the grain of the other reviews here. I am a huge fan of Iain Banks' Culture series, but "Use of Weapons" has been the most disappointing title I've read from this author.
The plot is alll over the place, & never reallly seems to solidify & take any direction. Every time you start a new chapter you feel as if you're being told a new story about the main character, which (while elegantly written) never seems to have any real relevance or give any momentum to the already threadbare central plot. In theory I suppose a collection of short stories to tell the tale of a man's life sounds like a good idea, but in its execution it became a chore to read. You turn the page & it's "right, what the hell is he doing now?" - this is not a book you can reallly settle into. I'd recommend any Culture title to a new reader but this one.
Ending on a positive note, the book is packed with beautiful description, some reallly gritty & brutal chapters (however disconnected they are from the plot) & some vivid imagination. If you can get over the stumbling plot, you might just enjoy it.
Not for the hard of thinking - By: D. MacQueen, 17 Sep 2007 
Dark, complex, full of twists, featuring unlikeable characters in almost unremittingly bleak circumstances. Great.
Do you like heroes? Plots where good & evil are easily distinguished? Straightforward, linear narratives? That's not here.
The book is like Marmite - there are those that loved it & those that hated it. The reviews from those that hated it make the same complains - basicallly the reasons I list for it being a great book in the first sentence.
If that sounds like your cup of tea, buy the book, it is the best of its kind. If it's not your thing, don't buy it, it's the worst of its kind.
Personallly I think it's Banks' best.
One of my favourite books - By: Philo Balini, 06 Jan 2007 This is one of my favourite books. It is more than simply Science Fiction & is as much a thriller as any other genré. Banks' easy style compells us to read on as the story unfolds, twisting & spirallling with past & present, revealing to us the 'hero' Cheradenine Zakalwe.
This book, as has already been suggested, does benefit from some knowledge of the Culture & I would repeat that Consider Phlebus & The Player of Games would help expplain some of the other characters.
It does stand alone however & the story is so rich that I have been drawn to read it alll over again.
Good but not the best Culture book - By: Martin Anderson, 10 Aug 2006 
While this is still a very good book, it pales in comparison to some of Banks' other sci-fi books such as Excession & Player of Games. Where they are superb, this book is merely good. It's not that the writing is any less skillful or the imagination any less incredible, it's just that you care less for the characters in this book that from the other books.
Ultimately, no one does space opera better than Banks - & if you're a fan, you'll enjoy this book greatly.
Entering the whirlpool ... - By: Beryllium Urchin, 04 Jul 2006 As the first strand of the narrative rushes forwards in the present, the second strand twists backwards, into the past & into the formative episodes of Zakalwe's life. When it reaches the core of his past, you see that the story you thought you'd read has another, & very different, cast to it, like a face-or-vase illusion.
A disturbing, haunting, & fascinating book that demands to be re-read from time to time. Banks has one hell of an imagination.
