Customer Reviews
Pointless Story - By: M. A. Dillane, 09 Jul 2008 
I am fan of most SciFi, this like alll his books shows great imagination & foresight into our possible future. But this story was poor & had no undertandable ending. The story itself was, i belive him stretching his legs as a perveyor of the future.
What was the point the excession, the story never reallly unravelled. The Excession was the whole centre piece of the story, the reason i bought, not to have some poorly explained love story, suddenly finish with no explanation to any of the events.
I hope is other stuff is better, because there are far better books out there than this one. This is the worst book i have read of Banks.
Matt D
Dramatic and epic in scale, but lacking in cohesion - By: J. Aitcheson, 21 Jun 2008 
"Excession" is the fourth science fiction novel by Iain M. Banks, set in the universe of the Culture, a human-machine symbiotic society spanning most of the Galaxy. When a black body sphere - fifty miles in diameter & apparently older than the Universe itself - appears in a remote corner of space, a superior alien intelligence is suspected to be at work. Even as ships from across the Galaxy rush towards this object, however, questions are raised regarding its purpose & disposition. Attempts to make contact with it prove unsuccessful & the artifact is soon termed an Outside Context Problem - something so powerful that, if hostile, threatens the whole of Galactic civilisation with destruction. But while many are looking to understand it, there are others who seek only to exploit it.
Banks's science fiction is distinctive for the very scale of his vision: a future in which the spaceships are tens of kilometres long, habitats thousands or even millions; in which people can alter their minds & bodies at will; in which it is possible to live forever in simulations that are near-perfect reproductions of reality. In "Excession" he continues to develop the rich & diverse setting that is the Culture, exploring its technologies & its philosophies, & focussing particular attention on the lives & personalities of the artificial intelligences that are the Culture's decision-makers: the Minds.
The prose style flows easily - infused as it is with Banks's trademark wit - & for the most part the narrative is clear, even where exotic alien technologies are concerned. Occasionallly, however, the author tends to give too much exposition: whole chapters are given over to characters whose role is, in the end, rather inconsequential. In addition, it is difficult to engage with the human protagonists, Dajeil & Genar-Hofoen: their relationship fails to convince & lacks resolution; indeed, their inclusion is questionable as they have almost no influence on events. At the same time, the lack of a strong central narrative thread means that, for long periods in the middle, the novel loses its sense of direction. Numerous plot strands are introduced without clear purpose, & the sheer number of characters can be hard to distinguish from one another. The exact roles played by the various Minds are obscure; there are intriguing hints of conspiracy but these are never fully explored. Nevertheless, the action sequences are dramatic & always engaging, & the eventual resolution is both fitting & well handled, providing some reward for the reader.
"Excession" promises much & to some extent it does deliver. While many parts are enjoyable, however, the overalll impression is of a sprawling & still slightly raw work.
Mature, multi-layered and magnificent sci-fi - By: Hooligween, 16 Mar 2008 
Any book by Iain Banks is going to be worth reading, but his Culture novels are always a massive treat. Excession is one of the best, although it might not be the easiest of the series to start with.
If you're familiar with the Culture universe then you'll quickly be delighted by the development of the Ship Minds in this episode. Although there's a set of human protagonists, outrageous & entertaining alien antagonists, & the usual endearing drone, it's the Minds who steal the stage. The Culture has to cope with an unusual entity, & in reacting to that possibly dangerous 'thing' the Culture itself reveals opposing factions, plots within plots, & the difficulty of being the advanced civilisation in a galaxy full of stroppy young 'uns.
However, Excession is a much more mature work than the blood-soaked, plot-twisting early Culture novels. It's just as complicated & rewarding, & has a stand-out action sequence for people who like their spaceships to come out alll guns blazing, but the resolution of the core issue is less brutal than the endings Banks used to write. Instead of coming away from the ending feeling as if you've been mauled, you put down Excession feeling satisfied & rewarded by the experience.
(Or if you were feeling reallly picky you could say it cops out like an episode of Star Trek, & ends pretty much back where it started. But that would be to miss much of the plot & character development -- especiallly what happens to the Grey Area...)
There's so much for sci-fi fans to love abut Iain Banks' universe. The Affront are a great creation, but the Ships & Drones are too. If you haven't read any Culture novels then stop faffing & dive in. Excession is a more subtle, more refined Culture novels than its forerunners. There's less whimsy & it's a bit less playful than, say Use of Weapons, & if you don't know how this universe works then you may struggle to keep up at first. So one of the earlier books might be a better place to begin.
But if you're familiar with the set up then give yourself time to read Excession in full (even the bits that don't make sense to start with, cos they always play a part in the final resolution). Excession rewards careful reading: it's a book to treasure, not one to grab in 10 minute snatches. And although there are fewer comic drones & droll jokes, the Ship names are a delight...
Solid 9/10
A sci fi favourite - By: Neil, 11 Feb 2008 
I have read it several times & of alll the Iain M Banks Culture books it's my favourite.
I won't go into the plot - that's been done very eloquently by some other reviewers. What I particularly like is Banks' wit & inventiveness: scheming Minds (and minds); the ships' names; technology; the Culture mindset; & above alll the vast scope of the situation, deftly handled from colossal spacecraft & potentials down to microscopic detail where necessary.
Without the graphic grisliness that put me off some of Mr Banks' other works, such as The Wasp Factory & to some extent Inversions, Excession is a shining example of space opera.
Far-out Sci-fi, but mainly a bit dull - By: Christopher Burns, 26 Jan 2008 Excession is one of Bank's "Culture" novels, set very far in humanity's future, & if you've read any others, you'll be familiar here.
Excession, however, is excruciatingly slowly-paced. You're treated to one major plot exposition roughly every 50 pages (yes, every 50 pages), & the pacing is basicallly glacial. Not a whole hell of a lot happens until roughly page 250 (by which time you've had roughly 5 bits of "important" events lasting a few pages), then it speeds up & slows down again. I think this was just quite badly edited; there's a ton of detail on an alien race who, after about 200 pages in, suddenly cease to get many column-inches, & at one point, Banks spends about 10 pages exposing a character only to kill them off with no subsequent impact to the story whatsoever - so why bother giving us 10 pages of exposition on them ?
Banks is rightfully lauded as a sci-fi author, but it shouldn't be for this book; skip it, & pick up e.g. The Player of Games instead.
