Against a Dark Background

Like many others reviewing this book I've read most of Mr. Banks work. I have found the majority to be excellent, and plan to re-read many again.
This one will not be one of them.

There are some very good images and scenes produced, and the characters are engaging, BUT... at nearly 500 pages it is 100 pages too long. A swift bit of editting would have produced a far sharper book.

The biggest disappointment was the ending. After following the characters journey to the climax it just stops. There isn't real closure on any of the main themes raised.
Not the best for me; but I see others enjoyed it.

Not boring in the slightest (2/2 people found this helpful)

I read this book when i was 11 or 12 and it was my first Banks novel. I found it at the time to be incredibly gripping and was at no time discouraged by the detailed descriptions even if my vocabulary was not always up to fully understanding them. After reading it again at age 16 I realized how good this book was, I got so much more out of it the second time around and would recommend it to anyone. The character detail is superb and i found myself quickly empathizing with Lady Sharrow.
Read it. Read it. Read it. You will not be disappointed.

An enjoyable journey, but a mediocre destination.... (6/6 people found this helpful)

'Against A Dark Background' is the tale of a woman forced to find a mythical reality-warping weapon before she can be executed by a crazed religious cult. Iain (M) Banks 4th science fiction novel is his first not to be set in his 'Culture' series of novels, though there are a few surface similarities with 'Consider Phlebas' as this is another novel featuring a group of trigger-happy mercenaries on the trail of a powerful artefact. Essentially a quest novel, 'Against a Dark Background' is full of striking science fiction imagery (city-sized plant-life; a monastery where the inhabitants are chained to the walls; a backwards God-hating society), compelling characters (particularly the heroine and her poisonous relationship with her half-sister, and a rather lovable robot who joins the adventure looking for new experiences), a twisty plot, and a suprising amount of humour. Unfortunately however it doesn't quite add up to a satisfactory whole, with the climax complete with a rather cheesy melodramatic villain and an over-complex plot, but for fans of well-written action-packed science fiction there is plenty of enjoyment to be had along the way. Slightly less than the sum of it's parts, this is an enjoyable tale but not quite up to Banks best work.

Solid, very good read. (3/4 people found this helpful)

Against a dark Background indeed, certainly, this is not a novel in which the content is light and entirely pleasant. That however is not to say that this is an entirely enjoyable read, that said it is one of the most saddening and emotional of the novels by Banks that I have come across, but despite this, it is also one of the best.

This is a slow starting novel, but once it picks up speed it becomes a truly absorbing tale to which one can become enthralled, I myself read the entire second half of it in the space of two days due to such a compulsion to read it.

The strongest part of the novel has to be the characters, as is often the case with Banks work it is the sense of identification the reader gains with the characters within the plot that makes the novel so brilliant, but yet so heart breaking in places, such the attachment can be. This is a masterful technique that really has you feeling the sheer despair and anger at incidents throughout. The flashbacks that occur randomly throughout the novel although on occasion irritating and confusing aid in the striking up a rapport with the characters, and gives the reader the chance to be beside the characters at some of the most intimate and emotional points in their lives, and gives great insight to the way they act and speak later in the novel.

This is a very powerful piece of writing, and on occasion one may find it shocking and depressing, as if truth be told the plot is not one filled with joy and happiness, and neither is the ending, but in a way that is what truly makes this novel, and distinguishes it from others like it. The plot comes into its own in the latter half of the text, and there is a twist that isn't entirely unexpected, but enough to surprise the reader, especially if they haven't thought of all the possibilities ahead, but all in all this is a compelling and highly enjoyable read. Its not as thought provoking as works such as "the Algebraist", but its just as exciting and probably more emotive, a very good read, and probably a good place to start if you are unfamiliar with the author or the genre.

Amazing depth (3/3 people found this helpful)

This is one of my favourite Banks novels. The storyline carried me away through the book, through an amazingly detailed violent, varied and gripping world. The depth of the background, the locations, and the characters is impressive. I just couldn't stop reading it! The ending is extremely impressive and dark. Very satisfying.

Against a Dark Background

Iain Banks

Reader Reviews:

Ending? What ending? (0/0 people found this helpful)

Not boring in the slightest (2/2 people found this helpful)

An enjoyable journey, but a mediocre destination.... (6/6 people found this helpful)

Solid, very good read. (3/4 people found this helpful)

Amazing depth (3/3 people found this helpful)

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