# So I finally started reading an Iain M Banks novel

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-started-reading-an-iain-m-banks-novel/171154>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 25, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-started-reading-an-iain-m-banks-novel/171154 "2003-04-25T17:47:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-started-reading-an-iain-m-banks-novel/171154/1 "2003-04-25T17:47:20Z")

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I’ve read a few of his other writings (as Iain Banks without the M) - notably _The Wasp Factory_ which I found deeply disturbing and I’ve read a few of his short SF stories in a collection called _The State Of The Art_ - a couple of which were ‘culture’ based.

Anyway, I chanced upon a copy of _Use Of Weapons_ in a charity shop and I’m about 1/4 of the way through (no untagged spoilers please). I particularly like the way that the machine intelligences are nutty and the machines use silly names for their spaceships (like _Bad For business_ or _It Was Like That When I Got Here_).

It is also a sign of good writing that, even though the technology should make the culture practically omnipotent, the story does not suffer from it - the characters still face trials and challenges.

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**Author:** ![Fiat\_Lux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@Fiat\_Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiat_Lux)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-started-reading-an-iain-m-banks-novel/171154/2 "2003-04-25T18:04:05Z")

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I’m not a huge fan of Iain M. Banks, but _Use of Weapons_ is definitely a classic. Just wait til you get to the ending. Just you wait…

It was, in fact, the first of his Culture books I read. The ones after that started to irritate me and/or bore me more and more. I love bits and pieces, here and there, but the Culture is, for me, an essentially _annoying_ civilization. They’re so damn smug.

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**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-started-reading-an-iain-m-banks-novel/171154/3 "2003-04-25T19:59:34Z")

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_Weapons_ was the first Culture novel I read also. And I agree with **Fiat Lux** about the ending. Drop back by when you hit it; there is one scene at the end that haunted me for _weeks_.