Surface Detail

A Culture Novel

By: Iain M. Banks

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 20 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters. And it begins with a murder.

Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right, she will need the help of the Culture.

Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far-reaching - is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality.

©2010 Iain M. Banks (P)2010 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Banks's labyrinthine and devious ninth Culture space opera novel adeptly shifts perspective between vast concepts and individual passions....New readers may be taken aback by the rapid pace, but fans will dive right in and won't come up for air until the final page." ( Publishers Weekly)

Best culture book yet

The uninitiated reader might not find this story quite as compelling due to some reliance on foreknowledge of the Culture and it's ways. But I believe this to be the best Culture book yet. The characters are developed extremely well and the plot is delightful (if not a little twisted). While lacking some of the moral ambiguity typical of Culture series books, this story still manages to captivate the reader on several levels. Political intrigue, murder, and the search for meaning in life are rampant. It feels to me that the author has shown some literary maturity with this outing, as previous stories felt somewhat unfinished or hastily wrapped up. This story, on the other hand, has more of a completeness and soundness. Despite being somewhat convoluted (as all Culture books are), the story coalesced and resolved more succinctly than any that came before. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, as I hope to see further development of story and Culture lore. .

Another fantastic chapter in the Culture series

Really a huge fan of the series and loved this one as well.. Full of humor and action, this is immensely enjoyable.

there is none other

supreme imagination. delightful characters. deftly widen plot. daringly sexy. demonically haunting. there is no comparison.

Above average Banks, excellent reader

Iain Banks's Culture novels can sometimes disappoint, but this is one of the better ones, if not up there with a classics like 'The Player of Games'. Despite the complicated use of interweaving multiple plotlines, there's a strong sense of unity centred around the notion that virtual reality could eradicate death, and each of the plotlines tackles a variation on the implications of that idea, even as they all start coalescing into one story. The stories are all interesting, although if the book has a flaw it's that one of the stories - the tale of two academics who choose to enter their civilization's virtual Hell to prove its existence - is so violent, terrifying and heartbreaking that the rest of the book feels a little ho-hum by comparison.

Books with complex, multiple plotlines don't always translate well to the audiobook format, but Peter Denny is an absolute genius who conjures a vast array of different accents for the many characters, meaning that you never lose track of where you are. It's an absolutely superb performance.

Very Banksian, Great narration

I'll refrain from saying too much about the book itself , as I haven't finished it yet. So far it's classic Banks, that is to say as good as modern Sci-Fi gets. I would like to say that the narration by Peter Kenny is remarkable, subtle and controlled where it needs to be and with a formidable control over his vocal range. He does voices and accents , both male and female, young and old with great assurance. As a result , all the characters were clear and easy to distinguish. This is no small thing in a Banks book where there can be a great number of characters, aliens, humans, A.Is all with very different characters and points of view.
I would seek out Mr Kenny as a narrator now...even if I wasn't sure about the book itself and that's no small thing for me to say.

Iain m Banks is a genius. nuff said

well written, well narrated, and a story that's entertaining, thought provoking, and unexpectedly funny.

Another M Banks triumph!

just complex enough to keep me interested, Iain spins another spectacular tale exploring motivations and personality.

Fills out Universe Beyond Culture

Love this book. It fills out the universe where Culture exists in a fun and interesting way. We get to meet several similar-level and lower-level technological species and that allows Banks to explore lots of new ideas.

I enjoy the narrator’s effort, BUT his use of guttural growls when raging - in particular when he says “F@@k” repeatedly - is grating. I never noticed how often characters swore until now.

Not my favorite Culture novel

The primary plot seems reminiscent of several other Culture books (a beautiful woman seeking revenge on a cruel man in which the Culture becomes a deus ex machina). It has several subordinate plots as well, the most interesting of which is the concept that some civilizations would deliberately implement virtual "hells" for eternal torment of those their society deemed failures. Unfortunately the multiple plots never quite gelled together in a way that was really satisfying for me. The fact there was an epilogue explaining the multiple (only very loosely) connected endings says that Banks must have also felt the need for some ancillary wrapping up. So, I'd call it a not-so-great story, but any Culture story still has some definite appeal.

The narrator is first rate, his tone somehow elevates and matches the Culture perfectly.

All time favorite

great story, great narration. If you're a fan of the Culture series, you love this one.