• Excession

  • Culture Series, Book 5
  • By: Iain M. Banks
  • Narrated by: Peter Kenny
  • Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (438 ratings)

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Excession  By  cover art

Excession

By: Iain M. Banks
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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Publisher's summary

The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.

Two and a half millennia ago in a remote corner of space, beside a trillion-year-old dying sun from a different universe, the artifact appeared.

It was a perfect black-body sphere, and it did nothing. Then it disappeared.

Now it is back.

Diplomat Genar-Hofoen of Special Circumstances is sent to investigate but, sidetracked by an old flame and the spoiled-brat operative Ulver Seich, and faced with the systematic depravities of a race who call themselves the A­ffront, it's anyone's guess whether he'll succeed . . .

The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art

Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist

©1996 Iain M. Banks (P)2013 Hachette Digital

Critic reviews

"Gripping, touching and funny." (TLS)

"A dizzying adventure." (Daily Mail)

"Explosive but tender." (Sunday Times)

What listeners say about Excession

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My favourite Culture series book

Complex, witty and thought-provoking. Ian Banks at his very best. Sleeper Service is surely one the best heroic characters of all his books. I must add that Peter Kenny does the most superb job as narrator. His range of accents and nuanced delivery is delightful I wish he'd get to work on Terry Pratchett's body of work next!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A perfect team(?) at the top of their game

Peter Kenny has brought a whole new experience to my understanding the writing of Iain Banks. Mr Kenny seems to have a number of uncanny knacks of what I believe a true storyteller should have, an ancient art form that went out of favour with the invention of the printing press and now, thanks to audio books, is making a comeback.
A little too dissimilar to how Messrs. Kubrick and Clarke created the universe of 2001 apart but together to be comparable, Mr Kenny was not a co-creator yet he is a collaborator. His obvious skill, talent and intelligence as an actor, most essentially I believe with radio-play experience, has given him a gift permitting him to join Mr Banks in 'The Culture' in a way I think few others could hope to achieve.
I would encourage any fan of story telling, whether written word or film or stage play or photojournalism etc., who don't mind a bit of the ol' spec-fic to give this a go. While I believe there are other readings by Mr Kenny as powerful as this, none are better and this will forever remain a performance not to be missed.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

What was that about...?

I last turned this off yesterday and now cant recall enough about the plot to write a sensible review. I just remember becoming more and more disenchanted listening to it and asking myself 'Why did this guy bother to write this long and windy novel? And 'Why did this get such rave reviews?'' I know I would not be able to even aspire to his physical and mental accomplishment so I am loathe to criticize, but wow after all the rave reviews it is so disappointing to find the novel is as dull and as unentertaining as it is. I am sure he had more fun writing it than I had reading it. I hope so.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best Culture books

Such a good story - the wit of the Minds is fantastic to listen to. Peter Kenny's narration is absolutely flawless.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mr Banks on top form

Would you consider the audio edition of Excession to be better than the print version?

Mr Kenny is a superb complement to this excellent book. I had to smile as he subtly changes the voice of a character as they moved between sexes. Very slick!

What other book might you compare Excession to and why?

Its up there with "Consider Phlebas" in terms of breadth of story, large ideas and character detail. Compulsive reading for Culture addicts.

What about Peter Kenny’s performance did you like?

See above, but I also liked the conceit of giving the ship minds british regional ( and occasional colonial :-) ) accents that really rather suited their personalities. Really a very impressive rendition.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Hard to imagine it being a film, but I bet it is "the way many people want the future to be", which is the function of good sci-fi; to inspire.

Any additional comments?

Great writer at the top of his game. If we lose him it will be a big loss to our collective imagination, so my best wishes to the man.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Why were those great covers changed?

Ship minds.....the conversations..This must be my favourite. Suddenly the cover art was changed in 2023 on many of my Culture series downloads. What a pity. Why and to what end?

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent example of culture fiction.

Loved the conversations between the various minds/ships. One of the better books in the culture series in my opinion.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story awful narrator

The story is engaging and interesting, but the narrator is very difficult to keep up with due to the speed that he talks. For me, it takes half of the pleasure of this experience.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I think this is better read on paper!

There's a lot of in jokes in this title, and streams of numbers and names thrown around.
Personally, I think it would be easier to follow and grasp certain situations if you read this in physical book form as the nature of audiobooks don't always alow for 100% fokus ar any given time!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good

Voice performance was exceptional,overall story is interesting but just too long, especially the communication between ships with an infinite number of dates (?) grew really annoying for me

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