The Hydrogen Sonata

By: Iain M. Banks

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

The Scavenger species are circling. It is, truly, provably, the End Days for the Gzilt civilization.

An ancient people, organized on military principles and yet almost perversely peaceful, the Gzilt helped set up the Culture 10,000 years earlier and were very nearly one of its founding societies, deciding not to join only at the last moment. Now they've made the collective decision to follow the well-trodden path of millions of other civilizations; they are going to Sublime, elevating themselves to a new and almost infinitely more rich and complex existence.

Amid preparations, though, the Regimental High Command is destroyed. Lieutenant Commander (reserve) Vyr Cossont appears to have been involved, and she is now wanted - dead, not alive. Aided only by an ancient, reconditioned android and a suspicious Culture avatar, Cossont must complete her last mission given to her by the High Command. She must find the oldest person in the Culture, a man over nine thousand years old, who might have some idea what really happened all that time ago.

It seems that the final days of the Gzilt civilization are likely to prove its most perilous.

©2012 Iain M. Banks (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Brilliantly performed, very good story

Not my favorite Banks, but Peter Kenney's performance elevates the work. Plus, it lasts almost exactly as long as it takes to drive from Nashville to Boulder!

Best so far

What other book might you compare The Hydrogen Sonata to and why?

Terrific culture novel that goes into lots of detail about ships and the sublime. Great listen right after surface detail.

What about Peter Kenny’s performance did you like?

Peter Kenny's performance is incredible as always.

Any additional comments?

I listen to these while running and only wish there were more culture novels w/ Peter Kenny narrating now that I have finished all of them.

Still the Best

If you could sum up The Hydrogen Sonata in three words, what would they be?

Science Fiction Excellence

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Hydrogen Sonata?

The fight to recover the cube.

Have you listened to any of Peter Kenny’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Good as ever

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Sadly, Iain Banks is deceased. I found him to be the most innovative writer of SiFi of this generation.

Excellent

One of those books that makes you sad when you realize it is nearly over, and you try to prolong the experience...

Excellent job by the narrator, really bringing the characters to life.

I'll miss the Culture books!

Great "Culture" novel

Another amazing example of this authors imagination and impressive blend of hard scifi with characters and "minds" that you find yourself caring very strongly about. Peter Kenney, again, does it again!! Highly recommend it.

Still hoping for the other "Culture" novels to become available in the united states.

Not the best Culture book, but not bad.

Not the best Culture book, but Peter Kenney continues to deliver. If you are a fan of the Culture series, you will enjoy this book, but it's not the best of the series. The audio performance is as good as ever by Peter Lenney.

not the strongest ending

the book is what is to be expected, it's always fun learning about what Culture gets up too, was hoping for something more exciting in the end.

Read this one last

It's the best of the culture series, and relies the most on the context from the previous books.

Very Enjoyable and Quite Poignant

I have been listening to a run of "Culture" books by Iain M. Banks lately. I read Hydrogen Sonata several years ago but found this audiobook even more enjoyable. The characters and plot are quite interesting, Mr. Bank's writing is at its usual high level. Peter Kenny did a superb job on the narration.

The remarkable thing I noticed is how poignant some passages in this book now seem since Mr. Banks has passed away. These sections concern the meaning of life and the nature of civilization and progress. It felt to me that the author was speaking on two levels, both directly in the telling of this story and indirectly to the reader. It is a real loss that Iain M. Banks has left this world. I wish he could have had time to write more Culture novels but I am very grateful for what he did give us.

Seemed like a rehash of other Culture novels

Peter Kenny is a great reader for Banks's books, but using the same reader for all the Culture audiobooks really emphasizes how many of the characters in Hydrogen Sonata were borrowed from previous books. The Mistake Not ... seems like a saner (and therefore not as entertaining) version of the Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints. Septame Banstergain is very similar to Veppers. Cossant, like Yay, is just not that compelling of a character, even with her high-tech body manipulation, but unfortunately, unlike Player of Games, she's a major character in this book. The book also just seems kind of light -- it touches on government coverups and conspiracies, but has none of the psychological weight of Player of Games, Use of Weapons or even the Hells in Surface Detail.
Having said all that, it was still fun to listen to, and had the usual Banks build up to a crazy epic confrontation at the end.