Transition

By: Iain Banks

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

A world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse, such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light. But does it need the Concern: an all-powerful organisation with a malevolent presiding genius, pervasive influence and numberless invisible operatives in possession of extraordinary powers?

On the Concern's books are Temudjin Oh, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice; and a nameless, faceless torturer known only as the Philosopher. And then there's the renegade Mrs Mulverhill, who recruits rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, hiding out from a dirty past in a forgotten hospital ward.

As these vivid, strange and sensuous worlds circle and collide, the implications of turning traitor to the Concern become horribly apparent, and an unstable universe is set on a dizzying course.

©2009 Iain Banks (P)2009 Hachette Digital

Complicated but a great ending.

If you like your stories complicated, you'll love Transition. Just keep track of which character is currently narrating and you'll be thoroughly entertained.

Iain Banks once again applies his unique perspectives and sporadic comedic genius to a supremely well thought-out plot constructed of ideas not often approached with such enthusiasm and expressed in such detail.

Very deep and philosophical in parts; sometimes long-winded but never boring. Definitely worth the time just for the last few chapters - especially the final paragraph of the epilogue. Very satisfying end.

Be aware of graphic sex and violence however the more elaborate and unconventional occasions are highly entertaining, even if occasionally too in-depth.

Narrator is excellent as always. Peter Kenny also read The Wasp Factory and has no trouble keeping the many and greatly varying character roles distinct and true to their natures. Australian and American accents are weaker but not only very brief in the story. Very glad that the reader is British.

Not bad

Ian Banks’ other books are just so much better that this was a disappointment . Try ones in The Culture series like Player of Games

Hard to see what the fuss is about

What disappointed you about Transition?

Two hours into it, and I'm still not sure why I'm listening, whether there is a plot and why the characters are meant to be interesting.

What was most disappointing about Iain Banks’s story?

The plot is very oblique, disjointed, and nothing that smacks of the brilliance of Excession, The Algebraist or Surface Detail.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Peter Kenny, a great narrator, doesn't really shine either, because there is so much text by the first person writer.