Book review: Consider Phlebas

The best thing about Iain M. Banks' book Consider Phlebas is the creative and vivid descriptions of people being killed and maimed.

Or should that be the worst thing?

At any rate, Consider Phlebas is about 500 pages of set scene after set scene of characters being creatively violent with each other.  It wasn't a pleasant read.

I'd requested the book from my local library, based on a good review at a website I like, and I finished reading it yesterday.  I can't even remember which website the review was at, but if I remember rightly, the review praised the supposedly realistic portrayal of complex social and political interactions.

Personally, I don't think it was that well done.

Basically, the book is a science fiction story, set in a futuristic galaxy with faster-than-light travel and aliens.  There is a war between two opposing civilisations.  The "Culture" can be read as a liberal Western society with advanced artificial intelligence and more than enough wealth for all.  But, weirdly, they cannot satisfy their desire to be needed except by evangelising and spreading their culture to outsiders (have they never heard of raising children -- that would more than satisfy their need to be needed!).  Their opponents are the Idirans -- hierarchical, religious fundamentalists who fight to subjugate all inferior species.

And that was it, as far as I could see.  Nothing there was complex, or subtle, or insightful.  As far as I could see it was just a quick war scenario setup that allowed Banks to write imaginative violence.  If you like reading violence, then knock yourself out with 500 pages of fun.  If not, then there is not much else of value in Consider Phlebas.