Not the Weapons that You Think | Use of Weapons

SF for Grown-Ups | Use of Weapons | Iain M. Banks

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	• Use of Weapons Iain M. Banks Orbit, 2008 - 512 pages average customer review:based on 65 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Brilliant and insightful

There's a reason this book has not won a Pulitzer Prize. It's not a very good reason, but it's a reason nonetheless. The only reason is that it's science fiction. Had it been set in any other genre, this book would be taught in college literature classes all over the country. Oprah would be discussing it on TV, and comparative lit classes would probably be putting the story alongside Tales of the South Pacific and March.

The story follows, in a non-linear fashion, the story of a man--a soldier, and a veteran of several wars--who is running from something in his past. The narrative peels back the story of his life, through flashbacks and memories told so deftly that they make Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury seem positively clumsy and hamfisted by comparison; the main character is illuminated in stages, bit by bit, with a sympathy and a narrative skill that makes every part of the book a delight to read.

I think it's interesting that even in this day and age we still make broad assumptions about classes of literary works. "This is Serious Literature; that over there is Science Fiction. Serious Literature is real literature; Science Fiction is mindless fluff for overgrown geeks who still play Dungeons & Dragons in their mothers' basements. The main character in Use of Weapons travels in a spaceship instead of a steamship; the battles in which he engages take place on distant planets, not distant continents; therefore, since it's Science Fiction, it must not be Srious Literature, and the book doesn't get the attention it deserves.

It's rare that so dark a journey into a character's mind can be pulled off with such a light touch, and the author's treatment of the main character is simultaneously sympathetic and unflinching--a neat trick, considering the book's subject and the character's history.

It's probably not the best introduction to Banks' Culture series (I'd recommend reading Player of Games to get a better overall understanding of the universe it takes place in), but it's certainly my favorite. The book, like all good literature, is not passive entertainment; it requires that the reader put some effort into the reading, and the author does not take you by the hand and guide you through all the narrative shifts. Nevertheless, for someone willing to make that effort, it's a magnificent read.

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Not the Weapons that You Think

This book has so many qualities, both good and bad, that it is hard to summarize my feelings about it. It is very well-written, on the level of the sentence and the paragraph and the scene. That isn't surprising as Banks is very talented. The structure is both brilliant and annoying. We follow the protagonist on two trips; one into his past. My pedestrian tastes didn't find that so appetizing, although the final impact was worth it.

The protagonist is a military genius but Banks, who may not have much use for things military when all is said and done, _shows_ us very little that is convincing. While he tells us much.

The Culture is interfering in out-of-Culture conflicts here and the protagonist is one of their agents. While I am used to this as the Culture has no Prime Directive, ala Star Trek, I found it odd that they were backing one side partly because they opposed terraforming. I can understand why they back people who advocate equal rights for machine intelligence and why they generally back people against monstrous tyrannies but I don't understand why they would take this stand. It's not as if they don't move whole planets around themselves.

The amusing moments that make his other culture novels more entertaining than they might otherwise be are few and far between. But the book is still well worth reading.

One more thing: The protagonist uses weapons but not the weapons in the title. Sma uses those.

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SF for Grown-Ups

For those who haven't encountered Iain M. Banks "Culture" series, this is the third volume. All can be read independently, as each has its own character set and storyline. His setup is ingenious: there are many humanoid species in the galaxy, and the Culture represents a post-scarcity civilization with a self-appointed role as agents of change (or meddlers) in the affairs of less advanced groups. "Use of Weapons" follows the career of Zakalwe, a Culture agent engaged in many military operations over a long career. We follow him backwards and forwards in time, which may be confusing the first time through but makes sense on a second reading. Banks is a superb storyteller, his set-piece episodes are gripping, and throughout this and his other Culture novels he gradually tells us more and more about the Culture, its agents, the sentient machines and ship Minds that wield amazing power and are "citizens" with wills of their own, and the technologies that make things possible. It's the best hard SF on the planet.

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Insightful Literary Sci-Fi

Two unique plot threads focus on the same man: Zakalwe, a killer-cum-war strategist for hire in the far future. One plot thread jumps backward, describing poignant moments in Zakalwe's development as he learns the "use of weapons." The second thread moves forward sequentially, following a thoroughly war-weary Zakalwe looking for answers to the age-old question of why we fight. In the end, both threads dovetail in a finale that will surprise you.

All in all, "Use of Weapons" is a startlingly intelligent, albeit slow-paced, sci-fi book that speaks to the better side of humanity while investigating whether war may or may not be part of us all.

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The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action.

The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.

The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a lost cause. But not even its machine could see the horrors in his past.

Ferociously intelligent, both witty and horrific, USE OF WEAPONS is a masterpiece of science fiction.

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