It's probably just me but...

I have listened to most of his books and thought they were all brilliant. He's a fantastic writer and I look forward to listening to his books. I listened to about 2 hours of this and realised I had no idea what was going on so I started again. I have just finished the first of the three parts and again I have no idea what is going on. Sometimes a book unravels so you are put in the picture and everything comes together in the end. That may well happen in this book but I have no idea what has happened so far as the book is very disjointed. It's well read but maybe it demands more of my attention than my usual books. I will go back to it but I've just removed it and downloaded The Hydrogen Sonata to see if I fair better with that one.

I may have to actually read this book as I'm having no luck listening to it.

12 people found this helpful

You want a strong, female protagonist? Here 'tis.

This is my first Iain Banks novel since he passed away and I was concerned I'd be too upset to enjoy it fully... but figured it was time. I needn't have worried; this book is so much fun all thoughts of the author's sad passing were soon pushed to the back of my mind. I guess this is how writing can bestow a kind of immortality on an author.

While this is one of Banks' science fiction novels, it isn't part of his Culture series. This is a great little space opera/heist adventure/action extravaganza with some deep thinkin' mixed in for good measure. This being Banks, said thoughts are often woven into the plot with a liberal dose of humour. In fact, I'm pretty sure some of these aspects would make Douglas Adams smile.

If you're not already a fan of Banks, I'd recommend this to fans of Firefly, Killjoys, Saga and (dare I say it?) Star Wars. This certainly isn't Banks' best work but it's a Hell of a lot of fun and I enjoyed it so much I went back and re-read it from the beginning as soon as I finished it!

P.S. - Banks wrote an epilogue to this novel which he posted online but never added to any published copy of the book. It's rather nice and brings things full circle (sort of). A quick search online should find it.

10 people found this helpful

An Iain M. Banks' classic.

If you could sum up Against a Dark Background in three words, what would they be?

Very darkly humorous..

What other book might you compare Against a Dark Background to, and why?

Always hard to compare a Banks' book to anything other than his other works. I suppose it feels closest to something like Consider Phlebas and Use of Weapons (his early Culture works) in tone.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I just love how he draws scene after scene - perhaps the Logjam heist was my favourite bit - twist after twist after twist...

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

It's over 18 hours of excellent narration from Peter Kenny - so,no, it's too long. Also it's quite episodic in structure as Sharrow and her crew follow the trail of the last Lazy Gun (and Sharrow has her back story filled in by flashbacks) - so there are lots of natural breaks.

Any additional comments?

The 'Dark Background' in question is that the solar system in this novel is stuck at the arse end of nowhere and there is no FTL technology. So the humans are just stuck - for millennia - technology has peaked and fallen back from its peak. Every possible religious, political and philosophical system has been tried and tried again (and Banks has great fun with many of them as the scene shifts chapter after chapter - the Solipsists might be my personal favourite). But still the world goes nowhere and the golden age has passed. Through all this passes Sharrow - hunted by religious extremists and looking for the legendary last Lazy Gun. It's of course a good sci-fi action adventure story, and because it's Banks the prose is top-notch and a pleasure just to listen to (no Dan Brown 'the man was sad and had a red hat' etc. here) but it's far more than that - it's a chance for Banks to play with notions of political and philosophical systems and futility - all sketched against that (very) Dark background. So it's darkly humorous and actually one of my favourite works of his. I once chatted to him about it and I think he enjoyed being able to play around so much in it. I've gone back to it more often than any of his other books apart from Excession and Inversions,,,and Peter Kenny does it justice (and more) as usual..

9 people found this helpful

My least favourite...

I completely agree with the other reviews. For some reason this just feels disjointed and I've found myself having to rewind parts because I feel like I've missed something. There's too much irrelevant backstory and I just didn't really warm to any of the characters. Desperately in need of some Culture!

6 people found this helpful

Good story but cluttered

Would you try another book written by Iain M. Banks or narrated by Peter Kenny?

Love Peter Kenny, Great reader. I have many Iain M Banks books in my library. Can't get enough of the Culture Series.

If you’ve listened to books by Iain M. Banks before, how does this one compare?

This doesn't stack up against his other novels. A lot of back tracking that adds little to the story.

What does Peter Kenny bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Peter Kenny is very expressive and engaging, I could listen to him for hours...Oh hang on. I have listened to him for hours and enjoyed every one of them.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

Probably not to be quite honest.

Any additional comments?

Loved the characters and the reading but found the diversions into character history distracting from the story itself.

4 people found this helpful

Dark & difficult

Although I love Iain banks and love all his culture books. this story floored me. from the start I found it very difficult to follow what was going on and only until half way did I really get to grips with what was happening. He is undoubtedly an excellent of science fiction writer but this book was pretty challenging. This is partly to do with listening to the book rather than reading it. Nevertheless the ending pretty unsatisfying. I will certainly re-read/listen to the book and hope the end improves ...

7 people found this helpful

Phenomenal

Visceral experience. Science Fiction delivering the biggest ideas and best writing again. Read this book.

2 people found this helpful

Loved it

Brilliant story exposing so many of Iain Banks' future ideas. A long listen but worth every moment. Thanks to Mr Kenny.

1 person found this helpful

Better by the second half, well narrated

Like many Ian m Banks, the story meanders, only really getting onto gear on the joining of the Android, about halfway through. The ending on the other hand is rather quick and unclear. Well narrated though and worth a listen of you can get through the first half.

1 person found this helpful

Wonderful

Very much enjoyed this book with plenty of scope twists and turns. The characters are as usual with depth and feeling which create a story you don't want to put down.

I look forward to my next reading

1 person found this helpful