Use of Weapons
by Iain M. Banks
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Book Summary Information
Author: Iain M. BanksEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1992-03-26
ISBN: 185723135X
Number of pages: 434
Publisher: Orbit
Book Reviews of Use of Weapons
Book Review: Not the Weapons that You Think
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Summary of Use of Weapons
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.
Banks, Iain M. Books
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