Matter - Iain M Banks

On the shell world Sursamen a war is being waged between the inhabitants of the eighth and ninth levels. After witnessing an act of treachery and betrayal on the battlefield, the unwilling heir to the throne Prince Furbin finds himself on the run leaving his younger brother Oramen at the mercies of a self declared regent tyl Loesp. Furbin, accompanied by his stolid and long serving servant Choubris Holse, has little choice but to leave the shell world and negotiate the delicate hierarchy of technologically advanced species in the wider galaxy, each with their own protocols and political agendas. His only hope is to petition a representative of the civilisation known as the Culture for aid, or to find his sister Djan who left many years previously to join the branch of the Culture known as Special Circumstances. Furbin's journey takes him from the steam engines and cannons of his level to the god like technology of the Culture and their rival species, and back again, where the true reasons for the war slowly become apparent.

In this novel Banks examines the complex interplay of civilisations covertly meddling in the affairs of more primitive species whilst aspiring to the technology and achievements of the more advanced Optimae species. It reminded me of the old comic sketch with three men from the upper, middle and working classes who either look down on their social inferiors, or up to their betters, or in the case of the man at the bottom, know their place. There are many levels of involvement to unpick, mirroring the levels of the shell world itself, possibly one of the grandest and strangest habitable structures in the galaxy (and possibly the whole of science fiction, making Larry Niven's Ringworld look cramped in comparison).

The interplay of characters and species is interesting and well done, particularly the reactions of the servant Holse who proves to have an enquiring and intelligent mind of his own. The complex politics are built up, only to be rather ignored towards the end of the book which seems oddly rushed and inconclusive, leaving a number of loose ends dangling. If I had to rank it against his other Culture novels I would say that 'Matter' is to 'Use of Weapons', as 'The Steep Approach to Garbadale' is to 'The Crow Road', where the latter books are enjoyable and well written but not quite on the same high level as the earlier works.

I listened to the audio adaptation read superbly well by Toby Longworth, with a good range of voices particularly for the Marvin-esque drone Turminder Zeus, the supercilious Furbin and the bluff Holse. If you have a subscription to Audible.co.uk it also works out at about half the price of the hardback book too.