Transition by Iain Banks

Transition by Iain Banks


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
There are many worlds, each slightly different from the next. There are those with a talent for transitioning who can flit between the worlds, occupying the mind of an inhabitant of that world and borrowing their body for a short while. There is an organisation of such talented transitionaries that has taken upon itself the duty of policing the multiverse, using its talents to nudge particular realities in certain directions at critical times. As you might imagine, such an organisation is not without its dissenters.

This is an intriguing novel, told from multiple points of view that overlap in ways that only become apparent towards the end. There is the city trader and wide boy Adrian, Patient 8262 - an amnesiac in a strange institution, The Philosopher - a man with a dark past, Madame D'Ortolan who is the de facto head of the council of The Concern and Mrs Mulverhill, now a renegade, and the Transitionary himself - one of the most talented agents, faced with a challenge to his true loyalties.

The story is initially confusing, spanning not just different worlds but flashing backwards and forwards in time with no particular indication that it is doing so. It mostly becomes clear in time, but some loose ends are inevitably left dangling at the end. Definitely worth persisting with though, as each strand of the story is interesting in its own right, particularly that of Patient 8262.

Excellent science fiction with nary a talking squid or space opera starship with a silly name to be seen.




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