| Feersum Endjinn | 
 enlarge | Author: Iain M Banks
Publisher: Spectra
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 53149
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 324
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 0553374591
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780553374599
ASIN: 0553374591
Publication Date: June 1, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: As Pictured. Book in good condition. All pages unmarked and legible.Fast and Careful Shipping with delivery confirmation number.
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 42 | | ... 9 NEXT » |
Is it true... November 18, 2008
...that Mr. Banks was almost finished writing this novel when he accidentally re-activated Microsoft Word's Auto Spelling Correct, thus wiping out the boy's idiosyncratic voice and forcing him to spend months rewriting "Feersum Endjinn"?
In any event, this book is a corker.
 Brilliant ideas, incoherent at times July 6, 2008
Warning: some spoilers included.
As with other Banks novels, this book contains some of the most original and brilliant ideas in SF. However, some of the details in the story left me somewhat confused. It took me quite some time to figure out that the characters are in fact on Earth, not some strange alien planet or structure. The descriptions of the place certainly bear no resemblance to planet Earth - even the trees were completely alien. There are also a lot of mention of "levels" - it became difficult for me to visualize whether the action is on a normal surface like the Earth, or in one of the vast underground halls. With talking mammoths, ape-men and lammergeiers all over the place, I was often confused on whether the characters are in The Crypt or in Base Reality. The political structure of the world, whereby humans are divided into clans that seem to have some sort of speciality like Engineering, Aerospace and Accounting, are not explained in detail. To make things worse, Banks have a tendency to leave the context of a situation quite late into a chapter: he will describe "they", "her" and "them" for quite a while before finally dropping a hint on which story you are now supposed to focus on. Some of the characters' choices are strange too: why did Sessine decide to risk his personality and become part of the Asura in the end? In fact, the whole Sessine side story was long on detail and short on plot.
Still, don't get me wrong, I love Banks and this book is no exception. The story of Bascule was by far my favourite, not because of the phonetic writing, but because his story required the least amount of blanks to be filled in. His journey up the tower creates a feeling of real vertigo, I had to take a break or two just to get my breath back. The concept of a virus infecting The Crypt, creating a level of chaos, is pure genius.
 Banks and the Culture June 6, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Banks is consistently entertaining. Each novel in his "The Culture" universe, while it can be read as a stand alone, continues this grandest of all space operas. His depiction of characters and locales is believable and involving. This is sci-fi at its best.
not as epic as other Banks novels April 28, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There is one phrase I usually assosiate with the novels of Iain M. Banks - "space opera." There is one word which assossiates with the same novels - "epic." While Feersum Endjinn was a gripping read the entire way through, it lacked both the epic-ness (that feeling of great importance) and a sufficient amount of opera-ness (that feeling of beauty in detail).
The characters in this novel don't seem as well as developed as they do is his other novels (Algebraist, Consider Phlebas). The idea of the Encrochment upon the earth, the castle/tower of future earth and the Crypt are all decent ideas. However, the novel reads more like a fantasy than it does a sci-fi book; I was thankful when science and techology were interwoven.
When it comes down to it, a Banks sci-fi book is solid good reading. "thi weeard spelin ist so hart 2 reed so it didt afekt mi raetin"
Potentially great book (ride, ideas, characters) reduced to very good by plot February 6, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Well, this guy has six incredible ideas before breakfast. Having enjoyed several of his books now (including a couple from his non-SF `M'-less alter-ego) I'm not quite as easy to surprise (for example, his technique of outrageously incongruous scale - spaceships the size of continents; windows several kilometres high etc. - doesn't make me goggle so much anymore). So it's all the more impressive that given my high expectations and prior experience he still rarely disappoints. It's also cool that he isn't limited to books centring on the `culture' - much as that excellent concept is robust enough to underpin plenty of books. The `culture' could have been a part of Feersum's universe, but Banks largely goes somewhere else here.
How on earth did he get away with all those chapters of `phonetic' writing? At first I thought, "OK, sure, I get your point: Bascule thinks laterally.... I presume you're going to revert to conventional spelling any time now." And for a little while I was like, "That's enough now, this isn't novel or quirky anymore, it's getting annoying." But after a while I was surprised by how fluent I'd become in reading it. Moreover, even though I would have dismissed this method as a cheap stylistic trick, it really does give Bascule a distinct voice. Not only visually, but in allowing someone to sound like the artful dodger in the deep deep future. Alone the phonetic thing would soon reverse its appeal, but this is Banks, and he can write. Bascule - cockney urchin meeting dry Tom Sawyer - is a triumph of charm.
Typically we have adrenalin charged passages of frying pan to fire action (I don't think I've had less chance to draw breath in any book than the opening of Consider Phlebus), which at one point is like watching a video on fast forward (Sessine's - hmmm, what's the plural for `demise'). Moreover I just like the way Banks writes. He can evoke a mood, lace conversations with humour, present an idea with sting, paint a character... Banks' original ideas would have been enough to establish him as an SF writer, but - unlike some others in this field - he can cross over to novels as well because he doesn't need galactic level sensationalism to make him a good read (but here you get that as well). Banks soon had me in, and pretty much held me.
Listen to me - gushing like a schoolgirl. Well, fair enough - there is a lot of mediocre stuff out there, and this is refreshingly good. The strengths are greater than the weaknesses, but there are weaknesses. The ideas are great, and likewise the narrative, but at some point the crypt becomes an excuse for sloppy and indulgent plotting. There are similarities to the Matrix concept (cf. Neuromancer et. al.) of inhabiting virtual realities, and philosophising about whether computer based existence is any more or less authentic. Matrix 1 was wonderfully cohesive - the realisation that the `reality' was constructed enhanced a tight, incisive plot. Matrix Reloaded, however, was a dog's breakfast. Unfortunately the further I got into Feersum, the more it felt like Reloaded. Nice idea that, for example, the heroes can have an alternate self working in a different time-scheme to protect and aid their `base-reality' selves - but why don't the far greater resourced villains have the same thing? And why do these alternate selves - who appear to be as developed as the originals, devote their lives to utter service? Surely they'd be more like a twin who of course wants their own life. Why? Because it feels good - but it doesn't make sense within its own conventions.
Similarly the Asura is a two-edged device. Introducing a god into a story can be fantastic, but it can also remove any suspense: "Hey, how can we get out of this dilemma? I know, I'm a god - zap: there is no problem." Makes for resolution, but takes away much interest. The way writers often get around this is by having the god gradually struggling to be aware of their powers - it works in Matrix 1, gets by in The Fifth Element, and runs along OK for a while in Feersum. I love the way Banks details the precise way Asura defeats various psychological attacks, rather than simply having her deck them Rambo style. He does work a lot harder to give Asura a history rather than just having her appear. But by the time she can just zap the entire government, bound and gagged, miraculously into a room I'm unclear on why they might still be running from them. Any rabbit can be inexplicably pulled out of a hat. The whole odyssey in the unexplored regions of the Crypt had a nice mood, but made no sense at all.
The ride is well and truly enough with Banks. The rich ideas could just about be enough - but imagine if he had have put them all together in a satisfying cohesive structure! It's not a total random mess like a lot of books, and it's got a lot going for it, but for me it takes it from great to very good. Hey, I'll take very good.
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