Transition Audiobook

" "Transition" is typical of Banks' more recent (and lazier) science fiction- multiple character perspectives, stories within stories, a deus ex machina that gets pulled out towards the end to sort of tie things up without actually resolving very many of the plot points - but it's not his best science fiction by a long shot.The tale revolves around a mysterious organization calling itself The Concern, whose adepts can "transition" or jump from reality to reality in the many-dimensional multiverse, occupying bodies from which they temporarily displace the owner, in order to carry out political, social and plain murderous manipulation of that reality. A particular member of the Concern is trying to take control of the whole apparatus for her own ends and eliminate everyone who would oppose this, but a resistance is in place and has plans for thwarting her.Banks does a workmanlike job of building out his key characters, and in true Banksian form drops enough ambiguous references from several of the various narrators that one is never quite sure until the end whether some of the key characters are in fact the same person, only in different realities or times, but the novel is undercut by Banks' increasing tendency to lecture his readers, through the narrative, on the shortcomings of limited-liability capitalism, authoritarian government in the name of security, and religion in general. "

" For Iain Banks devotees Transition may never make the top ten, but I found it an interesting speculative fiction think piece. Banks uses elements of quantum physics, multiple universes, consciousness jumping, time travel and human evolution in a multiple character episodic narrative. Makes me think that these ideas will appear again in one of his larger SF novels. "

" Probably should have been released as Iain M. Banks but does straddle both of his writing persona "

" I'm a fan of Mr. Banks in both personas. This book had some really interesting ideas but I felt it fell a bit short of his usual sparkle. Like he was so overwhelmed by having thought of such a good premise that he couldn't 100% figure out how best to use it. "

" I like Iain Banks. He writes well but not too prissily, has interesting ideas, and isn't afraid to follow them to somewhere unusual - which is exactly what this book does. My one complaint is that, like some of his other stuff I've read, it does seem to end a little flatly. Very worth a read, though. "

" A really great concept, but the plot is thin and unfortunately it does not show until the last 50 pages. "

" Wonderful character development and prose, but it's composition and the jumps between the different characters and periods took some getting used to, and weren't as polished as I would have liked. "

" This is the second book I read without knowing anything about except that I liked the author. I loved it. It was a fascinating book. If you like Iain M. Banks, read it. "

" Excellent read! A bit confusing at first but once you get used to the author's way of "flitting" about (pun intended for those of you who have read the book) it's very intriguing! "

" The back of this book describes it as a fairy tale for apocalyptic times, and it definitely was. There were a few threads I was disappointed weren't picked up further, but on the other hand, this was a great book and I'm looking forward to reading more of this author's stuff. "

" A good immersive multi-verse yarn, bit anti-climactic in the end, but the ride is worth it "

" I quite liked it. "

" Unusual and thought provoking "

" This is the only non-Culture Sci Fi I've read from Banks. As usual it is up to his high standards. I thought it was a pretty cool combination of secret agents and science fiction. I do feel like Banks played up the sex a bit much but he is want to do that. "

" Started a touch slow, but once it got going, I enjoyed it. NOT a culture novel. Takes place on a bunch of parallel earths. "

" Certainly takes a while to get into, but pretty awesome. "

" A monstrous imagination. This book ventures far and wide through parallel universes, multidimensional worlds yet wraps it all up in about 5 pages. Perhaps I missed something. (Would be surprised if I didn't!) "

" Fasten your seat belt--you might want to take a Dramamine also--and hang on for a wild ride. This guy can tell a story. "

" starts off great hen fizzels - adrian was my favorite to read "

" Quite Banksian, so of course I liked it. Though the sex scenes were terrible. Fortunately, there aren't many. "

" A bizarre, but interesting and well written science fiction book (if a bit uneven). Overall, a decent read. "

" A good immersive multi-verse yarn, bit anti-climactic in the end, but the ride is worth it "

" Lovely, clever, interesting, in the beginning slightly confusing novel. "

" Interesting multiverse story although I thought things were played out a little too fast and loose in the closing few chapters. Great narrative and characters; worth reading. "

" 1984 on drugs and inter-dimensional. I really enjoyed this. The ode to cocaine passage was particularly inspiring. "

" Betty than the dreck he'sbeen serving up the last few years but not much. Airplane reading at bestsellers and another unsatisfying open ending. "

" Yes it's political. Stories written about torture, greed, and self-delusion will tend to be political, especially if they're readable. And this is an intense and densely refined story. "