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Matter
- Culture Series, Book 8
- Narrated by: Toby Longworth
- Length: 17 hrs and 57 mins
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Matter
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Summary
The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.
The intricate structure of a Shellworld - an artificial planet of spheres-within-spheres - is matched only by the machinations of its inhabitants.
On the eighth sphere of Sursamen, a man witnesses the murder of his father and flees, searching for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name. For his brother, this means a life lived under constant threat of treachery, while for their sister, Djan Seriy Anaplian, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.
Anaplian is not who she once was. She has become an agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilisations throughout the greater galaxy.
Concealing her new identity - and her particular set of abilities - might be a dangerous strategy. In the world to which she returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter.
The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art
Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist
Critic reviews
'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson
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What listeners say about Matter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- John
- 20-02-09
An excellent book and a fantastic reader
This is a fantastic book, and easily my favourite Culture novel to date. The characters are great, he setting fantastic, and the story romps along at a great old pace. I recommend it. The story does end a bit abruptly, but it is a fitting end and very much in keeping with the author's style.
I must say something about the Reader, as the quality of the reading can make a huge difference to your enjoyment of an audio book. I thought this was the best reading of any audio book I have ever heard. Exemplary.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 10-04-21
One of the best!!!
Absolutely vast. A most gripping interstellar adventure. Opening up world’s within worlds!
Masterful. One of those stories you wish would never end.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- kev
- 09-05-20
Fantastic.
Loved the narrators voice, and character voices.
I didn't want the story to end. Loved it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Brett
- 06-05-18
just brilliant as always for Banks. i
if you like the culture series, you will love this! a true galactic opera in every sense.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- R. B. Harkess
- 01-10-09
Up to scratch in every way
Another classic Banks culture novel. The narration is superb - apart from a disconcerting tendency for one of the drone's to sound like a certain well known emotionally disturbed android - and breaths life into all the characters. The plot is deep and multi-threaded, and the characters evolve with humour and sometimes in unexpected directions.
If I had one criticism, it is that the end seems to crash quickly over you almost before you are ready for it, and seems quite abrupt, but this is certainly not enough to discourage anybody from listening to this book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- William
- 29-10-17
Shell worlds are great science fiction
Just thinking about shell worlds as a concept is a great start for any science fiction. Worlds encapsulated with added politics of controlling aliens. The blending of basic and advanced cultures (and some in between) creates a great story. A good set of threads from the start which come together (coincidentally?) to create a great rushing end. It ended very suddenly definitely wanting more.
I enjoyed the character development of the two brothers and the sister, and particularly appreciated completely disliking a character from the start then finding myself liking them in the end.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Liz
- 04-02-20
The best culture book I’ve read so far
Working my way through the series this is my favourite so far . Would make an amazing movie too
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sam Flint
- 21-10-21
excellent book!
wow, that story did NOT end how I expected it to. Brilliant book! it also has a very board and inventive world like nothing else I have read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tired Parent
- 11-09-22
Amazing
A reminder to all what epic science fiction should aspire to be.
Narrated beautifully.
RIP Iain
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- John Bates
- 01-11-10
Difficult to put down.
One of my most enjoyable and addictive listens. Toby Longworth's narration is quite simply the best I have ever heard in an audio book and really helped to distinguish between the numerous characters. It was hard to think that Iain M. Banks could have imagined them sounding otherwise. I was sorry to finish the book and, unlike some other reviewers, rather liked the ending.
I'm a little bit disappointed that 'Surface Detail' has a different narrator but I'll give that a go too.
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6 people found this helpful