Transition cover art

Transition

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Transition

By: Iain Banks
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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About this listen

A world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse, such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light. But does it need the Concern: an all-powerful organisation with a malevolent presiding genius, pervasive influence and numberless invisible operatives in possession of extraordinary powers?

On the Concern's books are Temudjin Oh, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice; and a nameless, faceless torturer known only as the Philosopher. And then there's the renegade Mrs Mulverhill, who recruits rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, hiding out from a dirty past in a forgotten hospital ward.

As these vivid, strange and sensuous worlds circle and collide, the implications of turning traitor to the Concern become horribly apparent, and an unstable universe is set on a dizzying course.

©2009 Iain Banks (P)2009 Hachette Digital
Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Thought-Provoking Nepal

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All stars
Most relevant
Greatvstory, well read. A real combination of both Iain Banks and Iain M Banks. Such a shame there won't be any more...

A great combination of both his genres

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Interesting and very different but not up to the standard you normally get from Banks. Just a bit to way out.

Below Par

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Loads of twists, turns and fascinating settings. More of a sci-fi than the usual Iain without an M Banks. The book has been unfavourably reviewed by the Guardian and Telegraph but if you like Banks you'll enjoy it. I agree with Doug Johnstone in his review in the Independent that it's a properly thrilling read. Narration excellent except for Adrian's slightly dodgy Londoner accent... but then I suppose he reveals himself at the start as a faux barrow-boy.

Love this book. One of my favourite Iain Banks

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My first Banks audio book. I was not let down in any way with this offering.. Did the book justice in every way. Consider Phlebas next!

The narration was just brilliant.

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The combination of Iain Banks / Iain M Banks and Peter Kenny never fails to impress. Totally original writing and flawless Voicework make this a must listen.

Absolutely brilliant

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