Iain Banks is one of those authors who just makes you realize that other books are just Not As Good. I love him.
'The Algebraist' takes place in the same universe as other Banks SF novels, but is a fully stand-alone novel. It is the story of Fassin Taak, a Seer (basically, an alien anthropologist), who in his research, unwittingly comes across a clue that seems to indicate that ages-old legends may have some truth to them after all: the seemingly frivolous but enigmatic Dwellers, a widespread alien race who live in gas giants, may have access to a secret network of wormholes - which are the key to interstellar travel.
The empire that humans belong to, the Mercatoria, would literally kill for this secret, as their own network was decimated by the past AI Wars. Others would kill as well.. including an invasion fleet headed by a sadistic maniac.
Fassin is co-opted by the military/government to further investigate - but not only he may be heading into danger, but his entire planetary system.
At some points toward the beginning of the book, there were some slow-moving parts, and some points at which the shifts in time frame and point of view became slightly confusing - but toward the latter part, all of the threads were pulled together for an emotional, satisfying ending...
'The Algebraist' takes place in the same universe as other Banks SF novels, but is a fully stand-alone novel. It is the story of Fassin Taak, a Seer (basically, an alien anthropologist), who in his research, unwittingly comes across a clue that seems to indicate that ages-old legends may have some truth to them after all: the seemingly frivolous but enigmatic Dwellers, a widespread alien race who live in gas giants, may have access to a secret network of wormholes - which are the key to interstellar travel.
The empire that humans belong to, the Mercatoria, would literally kill for this secret, as their own network was decimated by the past AI Wars. Others would kill as well.. including an invasion fleet headed by a sadistic maniac.
Fassin is co-opted by the military/government to further investigate - but not only he may be heading into danger, but his entire planetary system.
At some points toward the beginning of the book, there were some slow-moving parts, and some points at which the shifts in time frame and point of view became slightly confusing - but toward the latter part, all of the threads were pulled together for an emotional, satisfying ending...
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