Re: So, What Games Are You Looking Forward To? (2025 Ed)

On 26/01/2025 15:01, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Or "Matter", where the heroes are all (mostly) killed off and the
story ends. "Excession" is similar too.
 I don't actually think it's the author running out of ideas; it's part
of his style and messaging. But given the pacing and tone of the rest
of his books, the sudden end leaving so many things unresolved (the
latter of which, I think is the whole point) is incredibly jarring.
 It's as if Star Wars ended right when the X-wings start attacking the
Death Star. Because of how the rest of the story goes, you know the
heroes --armed with mystical powers and knowledge of the planet's
secret weakness-- are likely to win... but you sort of want that
resolution. And I think that's an apt comparison, because in many ways
the Culture books are very space-opera sci-fi, and that genre
typically gets its heroic end. Banks is obviously writing in a way
that purposefully subverts those expectations, which is an interesting
experiment but overall not to my liking.

I did recently read Look To Windward and although I enjoyed it I'm probably not going to revisit the series anytime soon. It's a shame really as I like my sci-fi and I've read several of his contemporary fiction novels which he writes under Iain Banks instead of Iain M. Banks. Not really hiding anything there.