Look to Windward
Iain M Banks
800 years ago during the Culture's war with the Idrians, a great war crime was comitted and two stars sent nova, destroying all the life they suported. The light from the first star has just reached the Culture Orbital Masaq, the light from the second may not.
Composer Ziller is a Chelgrian, a race of feline like creatures, in self imposed exile on Masaq. Now the Chelgrians have sent an envoy to entreat him to return to his homeworld, or at least that is how it would appear, but everyone has their own agenda and who can tell who's pulling the strings behind the scenes and who can truly be trusted.
I really got a kick out of this book, it deals with technology well and while a lot of it is not stuff that has never been seen before in sci-fi, Banks implements it very well. His characters are well drawn and likeable and there is some really funny dialogue between them. His future humans, The Culture, are well realised and quite interesting. I couldnt help but sense a certain amount of social commentary behind the witty lines and there are a few points where one of the characters slips a profound comment in amonst their jibes. I reccomend this book if you are a sci fi fan. I'd never read a Culture book before but I think Ill have to go and look up the others in the series now, though I should point out that having read the others is not necessary to enjoy this book.
8 out of 10
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Apologies for the edits. Lots of typos and stuff!
