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From: JAB <noway@nochance.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: So, What Games Are You Looking Forward To? (2025 Ed)
Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2025 21:03:51 +0000
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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.