review:
This book is the first novel in the Culture series - which I had the mistaken was a typical space opera. What it is instead is a giant box of ideas that span across so many directions that each tiny aspect would have made a cool novel on its own. In this case, the book is a unusual in that it isn't an epic at all - instead it is incredibly punishing by the end because it turns out that nothing really mattered all along. The drama, fights, attitudes - it all were placed on the wrong side of a story. Instead of the 'good guys' we have a main character who is instead not from the good guys. Instead of the 'hero saves the day' ending we get something that realistically shows how tiny and insignificant things can be when the scales are as huge as a galactic civilisation. Didn't really 'enjoy' this book as in 'entertainment', but it was interesting to see the world building in any case.,