A novel idea (ho ho)

[Si Logan]

Each to their own - absolutely.

One thing I'm sure most would agree is that Excession perhaps is not the best Culture novel to start on - its a bit abstract.

I think if you are coming from a background of more conventional novels, the best book to start with would be  the player of games - it feels like a more complete and approachable story (it doesn't suffer from some of the excesses of Excession)

I read Phlebas first and just found some of the descriptions and set pieces quite awe inspiring - such as the orbitals, and the escape through the the giant Culture ship (whose name escapes me).

Still unsure as to the inferences of the final pages of that book though - remember having a big group discussion on this one and no two people could agree.

[Funt Solo]

feridian - I found a good review of Inversions online which may answer some of your questions, whilst also empathising with confused readers.

It does contain what may amount to massive S P O I L E R S for anyone who hasn't read it.

Talking of S P O I L E R S:

One of the key twists of the novel is not (completely) within the book, but relies on the person reading it.  If you are a fan of Banks sci-fi novels that are set in or deal with the galactic civilisation known as The Culture, then you probably hope and pray that each new book is a "Culture novel", and are therefore a little disappointed when he writes either non-sf, or a book about him driving around drinking whisky, or an sf book not set in The Culture.

Given that to be true, Inversions appears (to all intents and purposes) not to have anything to do with The Culture, for about the first 90% of the book.  Only then, it becomes clear (but not to people who are not familiar with the technology prevalent in The Culture novels) that Vosill is an agent of Contact (or possibly Special Circumstances), a Culture organisation, and that her "ceremonial dagger" (or whatever it was) is in fact a knife-missile (think AI death-machine).  I was never clear on whether or not DeWar was also a member of Contact.

That Banks should choose to include a twist that new readers would probably find utterly bemusing is, well, words almost fail me.  Brave?  Indulgent?  Bizarre?  Make up your own mind.  

[Tweak72]

see agian i did it the opposit
Excession (yay)
Consider Phlebas (yawn)
Use of Weapons (ooooh twisty turny)
Player of games (not bad second time)

[Dan Kelly]

There's an intro to the hardback edition of Inversions what points out that Vassil is "not of our Culture" (think it includes the capital).  This was ommitted in the paperback, as it was judged too spoilerly for the Culture readers.

I think that the nice thing about inversions is that you can read it purely as it appears, without knowledge of the Culture, and get a good read.  If/Once you recognise that it as being Culture then there is a seperate level it works on.  

Dan

[Tiplodocus]

I've read a few of his "normal" books but the only SF one I've read is (I think) USE OF WEAPONS.

It's got the best "Oh my God!" twist I have EVER read and the way the novel is structured to bring you to this twist in the middle of the actual story is brilliant.  Good work fella.

I'd really quite like to see something like that in 2000AD.

Now, maybe Derren Brown will tell us how he forced him to choose that word from the millions he has written...

[Art]

"Use Of Weapons" would probably make any list of my flat out favourite SF books.

[Dunk!]

Spoiler:

I have to admit i read Inversions after reading an interview with Banks in which he said that as a complete change to the huge scale of Excession he wanted to do a novel on the more subtle side of the Culture. Specifically how two different agents from Contact react to one world - one going native and forsaking the Culture and one doing her job then getting the fuck out of Dodge, via an electrical storm. It was still deadly dull, even knowing what was special about the celemonial dagger.

[Art]

-shrugs-

I loved it, didn't find it slow in the slightest.

[Richmond Clements]

Yup, Inversions is an awesome book.

Banks' used Arthur C Clarks' law that any advanced technology is indistinguisable(sp) from magic, as a theme.

Also, I once had a working theory that the Bodyguard from Inversions was, in fact, Cheridinine Zakalwie from Use of Weapons... a theory which was shot down by Banks' himself when I eventually met him.

[Mr C]

Use of Weapons does indeed "Rock the Shit" to coin a phrase popular with the kids.

The chair... brrrr!

[longmanshort]

Banks' used Arthur C Clarks' law that any advanced technology is indistinguisable(sp) from magic, as a theme.

Wasn't that Asimov?

[longmanshort]

Ah, me wrong. Sorry.

[Art]

I didn't think it was him, but I definately thought it was someone very like him...

[Bico]

Without spoilering it, I thought the chair bit in Use of Weapons was ludicrous and a bit out of nowhere, and I was wondering who built it, and what he normally did for a living if he was the first person people thought of when asking themselves "how would I go about doing this?"
Mind you, it was the first and only Banks novel I've ever read, perhaps I'm missing something?  I did read some collection of short stories, one of which was where the Culture (although apparantly it isn't the Culture) have a gawk at Earth and watch Dark Star and Star Trek, and not much else.  It was alright, though.