Rating: 
Summary: Verdict: Dull, wordy, pointless. Not for me.
Review: --------------------------------------
I'll make no attempt to avoid SPOILERS in the following.In a future, post-apocalyptic Britain, wrecked by gang-wars, a band of irregulars led by a female Lieutenant hole up in an old castle. They make the Lord and his mistress into half-prisoners, half-pets. The Lord has endless, pointless, boring, amazingly windy memories/internal monologues of what went before. He (strict first person) addresses the memoir to Her, in second person, which works about as well as this usually does, which is to say, a weak, poor and distracting device. Did I mention the brutal, pointless killings, there to demonstrate that post-apocalyptic Gangwar is Hell? The Loot and her soldiers slaughter a rival gang, and take their Big Gun. This is symbolic. The soldiers have a big victory party, get drunk, rape the girls, wreck the Lord's castle, and humiliate him. The Loot has sex with Her Mistresship, a mute, milquetoast boring cardboard 'person'. The Loot shoots the Lord, but he gets away, and (sort of) kills her. Her troops tie him to the Big Gun: in the Lord's words, "For I too am tied, in Mezentian hyperbole, a puppet of [sic] before the cannon's mouth." You know, a little Mezentian hyperbole goes a long, long way, but it's here by the hundredweight, page after page after page... "It is my estimation that, unless one's involvement is peripheral, nobody survives a war; the people who come out the other side are not those who went in." Good God. It's hard to believe this sad, purple, preachy, windy book book was written by our beloved, Orbital-smashing, Drone-riding Iain M. Banks -- but I've had pretty poor luck with his non-SF novels. There was a violently-nihilistic spy thriller (Complicity??) that I liked pretty well, but I found The Bridge dull and tendentious, and now this... So I guess I'll stick to the Star Smashers of Special Circumstances, thank you very much, and leave the literary stuff to, well, the literariate? If you'd like a *good* book about post-apocalyptic Britain with castles and gang-wars (kinda), I recommend Edward P. Hughes' fine, underrated Master of the Fist , which will run rings around this sorry POS. Trust me. Cheers -- Pete Tillman PS: This review sparked an interesting discussion on Usenet at rec.arts.sf.written. Google Groups (search my name and title) will find it for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Haunting and deep - Buy it.
Review: A book that will haunt you - but not destined to be as popular as his earlier efforts. But this book will make most readers think. Certainly one of the best books I have read, but not an entirely pleasant experience. Banks defies categorization, and continuously surprises his following. He takes his readers to a different place in a different way each time, particularly with his latter efforts, marking his maturity as an author. I yearn for the print of the next step in his evolution.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Rocky
Review: A SONG OF STONE (my introduction to the esteemed Iain Banks) presented me with a dilemma, and I'm not quite sure how to describe my thoughts concerning this novel. I liked the narrative voice, I enjoyed the writing style, and I was occasionally intrigued by the characters. But I'm not sure I liked the book. It has some fascinating pieces, yet it also contains portions that I would describe as pure dreck. It contains some shocking pieces of violence and the cruelty of humanity, but they aren't directed in any specific way. The blood and the gore just ends up feeling gratuitous rather than purposeful, and after a while I just could make myself care about it. The book is mostly based upon its setting and two main characters. The setting is an unspecific country (it feels vaguely European) ripped apart by a war, the exact cause of which is irrelevant to the story. The first character of note is the narrator, and the second is a female solider. Both almost reach the point where they feel like real people, yet somehow manage to remain cartoonish. The book relies very heavily upon the strength of its characters, but they aren't quite tough enough to carry the load. They make a lot of speeches and, while some have genuine insight, they just tend to ramble on about life, the universe and everything. When Banks has something to say, the soliloquies work. But when the speeches are there merely there to give the characters something to do, the results can be utterly uninteresting. The plot is rambling. It goes off in several directions, and doesn't really seem to have a coherent structure. People do things because the author makes them do things, but I couldn't quite grasp what anyone's motivation was. The story is basically just a load of small set pieces bound together by the characters' experiences on the fringes of the war. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of them, but there are just too many places where the sledgehammer of the metaphors just become too painful and unappealing. Ultimately, the book seems to think that it is far cleverer than it actually is. And yet, there are hints of a fabulous book lurking beneath the oppressive and incoherent surface. The hell that every person is going through is well realized -- from the physical drain that accompanies the conflict to the mental and emotional scarring that it inflicts. The inability to escape is a theme that keeps being brought home, and for the most part it is effective. Had the rest of the book been as successful as these sections, I think I would have loved this book (and indeed I found myself thinking very positive thoughts towards it at the very beginning). Unfortunately, the quality is not sustained throughout. I doubt I'll ever be bothered to read A SONG OF STONE again, yet I cannot say that I completely hated the experience of reading it once. It's certainly unpleasant, but that's mostly a deliberate choice. Still, by the end of the story, I just couldn't find myself caring about the characters or what happened to them. Sometimes the imagery and metaphors are inspired; other times they are just banal. It feels as though it was written on autopilot -- as though a good author just couldn't get around to putting his full effort into this one. Given Banks' impressive reputation, I suspect that he has written better books. And although this one left a faintly bad taste in my mouth, I think I will end up giving Mr. Banks another try.
Rating:
Summary: Very Rocky
Review: A SONG OF STONE (my introduction to the esteemed Iain Banks) presented me with a dilemma, and I'm not quite sure how to describe my thoughts concerning this novel. I liked the narrative voice, I enjoyed the writing style, and I was occasionally intrigued by the characters. But I'm not sure I liked the book. It has some fascinating pieces, yet it also contains portions that I would describe as pure dreck. It contains some shocking pieces of violence and the cruelty of humanity, but they aren't directed in any specific way. The blood and the gore just ends up feeling gratuitous rather than purposeful, and after a while I just could make myself care about it. The book is mostly based upon its setting and two main characters. The setting is an unspecific country (it feels vaguely European) ripped apart by a war, the exact cause of which is irrelevant to the story. The first character of note is the narrator, and the second is a female solider. Both almost reach the point where they feel like real people, yet somehow manage to remain cartoonish. The book relies very heavily upon the strength of its characters, but they aren't quite tough enough to carry the load. They make a lot of speeches and, while some have genuine insight, they just tend to ramble on about life, the universe and everything. When Banks has something to say, the soliloquies work. But when the speeches are there merely there to give the characters something to do, the results can be utterly uninteresting. The plot is rambling. It goes off in several directions, and doesn't really seem to have a coherent structure. People do things because the author makes them do things, but I couldn't quite grasp what anyone's motivation was. The story is basically just a load of small set pieces bound together by the characters' experiences on the fringes of the war. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of them, but there are just too many places where the sledgehammer of the metaphors just become too painful and unappealing. Ultimately, the book seems to think that it is far cleverer than it actually is. And yet, there are hints of a fabulous book lurking beneath the oppressive and incoherent surface. The hell that every person is going through is well realized -- from the physical drain that accompanies the conflict to the mental and emotional scarring that it inflicts. The inability to escape is a theme that keeps being brought home, and for the most part it is effective. Had the rest of the book been as successful as these sections, I think I would have loved this book (and indeed I found myself thinking very positive thoughts towards it at the very beginning). Unfortunately, the quality is not sustained throughout. I doubt I'll ever be bothered to read A SONG OF STONE again, yet I cannot say that I completely hated the experience of reading it once. It's certainly unpleasant, but that's mostly a deliberate choice. Still, by the end of the story, I just couldn't find myself caring about the characters or what happened to them. Sometimes the imagery and metaphors are inspired; other times they are just banal. It feels as though it was written on autopilot -- as though a good author just couldn't get around to putting his full effort into this one. Given Banks' impressive reputation, I suspect that he has written better books. And although this one left a faintly bad taste in my mouth, I think I will end up giving Mr. Banks another try.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring rubbish
Review: Although the use of language is most eloquent, the story doesn't go anywhwere. What story there might be is interrupted by chapters about the main character's sex life, which couldn't possibly be more out of context. This is one of the worst books I've ever read. I stuck to the end, even on the last chapter hoping there would be some redemption. But there wasn't. Not only that but it is a very dark and depressing story, to which I failed to see any point. Loved The Wasp Factory, The Bridge, Complicity. Hated this one and Whit.
Rating:
Summary: A self-indulgent tedium from an author who knows better.
Review: As a great fan of this author, this was the single most disappointing piece of work of his that I've ever read. While the actual writing is near flawless as per usual, the book descends into sheer self indulgence as Banks loses his direction several times and then trys to rescue the focus with some pointlessly horrific scenes. The atmosphere is dark and brooding, and Banks' usual style has the successful effect of leaving you slighly stunned - but at the end of this book you feel as if you were invited to a great gothic horror party only to find that all the people there are desperately uninteresting.
Rating:
Summary: Strangely Unsatisfying
Review: As a long-time fan of Iain Banks' novels (particularly The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road, and Espedair Street), I was left with mixed feelings about A Song of Stone. While it is very well written, and was an easy and quick read, it ultimately seemed, to me, to have little real point. Unlike some of the other reviewers I didn`t find this book all that shocking or gruesome but sort of by the numbers in its hinting at the horribleness of his postapocalyptic future. I never really felt the horror that I think he wanted us to feel. Ultimately, I was left with a feeling about the banality of Banks' vision. Still, the totally self-absorbed and cynical narrator was, for the most part, a successful creation--the best part of the novel. A Song of Stone is worth reading, but ultimately seemed to have a void at is centre.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant as ever
Review: As always, Banks is brilliant with words and spins a yarn that gets you tangled quickly and permanently. I could not quite understand what the message is supposed to be if there is one but this might be due to my not being British. This is not his best by far, but you will not be disappointed, whether you have read anything else by him or not.
Rating:
Summary: Banks' most screwed-up book since "Walking on Glass"
Review: As well-written as ever -- and a stark contrast with the relative lightheartedness of Banks' latest SF volume, "Inversions". I've had it ever since it came out in the UK, and I haven't been able to bring myself to reread it. "Walking on Glass" was more disturbing -- I couldn't finish it -- but only by a hair, and "Song of Stone" has none of the absurdist, existentialist interludes that made me *want* to finish "Walking on Glass." "Song of Stone" uses blood, sex, and cruelty to paint a complete picture of despair -- a world where the future extends only as far as the next meal, the world only as far as the horizon, and the past as far as your oldest bad memory. If you can read about atrocities without taking them personally, you should read "Song of Stone." It's brilliantly written and extremely powerful. But if you have a weak stomach, like this reviewer, go with something more upbeat, like "Use of Weapons" or "The Wasp Factory<".
Rating:
Summary: Banks' most screwed-up book since "Walking on Glass"
Review: As well-written as ever -- and a stark contrast with the relative lightheartedness of Banks' latest SF volume, "Inversions". I've had it ever since it came out in the UK, and I haven't been able to bring myself to reread it. "Walking on Glass" was more disturbing -- I couldn't finish it -- but only by a hair, and "Song of Stone" has none of the absurdist, existentialist interludes that made me *want* to finish "Walking on Glass." "Song of Stone" uses blood, sex, and cruelty to paint a complete picture of despair -- a world where the future extends only as far as the next meal, the world only as far as the horizon, and the past as far as your oldest bad memory. If you can read about atrocities without taking them personally, you should read "Song of Stone." It's brilliantly written and extremely powerful. But if you have a weak stomach, like this reviewer, go with something more upbeat, like "Use of Weapons" or "The Wasp Factory<".
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