USE OF WEAPONS

Rating:
Summary: I havent read the book but hear this
Review: i have herd so many "THIS BOOK IS THE BEST" from everyone i know... Please, get this book..it is great and then people say the ending is the best ending people have ever seen..I know im ordering it NOW! - [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: simply awesome!
Review: I read a lot of SF and this is by far one of my favorite books of all time. i read it about 3 years ago and the story still haunts me. it was the first book i read by Banks and it made me immediately go out and buy the rest of his books. although i have enjoyed most of his work this is still my favorite.

I loved the book right from the beginning and the structure of the story was such an original idea and it really let you into the mind of Cheradanine and understand his story. I am usually very good at guessing the ending of novels right at the beginning and being bored when I am right. In this instance I did not guess the ending until a few pages before it was revealed, and even then it was breathtaking to actually read it. All in all one of the best SF books ever!

Rating:
Summary: Simply the best
Review: I have been reading SF for more than 30 years, yet this book was without doubt the most compelling, ingenious, best crafted and best characterised that I can remember ever reading (and I have read all the 'greats'). Work out Cheradinine's motivation (half way through the book I had to stop and cry 'Why does he keep putting himself through all this?') if you can - it's a real stunner when revealed. Oh so clever, so interesting, so shocking - if I never did anything else in my life but write a book even half this good, I would die happy. To confirm what another reviewer said, if you haven't read science fiction before, don't start with this - Player of Games will be more understandable and will give you a frame of reference for Use of Weapons. Interestingly, although the book deals, at first sight anyway, with the business of war and of being a mercenary, of all the people I have recommended this to, women seem to get more out of it and are more enthusiastic then men - who have just enjoyed it rather than raved about it. If you like books that make you think, that need sustained concentration, that need you to be able to remember things from one chapter to the next, yet which are still an enjoyable read - read this, or any other Iain Banks book - you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Content hampered by style
Review: As others here have mentioned this is an excellent story. The structure is the main problem. I don't mean the switching between the two storylines (past and present) but rather the time it takes to reintroduce the characters at the start of each chapter. I found this irratating and it did spoil my enjoyment of the book (hence 4 stars).

Other than that it's still work a read (I am ploughing my way through the rest of his back catalogue). On the subject of jokes in his stories the best has to be the FYT suit. What does FYT stand for, well...

Rating:
Summary: Prepare to read this quite a few times
Review: OK. First things first - if you aren't a follower of science fiction generally, then hold off on Use of Weapons until you've got the hang of it. This book is superbly written, with a wonderful story and some great characters, BUT you will have to read it several times to even have a vague idea of the big picture and all the subtle aspects and relationships between the characters - mostly because vast chunks of the novel zip about the characters' pasts. There is one more caveat - do not be put off by the names - Cheradenine Zakalwe, Skaffen-Amtiskaw and so forth can really put off new readers. It isn't a perfect book, but it is far more thought provoking than most science fiction and genuinly tense at times.

Rating:
Summary: You MUST read this book
Review: Easily one of the best novels I have ever read. The only problem is the complexity of The Culture, so it may be worth reading "Consider Phlebas" or "The Player of Games" first. I didn't expect to like this book when I picked it up. I was totally enthralled for the next few days. It is beautifully imagined and cleverly told : A mystery that slowly unfolds into an absolutely stunning finish. You see the man, then you learn his story, and it's quite a journey.

Rating:
Summary: Even typing this title, I can feel the goosebumps rising !
Review: This book was the first I've read since I can't remember when that made me truly horrified : fair enough, Iain M does like to put the odd grisly bit in his works, but in Use Of Weapons he systematically prepares you psychologically for one paragraph, three quarters of the way through the book, where you find out exactly what all that business with the white chairs is all about. I was drawn in, fascinated, by the use of alternating chapters - chapters 1, 3, 5 etc tell an on-going real-time story in the hero's career, while chapters 2, 4, 6 etc go backwards in time in his life, revealing an increasing uneasiness with white chairs as the actual reason becomes closer in time in his memory. The uneasiness turns to paranoia and horror as you get closer to the event and the half-page when you find out the truth hit me like a steamhammer : I found myself muttering "oh no. ugh. no!" and I as I type this I can feel my hackles rising. A twist in the tale at the end which turns out to be factually correct through the whole book only made it better. In an attempt to cheer up the review, though, there are several top jokes in too. My favourite : the hero finds himself captured by savages on an undeveloped world and is beheaded for being a demon from the skies after his ship crashlands. Luckily, it IS the Culture so his head is effected back onto the big ship for re-growing in a tank. When he regains consciousness, just a head in a tank with full regrowth still a month away, various friends visit him in the sick bay : a Drone friend of his has brought him a present. It's a hat.

Rating:
Summary: Best ending of any book
Review: I numerous books by Iain M Banks including, the Player of Games, The State of the Art, The Wasp Factory, Excession, Feersum Enjinn and Consider Phloebas. Although this book does not capture the imagination as much as the Player of Games or the Read-straight-through-the-night attention of Consider Phloebas it is still an excellent book. It is also the only book to ever leave me totally silent and thinking, he can't do that, to have the entire perception of the main character and idea of the storyline so immensionally yet subtly altered at the last moment was ingenious. I have lent this book to all my friends and they all agree. Some made to shout out loud "What" or "No, you can't do this!" before reading it again and seeing how cleverly it was done. Five out of five for a novel. Five out of Four for Banks.

Rating:
Summary: Read it again - and still love it
Review: Just thought I would update the world - I first read this book in 1993 and absolutely loved it. On a recent trip to the UK I decided to pick up a copy to keep in my collection. I couldn't help but read it again. And let me tell, it only gets better with age.

Rating:
Summary: Undoubtedly a work of SF genius
Review: Mr. Banks is surely one of the greatest SF writers writing today and this must be one of his greatest works. (I hesitate to say his greatest as I have not read them all, but to surpass this a book would have to be spectacular indeed.) The most outstanding feature of this book is its structure, carefully planned to give greatest insight into the mind and past of the protaganist and amply displaying Mr. Banks flair for immaginative and powerful writing.

It is probably my all time favourite book and one I would heartily reccomend to everyone, albiet with a warning - if you are looking for a grand space opera perhaps it would be better to start with one of Mr. Banks' other Culture books (Excession or Feersum Endjinn spring to mind), for though 'USe of Weapons' has its share of action and adventure, the mind has to be in high-gear to fully appreciate the book.