Rating: 
Summary: Laboured
Review: Don't believe the puerile rubbish you read in other reviews ; this story (I will not credit it with the description "novel") wheezes along like the pot-boiler it is, in order that Banks can continue to lead his champagne socialist lifestyle, and bore everyone else rigid in doing so. If you're looking for imagination, you'll be better off with the Lion King video.
Rating: 
Summary: highly complex, very enjoyable sf, beautiful language
Review: I happened upon Excession by chance, and enjoyed it so much that I immediately picked up all of Bank`s SF books. He uses wonderful language,precise, clear, witty, just as a language lover's experience, it's worth reading. At the same time, it is a very gripping story. His use of parallel strands of storytelling and his very interesting use of time - he actually tells the story in the reverse, up to a point - would be confusing if not done so masterfully. Consider Phlebas, which is very well reviewed by some others here, was very dark and somber, while this novel is so beautifully amorally joyous for most of the characters, one of the most impressive reads in a long time. I look forward to reading the rest of his books.
Rating:
Summary: High on Culture, high on content... low on character.
Review: In Excession Iain M. Banks returns to toy with the world of the Culture. I enjoyed the development of the "Excession" itself and the consternation it provoked amongst the Minds. I do not wholy agree with those that said the books lacked characterisation, I feel that Banks was trying to present the Minds as the central characters and not the humans, showing that the Culture really does regard sentient ships as equals. The problem is that it was not enough. Perhaps it is too difficult to empathise with star ships. What I did enjoy, however, was the melencholy atmosphere of the ship Minds and their existence, their quiet fatalism in the face of all that happens. One doubt I had: if the "Sleeper Service" had converted all of its bays to engine, where did all the other ships come from?
Rating:
Summary: Nice universe, shame about the story
Review: Reading Excession soon after 'Consider Phebas' amplified the disappointment I felt with this book. CP was a fast-paced, absorbing yarn set against a rich, detailed background. In Excession the background has become the book's central character. Whilst the Culture universe is fascinating it does not constitute a plot in itself. There is a comparison which comes to mind: The excellent Dune series which started with a fantastic story and ended as a political and sociological case study of a fictituous universe.
It's as if Banks, like Herbert - Dune's creator, has become more interested in creating a cerebral word than telling the stories which occur in it.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-inspection of the Culture; subtle, thought-provoking...
Review: One of the indicators that Iain 'M' Banks writes high quality, thought provoking, engaging SF books is the quality of the customer reviews - note the total absense of "This is the *best* SF book ever!" type quotes that are normally associated with the mass of modern SF 'trash'.
I found "Excession" to be a fulfilling book because it further explores the author's concept of an benevolent (or is it?) federation - The Culture. I have to agree with a previous review which mentions the Contact Agent(s) plot threads - I found these distracting, almost as if Bank's realised halfway through the book that he couldn't weave them successfully into the main plot; as he does so well in previous books.
I'd have to rate 'Excession' behind 'Consider Phlebus', 'Against a Dark Background' and 'Use of Weapons', but its well worth a read if you like Bank's previous works.
Rating:
Summary: A subtle tilt at the Culture grappling with its own morality
Review: Subtlety is the key in this, the latest novel from Iain Banks in his Culture pseudo-series.
Unlike the onion-like technique Banks has used in the past to guide the reader through complexity, in "Excession" he lets the reader wash along with three main superficially unrelated threads until, reflecting the rapid convergence of events in the book, the individual stories crash together, giving the book a healthy momentum.
Set against the occurence of an "external" incident (Excession), the book has the Culture entities (humanoid, non humanoid and machine-minds) attempting to establish whether the Excession represents a threat, an opportunity, or something powerfully beyond their comprehension. This question is reflected craftily throughout the book in a set of individual relationships, the struggles of several races within or on the fringe of the Culture, and within the motivations of those creations most epitomising the Culture; machine minds.
An almost satirical tone emerges as individualists, militarists, pacifists and others work against or unwittingly with each other to preserve their status-quos. What results is an interesting commentary on the dynamics of change in a liberal society.
Conspiracy theorists should read this book, it has just the right amount of short term vs long term views, post-event rationalisation, and hidden agendas
Rating:
Summary: Not his best work, but enjoyable.
Review: The previous reviewers got it right, a good book, but not Bank's best work. It lacked the sad grit that makes Banks different than the rest. I had thought it would be nice if he ended on a high note, but I was wrong. I found it well worth the time to read, and I think it was a good book by all accounts. Don't let us fans put you off because we feel that he hasn't done his best, his worst is better than most
Rating:
Summary: Good solid "culture" novel
Review: Contrary to previous reviews, I found this to be an excellent evolution of Banks' "Culture" series packed with deep strange insight into the psycologies and psycosies of men, women, machines and homicidal gasbags. You never know who to root for in this universe he has created, the heartless amorality of the defenders of good contrasted with the bonhomie and cluelessness of the antagonists again creates an oddly compelling tension that pulls you through the novel
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment.
Review: I love Banks's Culture Novels: a cycle of science fiction novels ("Consider Phlebas," "The Player of Games," "Use of Weapons," "The State of the Art") which juxtapose the Culture (a high-tech, delightfully perfected, yet subtly scary galactic society) with more barbarous worlds (such as ours). Imagine my joy, then, when, after two non-Culture sci-fi novels ("Against a Dark Background" and "Feersum Endjinn") which, to my mind, didn't quite measure up, Banks gave us a new Culture novel, "Excession." The theme was promising too: juxtaposing the Culture with a society so advanced that it is to the Culture as the Culture is to 20th century Earth. Unfortunately, "Excession" is a serious disappointment. Much of the book is spent in subplots involving a man and a woman who once loved each other: subplots which have no relation to the main story and which, finally, go nowhere. Meanwhile the main storyline fizzles: the "Excession," a visitor from beyond our universe, refuses to communicate and acts subtly threatening because...uh, because there'd be no story otherwise. After an endless, pointless buildup, Banks brings the story to an anti-climactic conclusion. Sadly, it seems that Banks (like Dan Simmons, etc., etc.) may be one of those science-fiction writers who create a few good books, then stubbornly set out to disappoint their fans with overwritten, weakly plotted sequels
Rating:
Summary: Pretty darn good, but not his best
Review: I just finished reading the British hardback edition of Excession, and, in the end, found it a satisfying, interesting book. Earlier on, however, I had my doubts. Unlike Banks' other sf works, this takes a while to get going. In a departure from Banks' past two science fiction novels (Against a Dark Background and Feersom Endjinn), this book returns to the highly-developed "Culture" universe of his first three sf novels (Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, and Use of Weapons). While any of these three previous books can be read on their own, Excession really benefits from some background in one of these earlier Culture novels. [Banks has also written a novella in this universe, The State of the Art, which should be available from a small press house, Ziesing Books, which you can find on the net.] Iain Banks is among the best known and most highly regarded writers in Britain today, though he is lesser known in the U.S. He writes both mainstream novels under the name Iain Banks and sf novels under the obscure nome de plume Iain "M." Banks. My recommendation: get Consider Phlebas and read it first. There is a particular reason why CP should be read first, which is the very ambiguous viewpoint it gives on the "goodness" of the Culture. Other of his Culture novels generally give a more positive view of this galactic -- not exactly empire, more like well, a culture. Banks is both entertaining and serious. He takes sf genre conventions and sends them off at right angles from expectations. He avoids easy answers and pat resolutions. His best works? Most consider Use of Weapons his best. I would rank them differently: Player of Games, followed by Feersum Endjinn and Use of Weapons. But Excession is still very good, and worth the initial efforts
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