Rating: 
Summary: Special Circumstances from the Other Side
Review: Okay, it's not Banks' best book, although it might be his best writing, and it's not his best plot, although it might be his trickiest. But either way, this is a fine addition to the literature of The Culture.If you have read as far as this, you already know that there is something called "The Culture," and that is it a fantasically developed, ultra-powerful, galaxy wide entity which, in the name of Good, meddles in the affairs of other, more primitive societies, through its "Special Circumstances" arm. There are, shall we say, signs that "Special Circumstances" is at work on the multiply-sunned, multiply-mooned world on which this story takes place. And this is a Culture novel, make no mistake, but this time we see Special Circumstances from the other side, most poignantly from the eyes of Oelph, the apprentice to and spy upon the co-protagonist, Dr. Vossil. Dr. Vossil is a woman and a foreigner in what is a deeply misogynistic, seriously provincial society. Through her surprising talents as a healer, she has become the personal physician to a king. Her co-protagonist is DeWar, the personal bodyguard to a regicide and usurper in another kingdom. Both "kingdoms" are fragments of a larger, even sicker culture that was destroyed not long before the events of this story when rocks fells from the sky. Hmm... The stories of DeWar and Dr. Vossil are intertwined, but this is a Banks novel and you have to read carefuly to understand exactly how and why. The "Inversions" of the title are present at many levels, just as the story operates at many levels. Admire, if you will, the way the drawing of the dagger inverts at the start of each chapter. Listen carefully to the stories that DeWar tells Lattens, the child and heir of the man DeWar tries to protect. Watch as DeWar and Lattens play at war with catapaults and rocks. Try, if you can, to pick out who will betray whom, and when, and why. Try to decide who is the evil, scheming tyrant and who is Good. And try to decide whether, for once, Special Circumstances has actually done some good... As always, Banks leaves us with a morally ambiguous ending, although in this case the ambiguity is at many levels. An excellent, thought-provoking book. You don't have to know a thing about The Culture to enjoy it, but if you have read, say, "Use of Weapons," it will add some savor.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling, complex and even strategic reading!
Review: Out of the Banks books i have read this didn't seem to reach the typical Banks standard. The story was fascinating however the structure didnt merge as well as his other books. In his other stories (especially the ones with more than one tale going on), there always came a point where the two stories merged and the twist became apparent but i didnt see that this time. However, Banks' standard has not faultered. This book was still exceptional and the complexity of it once again takes Iain Banks way ahead of all other SF writers
Rating:
Summary: The Whole Less Than the Sum of Its Parts
Review: The book is made up of two stories that take place on the same world. Two Culture Special Circumstances agents, the bodyguard De War and the doctor Vosill, end up on a pre-contact planet. The man, DeWar has an non-interventionist philosophy which he adheres to strictly while guarding the life of a warlord cum king. Far away, on another continent, the woman Vosill tries to nudge a barbarian king into modernity by acting as both his physician and advisor.
So far so good. I had hoped that these two disparate plot lines would have been united by the last third of the book into one. In past novels, such as Player of Games, Banks aptly was able to comment on our world's politics while making great Science Fiction. This novel could have looked into the tensions between trying to make savages on the world "better" or having respect for the "savages" and letting nature take its course. Another tension Banks could have played with who is the real savage? Is it the people on the planet clawing their way back to civilization from a high-tech apocalyptic war or is it the Culture that seems to foster them with the best of intentions. Not in this novel. Instead the two storylines and the above-mentioned questions never are brought together or fully explored. This is all the more disappointing as Bank's skill at creating believable worlds and people as well as complex political dynamics is as good as ever.
The whole thus is less than the sum of its parts.
This book would have been better off as two.
Rating: 
Summary: Brain Teaser and Fantasy Novel Combined
Review: The book itself is hard to explain. Many of the characters and their situations become "inverted" as the story progresses. For example, one character tells a story of being rescued by carnival clowns and joining the circus to repay their kindness. In reality, the "clowns" are her rapists and she is seeking revenge. Read the book and you will find that it is more profound and thought-provoking than any hack/slash or heroic fantasty you've read before.
Rating:
Summary: What do Iain Banks and yogurt have in common?
Review: The science fiction novels of Iain M. Banks have had a remarkable impact on the field in general. Most especially, the somewhat glib, sardonic voice that he uses narratively. This voice is present in this novel as much as any other of his, and is quite entertaining. If you are NOT an Iain Banks Fan waiting for the book with bated breath-- skip to the next paragraph (or better yet, pick up one of his earlier novels so you can get a perspective into which to place this novel: I don't think this one is a good starting point for his storyworld). Right. Now that we've gotten rid of the new folks-- This book is clever as all hell. Just like Banks always is. I picked up a British hardcover back in '98, and devoured it. I was left somewhat unimpressed, and re-read the Culture novels back-to-back-to-back so I could get a dose of what I was missing. After doing that, I realized exactly what Inversions was about. There are a few clues in this novel as to what's going on- below the surface, if you will. I would strongly recommend rereading State of the Art or Use of Weapons to get the most out of this book. This really isn't one of his best standalone novels; I'd seriously refer the new Banks reader to one of his older ones- they are more accessible, while this novel assumes a level of familiarity with the storyworld which a new reader simply won't have. Then again- when you're a bestselling author in your own country in two genres, you can probably get away with vanity stunts like that.
Rating: 
Summary: Bottom of the Iain Banks pile
Review: This book easily belongs on the bottom of the Iain Banks collection. A 350 page meandering plotless wonder without the usual Banks' array of colorful intriguing characters. A plot that could easily be summarized in under a page is not that unusual for Banks. (See Look to Windward or Player of Games) However, he usually captivates and entertains by painting lush detailed pictures of a fascinating universe populated by complex compelling characters who take part in sweeping events that are more powerful than they are. The plot is usually simple but the dressing is wonderful. Not so with Inversions. I found myself struggling to even finish the thing as I simply did not care what happened with the Doctor, the Bodyguard, the King, and the Protector, much less the Doctor's assistant or the Protector's son or his concubine or anybody. Banks fails to create even marginal interest in the world these people populate and the razor-thin plot fails to give any sort of weight to the "twist" at the end. What a disappointment. If you've never read Banks, this book might seem to be ok because he is head and shoulders above most other SF writers even if he were writing in his sleep. But compared to the other stuff he's done, this is pure .... Also, thinly veiled references to the Culture are preachy and uninteresting to those readers who are familiar with Banks' Culture novels and they are simply confusing and seemingly irrelevant to those who are not. This book is a mess. For some of the best science fiction on the market today, go to Consider Phlebus or Feersum Endjinn or Look to Windward. Now THOSE are fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: not Banks' best
Review: This book is structurally similar to _Use of Weapons_, and in fact the story is an echo of an introductory scene of that book, in which Zakalwe tells his soon-to-be victim that the Culture prefers to send its agents out as doctors who extend the lives of benevolent leaders. In other respects, the books are not too comparable; _Use of Weapons_ is a masterpiece and this book is merely adequate. I would never miss any of Banks' Culture books, but I wouldn't recommend this one to someone who hasn't read his previous work. I didn't find this to be a work of great subtlety. On the plot level, Banks likes mysteries. In this book I thought they were obvious from early on -- especially the identity of the assassin who was due to strike later. In the Doctor's story, not one thing happened that hadn't already been heavily signalled. The Doctor's end scene would be impossible to understand in detail for someone who hasn't read Banks' other works; impossible not to understand at once if you have read them. Similarly, in characterization, the people are mainly stock cutouts. The main characters spend a lot of time opposing medieval bad guys whose only salient feature is that they are bad. The two main Culture characters themselves are somewhat poorly drawn because they are so monomaniacally focussed on their chosen paths, and because so much of their time is spent being exasperated by the obviously wrong primitives they have to deal with. The two leaders they serve are slightly more three-dimensional, but neither to the point of being a memorable character in their own right. In technique, I just plain didn't like the way that the background that the author wants us to have was told in the form of children's stories. Banks' use of the unreliable marrator seems to have forced him into this device, rather than using the flashback chapters that he put to so good use elsewhere. So, to sum up, if you haven't read any of Banks' culture books, read them first. If you have, you're going to want to read this one whether it's one of his better ones or not. Even not as his best, Banks is still so much better than other current science fiction writers that I'm still giving this work four stars.
Rating:
Summary: Reinvention :-)
Review: This is (a surprisingly good) continuation and evolution of the ideas that Strugatsky brothers started in their famous (in Russia and around) Hard To Be A God book (ca. 1965). I would be qute pleased to find out whether Mr Banks found an inspiration in that book or came up with the ideas and details on his own. Some of the details, like the little son of the Protector that became a scholar and reminiscences of the Lavishia remind me of Trudno Byt' Bogom (Hard To Be A God) so much that I can't help it but wonder...
Rating:
Summary: It's really inverted!
Review: This is a subtler work than Banks' earlier "Culture" novels, and may be his best one yet. Regrettably, the very subtlety and understatement that makes this such a good book may narrow its appeal. You have to think about this book. For instance, one of the reviewers (Booklist) clearly either didn't read, or failed to understand what he was reading. Whatever Dr. Vossil and DeWar's relationship may have been, they were most assuredly not "cooperating". For the benefit of those who haven't read the book, I don't want to give away too much. However, one of the questions that's been kicked around on the Iain Banks newsgroup is which of the two is the starry-eyed idealist, and which is a hard-eyed pragmatist. My view? --If special circumstances demand that it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight, if you send in Madame Doctor. No, this is not just a "medieval fantasy". It's a thought-provoking book about what it means to "do good", and how little latitude you have to help people in a cruel world. If it matters to you, this IS science fiction, and it IS a "Culture" book.
Rating:
Summary: It's really inverted!
Review: This is a subtler work than Banks' earlier "Culture" novels, and may be his best one yet. Regrettably, the very subtlety and understatement that makes this such a good book may narrow its appeal. You have to think about this book. For instance, one of the reviewers (Booklist) clearly either didn't read, or failed to understand what he was reading. Whatever Dr. Vossil and DeWar's relationship may have been, they were most assuredly not "cooperating". For the benefit of those who haven't read the book, I don't want to give away too much. However, one of the questions that's been kicked around on the Iain Banks newsgroup is which of the two is the starry-eyed idealist, and which is a hard-eyed pragmatist. My view? --If special circumstances demand that it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight, if you send in Madame Doctor. No, this is not just a "medieval fantasy". It's a thought-provoking book about what it means to "do good", and how little latitude you have to help people in a cruel world. If it matters to you, this IS science fiction, and it IS a "Culture" book.
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