• click here to return to the homepage •
or 
Home > Categories > Books > Fantasy > Inversions review
In the winter palace, the King's new physician has more enemies than she at first realises. But then she also has more remedies to hand than those who wish her ill can know about.
In another palace across the mountains, in the service of the regicidal Protector general, the chief bodyguard, too, has his enemies. But his enemies strike more swiftly, and his means of combatting them are more traditional.
The Algebraist
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
Matter
Excession
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
Fun Kits: Safe and Simple Science Tricks
Another Country
Rory The Dinosaur Wants A Pet
The Rising SeaProduct reviews...
Review by: tucker (Karl)
Dated: 27th of August, 2007
I have great respect for Iain M. Banks' writing ability... his Culture books are stunning beyond anything I could imagine... yet he has also written lots of non-Culture series titles, this being one of them... and I have to say I can't quite get my head around most of them.
I found this book to be, basically, a pile of loose ends still unexplained at the end of the book. There were a lot of implied elements, such as the nature of Doctor Vosill's old blunt dagger, and the connection between the doctor and chief bodyguard... plus a heck of a lot of pop-up surprises, such as the true background of royal concubine Perrund. I was left with the distinct feeling that the book wasn't finished and that there should have been at least 2 more chapters that tied it all up neatly...
Overall... though I enjoyed the reading, I didn't really get much pleasure from the book. It ended abruptly, almost as though Iain had reached the publication deadline, hadn't really figured it all out, so slapped a cap on the end and left it at that. Not the best example of his usually-stunning literary style, despite it's own merits.
Random listing from 'Books'...
After a tip from a reporter, Eve Dallas finds the body of a young woman in a Delancey street dumpster. Just hours before, the news station had mysteriously received a portfolio of professional portraits of the woman. The photos seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for any pretty young woman starting a modelling career.
Except that she wasn't a model. And that these photos were taken after she had been murdered. Now Dallas is ... more...
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
George S. Patton (1885 - 1945)
