Home > Categories > Books > Sci-Fi > Against a Dark Background review
Sharrow was once the leader of a personality-attuned combat team in one of the sporadic little commercial wars in the civilisation based around the planet Golter.
Now she is hunted by the Huhsz, a religious cult which believes that she is the last obstacle before the faith's apotheosis, and her only hope of escape is to find the last of the apocalyptically powerful Lazy Guns before the Huhsz find her.
Her journey through the exotic Golterian system is a destructive and savage odyssey into her past, and that of her family and the system itself.
Product reviews...
I have read a few of Banks' 'Culture' series novels, and found them quite easy to throw myself into... with one exception... but this is the first of his non-Culture novels I have read and I admit to being very impressed.
Reading like a James Bond novel set in Buck Roger's 24th Century, this one had me on the edge of my seat most of the way. With a stunning array of wierd characters, from the priesthood who live chained to a set of tracks that run around in a house like a maze, through to a duo of homicidal clones, I would have to say my most favourite are the wandering clan of freelance mercinaries who all believe they are God, and the rest of their crew are simply figments of their imagination that won't go away and thus must serve some purpose.
I was very taken with the intricate descriptions of some of the items and locations throughout, in particular the Crownstar Addendum, a necklace like none other, and the world-spanning single plantform, known as the Entraxrln, which covers the planet Miykenns so totally that it controls the global weather patterns.
Overall, though missing some of the elements I really enjoy from his Culture series titles, such as the self-aware droids etc, this one held me enthralled from cover to cover... my only gripe with it was that I could only read it in small, 5-10 minute patches during breaks.
Random listing from 'Books'...
Wow! is a fantastic new series that is full of only the best and most amazing facts. Wow! Animals is full of extraordinary facts about a wide range of creatures. Discover that goats have rectangular pupils, that gorillas can catch human colds and that rhinoceros beetles can carry up to 850 times their own weight.
This is a lively, fun book about animals that is certain to make you say Wow! again and again.
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.
"Proof that God doesn't exist: If God created the earth for mankind, why is it that we can only live on a less than a quarter of it?"
anonymous