The Algebraist on Schild's Ladder

[sqbr]

As part of an attempt to read more novels I finally got around to reading "Schild's Ladder" by Greg Egan and "The Algebraist" by Iaian M Banks, both of which came out about 8 years ago just as I had somewhat overgorged myself on those authors and felt like a break (a long break, as it turned out, though I have reread their earlier books)

I'm rather amused by the base similarity between the books: both are rather self indulgent, idea rich escapism set in a distant future where everyone is immortal and to some extent can do whatever they like, and say a lot about the author. They also both started off promising, dragged a bit in the middle, then got interesting if a little confusing at the end, but that's true of a lot of sf.

In Iaian M Banks perfect future (reflected better in his Culture books, this one's somewhat dystopic) everyone has all the stuff they want, has lots of sex, takes lots of drugs, and owns many awesome shiny bits of technology. The positive characters tend to be left wing pacifist liberals with no preconceptions about class or gender (and they often change gender..off screen) who just happen to be rich, heterosexual men who are forced by circumstances to be horribly, destructively violent (with amazing, shiny guns which are way better than everyone else's).

In Greg Egan's future noone has a gender, people are biologically incapable of wanting or having sex with anyone they're not in a stable reciprocal emotional relationship with(*), and afaict the main things everyone in the entire universe really wants to do with their time are physics research and sightseeing (seriously, I don't remember a single reference to fairly universal human interests like art, sport, war etc)

I quite enjoyed the books regardless, though "Schild's Ladder" was a bit dry and mathsy (yes, too mathsy for me) and I'm getting increasingly annoyed at Iaian M Banks tendency to be all "edgy and imaginative" by making us empathise with torturers and baby enslavers while still in a lot of ways (often but not always) being rather blandly heterosexist-male in his POV. (See Wanted for a much worse example of this sort of thing) Apparently his next book is about a woman making her own way in a sexist society, which might be less annoying.

(*)And during this time they're physically incapable of having sex with anyone else. There is no indication that anyone finds this restricting.

Comments

[ataxi.livejournal.com]

"I'm getting increasingly annoyed at Iaian M Banks tendency to be all "edgy and imaginative" by making us empathise with torturers and baby enslavers while still in a lot of ways being rather blandly heterosexist-male in his POV."

Yeah, he's definitely one of those quasi-leftist writers who pays a lot of lip service to his inner man-child. Not to mention that in real life he has (or had -- I seem to remember something about him switching to the world's most advanced hybrid car and selling his massive fleet, just because he could!) a fleet of expensive sports cars and wrote a definitive Scotch whisky tour of Scotland, and lives the life of an international playboy in general, working three months a year and taking the rest off.

[alias_sqbr]

I know, someone needs to explain to him that there's more to being a socialist than putting down conservatives and thinking it would be really nice if everyone could be rich and not have to work.

[ataxi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree, although I think he's fully conscious of the vacuousness of the pseudo-left, e.g. the wealthy socialist shock jock Ken Nott character in Dead Air (one of his non-sf books) who one assumes is at least partially based on himself, and does things like hang out with a poor caricature of Richard Branson.

I don't mind if Banks wants to live out a few fantasies in his private life, it's what I'd be doing if I was loaded, in all likelihood. I've never found his books excessively moralising. It does beg a question every now and then, though.

[alias_sqbr]

Yeah, maybe :)

I guess I'm more annoyed at all the people singing his praises. I googled "Iain M Banks sexist" and got a lot of people going on about how enlightened his books are, and some moderately smug interviews on his part.

Also I always get a somewhat irrational sense of betrayal when I think I've found a writer who doesn't do all that sexist etc crap and then after a while I realise they do, it's just more subtle. I had the same thing with Joss Whedon.

[ataxi.livejournal.com]

Ugh, Joss Whedon. Has anyone ever done "girls who kick ass" at the same time as acknowledging they were doing "girls who kick ass" without ending up with sexist claptrap as the result?

If your starting point is "wow a girl kicking ass would be so groundbreaking and new and go against everyone's expectations" you probably are a sexist pig.

[alias_sqbr]

*ponders*

*ponders some more*

Nope, can't think of any :)

[kadeton.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed the Dweller culture in The Algebraist. I thought he managed to create a pretty believable society made up of essentially immortal beings with unlimited power, who nonetheless managed to be as petty and self-interested as everyone else without the pomposity and stiffness of, say, Tolkien's elves. I particularly liked their use of kudos as a form of currency.

But then, Banks' particular brand of escapism has always appealed to me. I have to say that I prefer his AI characters to his human ones, though.

[alias_sqbr]

Oh, yes, the Dwellers were pretty cool. And overall I quite liked the book, there were some cool ideas (though the twist makes less and less sense the more I think about it. But I think I have to reread the book with it in mind)

I have nothing against escapism per se, and I think I wouldn't find the shallowness of his books so annoying if (a) I was a guy and (b) He didn't set himself up as a Great Deep Author of Socially Conscious Books Which Make You Think.