If this were a movie, I'd be blinking myself awake in a chair, belly stuffed full of popcorn, remembering vaguely that there were lots of explosions and weak acting, and feeling a bit silly for having hoped it was going to be something else.

I really wanted to like this book. And I did, when it was called Excession. Banks has had these problems before in other novels, but here it really all comes together. It's a Culture Novel by the tropes.

Seriously, there's nothing in this book that you haven't seen before. Wacky minds? Check. Ultimately meaningless emotional sideplot involving humans? Check. Massively competent SC operative awkwardly standing by the sidelines? Idiot slapstick military trying to take on an Abominator class and failing? Check. Over the top self obsessed villain? Check. And the guy who's supposedly pushing all of this -- the head of the Trapeze gang -- is such a hollowed out shell that even fighting for his life in simulations is so boring that he's going through the motions.

So... yeah. Don't bother.