Awards
A New York Times Notable Book for 2000.
Synopses & Reviews
Iain M. Banks, the international bestselling author of
The Player of Games and
Consider Phlebas, is a true original, a literary visionary whose brilliant speculative fiction has transported us into worlds of unbounded imagination. Now, in his acclaimed new novel, Banks presents an engrossing portrait of an alien world, and of two very different people bound by a startling and mysterious secret.
On a backward world with six moons, an alert spy reports on the doings of one Dr. Vosill, who has mysteriously become the personal physician to the king despite being a foreigner and, even more unthinkably, a woman. Vosill has more enemies than she first realizes. But then she also has more remedies in hand than those who wish her ill can ever guess.
Elsewhere, in another palace across the mountains, a man named DeWar serves as chief bodyguard to the Protector General of Tassasen, a profession he describes as the business of "assassinating assassins." DeWar, too, has his enemies, but his foes strike more swiftly, and his means of combating them are more direct.
No one trusts the doctor, and the bodyguard trusts no one, but is there a hidden commonality linking their disparate histories? Spiraling around a central core of mystery, deceit, love, and betrayal. Inversions is a dazzling work of science fiction from a versatile and imaginative author writing at the height of his remarkable powers.
Review
"...Banks's latest novel steps back from the usual grand scale and ultra high-tech of his well-known Culture SF series (Excession, etc.) to the intrigue-ridden courts of a politically fragmented world....As conspiracies unfold and loyalties shift dangerously in both lands, the story of Vosill and DeWar and their unspoken connection unfolds with masterful subtlety. Banks's new novel should further expand his reputation for creating challenging, intelligent stories full of notable characters trapped in complex situations that have no easy solutions." Publishers Weekly
Review
"A sly parable that works by indirection....[Banks's] diction is pitch-perfect throughout." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[A] tightly structered story.... A fascinating puzzle." Salon.com
Review
"...[A] thinking person's space opera....Banks' eye for detail and knack for suitable description remain sound; the planet's six moons are particularly well handled, making the place impressively alien. In particular, Inversions recalls such other distinguished essays in sword-and-spaceship as Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga and Margaret Weis's Star of the Guardians series, whose fans should find its appeal irresistible." Booklist
Review
"Banks never does the same thing twice. But he always does it sublimely." Los Angeles Times
Review
"Iain M. Banks has a deep grasp of story, character, and the irony of this strange life that humans are born into. He is a master at portraying the terror and poignant joy that swirl whenever people open their horizons and start to see their dreams come true." David Brin, author of the Uplift series
Review
"A talent to be reckoned with." Locus
Synopsis
On a backwards world with six moons, an alert spy reports on the doings of one Dr. Vosill, who has somehow become the King's personal physician despite being a foreigner and -- even more unthinkably -- a woman. Dr. Vosill, it seems, has more enemies than she realizes.
Elsewhere, in another palace across the mountains, a man named DeWar serves as the chief bodyguard to the Protector General of Tassasen. The bodyguard, by nature, trusts no one -- while no one trusts the doctor. But what is the secret that links them?
A cunning narrative of mystery, deceit, love, and betrayal, Inversions is a remarkable work from the author calls "a talent to be reckoned with."
About the Author
IAIN M. BANKS, one of the United Kingdom's bestselling authors of science fiction, has written such highly regarded novels as Excession, Feersum Endjinn, Use of Weapons, The State of the Art, and Against a Dark Background. As "Iain Banks" he also writes mainstream novels, including The Wasp Factory and A Song of Stone. He lives in Scotland.