Banks died recently, I thought that SF had very little to give except the Fantasy. Error! because this novel, widely described by other commentators (useless to add) allows to find a real plot of SF, well done enough, where a being (human substitute + AI) seek revenge master stellar empire for explicit reasons. A little hard to read in English but without much pain, the only criticism that can be done is the end, where the reasons for the transition to the 2nd novel in this trilogy are fetched, but after all who cares! I'll buy it anyway. Still not as good as the first novels involving Culture but to recommend to lovers.