A Culture cycle peaks

For me, this novel is one of the peaks of the cycle of Culture. This is also the SF novel in general I have the most read, reread, and traveled. Finely written, with a complex history and a tone much less black than in earlier novels (A form of war, man of the Games and the use of weapons), it brews many themes and subplots, of tragic love story of the war, through the central note of the novel which is the following: it is easy to be altruistic when you're at the top of the ladder of wealth, power, opportunity and technology but facing something that culture can not do and literally dying to be able to do, even as altruistic, pacifist society, etc, in short utopian it may fall into the lowest instincts and behaviors allegedly civilizations less evolved. In short, that culture is not as perfect as it wants to believe it itself, or mostly be felt to others.

The novel follows several characters or groups of characters, humans, drones, aliens, especially vessels. With the love story (tragic, but not very exciting) between Dajeil and Byr, the pivot of the story and the cast of characters is a group of Mental Disorders (very advanced artificial intelligences) vessels, which communicate them as chat, process already more or less used by Vernor Vinge in a fire at the Abyss and reused virtually identical to recently by Banks in The Hydrogen Sonata. A "character" Mind the ship berths Service, will find itself at the crossroads of all the frames of all the intrigues, and play a central role in the overall history of the novel.

Another strong point of the novel: a fine humor, that was quite lacking in the first 3 novels (previous) cycle, overall very black. The Affronteurs extremist alien species but suddenly cheerful, are ultimately very funny in their genre.

Only regret: the "end of the end" is a cryptic hair. Without wishing to pun, we remain a bit hungry in the aims and nature of the Excession. Certainly, it speaks itself, but it's ... well ... to obscure design. Anyway all in all, this is one of the best novels of the cycle of Culture, and a very good SF novel in general. We just advise a novice does not know the cycle to start with a previous novels to learn a little more culture, the Man of the Games in the ideal.

Also note that if you enjoy Excession, the final installment of the cycle of Culture, The Hydrogen Sonata, like him a lot. So you are warned that you enjoyed or hated one, you're likely to feel the same thing for the other.