Just a quick note. This link was Look to Windward and not The Business before the site change. Once books is updated I will put it back in the right place.

Look to Windward is the latest in a long line of incredible Culture novels by Iain Banks. After reading several other reviews of this, it has become obvious that this is either a love or hate book for Banks fans. I happened to absolutely love it, and wanted so much more when it was finished, but then again I've never been disappointed by a Banks sci-fi novel.

Continuing what he seemed to have started with Excession (yet to be reviewed but well worth the read), Look to Windward focuses mostly on the non human aspects of the Culture. The five to six main characters, are either alien or minds (artificial intelligences). It is not as extreme as Excession was, where it totally focused on the minds, but it still was rather striking not to have a single human character to relate with. Despite that, Banks does not fail in delivering incredible characters, with true motivations and just flat out wonderfully developed personalities. The main (I don't want to say villain because the implies being evil) protagonist is an alien that lost his wife in a civil war. The character is built around this pain and suffering and Banks lays the bricks to his foundation so subtly that you are left with a complete understanding of why he is reacting as he is. While he is by far the strongest character writing wise, the others, even the minds, are no less powerful.

These strong characters were certainly needed though. The plot is not the grand sweeping plot of Consider Phlebas or Use of Weapons that Banks fans have grown to love. It is a lot more like Inversions, an extremely more intimate tale that only involves a few characters but manages to affect them dramatically. I think this is one of the reasons that it is getting mixed reviews by a lot of fans. I think they crave the galactic level that Banks delivers so well. I enjoyed the honing in that Banks did here.

What the smaller plot and the alien characters allow Banks to do is really explore the Culture's, well, culture, from an outsiders perspective. Throughout the book, Banks has the aliens looking upon the Culture with mixed emotions, and from their own unique views. Banks seemed to have a lot of fun with this and I also got the feeling that he was finally trying to describe what he had always felt about them from the beginning. It really gives the reader an opportunity to judge if the Culture is a force of good or evil, and if their so called Utopia is really just that. Needless to say, you find yourself thinking a bit about it.

Overall, I completely loved this book. I still think Use of Weapons and Consider Phlebas are a notch above it, but those two are just simply mind blowing so it's not a fair comparison. If you are a Banks fan, this is a must read without a doubt. If you're new to Banks, this might be a rough one to start with since it does assume you know a lot about the Culture. I'd suggest grabbing Consider Phlebas first and then maybe moving to this one. This is really 4 and a half stars.

Recommended: Yes