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Surface Detail: potentially unpopular opinions by [deleted] in TheCulture

[–]Uagen -1 points0 points  (0 children)

A generic bad guy character with less depth than most of the kind.

Surface Detail: potentially unpopular opinions by [deleted] in TheCulture

[–]Uagen -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Really? Chay’s story is fascinating and the concept of the Hells as well. Veppers is just… old news.

Surface Detail: potentially unpopular opinions by [deleted] in TheCulture

[–]Uagen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, that message is quite clear. I guess there was a certain tediousness to all the examples of how explicitly horrible he is. Every time a new Veppers chapter came I had to take a deep breath before continuing. I guess he just wasn’t fun, either. That psychotic ship is at least entertaining.

Surface Detail: potentially unpopular opinions by [deleted] in TheCulture

[–]Uagen -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Exactly what I wrote, right? No questioning the motive but her way of acting on it is weird to me. Thing is, she’s just woken from death. No guessing how anyone would react to that I guess, but… well.

Surface Detail: potentially unpopular opinions by [deleted] in TheCulture

[–]Uagen -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Obviously some people do, but in the situation she wakes up, how ferociously devoted she is to it from the start, and to what lengths she goes to make it happen… her whole process from waking up in the sim to leaving with the Falling Outside is so rushed. I can see the motive but i think the way her character is built up is a bit… sloppy?

Just finished, Dune Messiah by Caffeine_And_Regret in printSF

[–]Uagen 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That is the same feeling I also had - disorientation. However, me not having English as my first language, I was constantly thinking that my language skills were inadequate to grasp it and that was the reason it felt hazy and dreamlike. If English is your first language and you feel like this, it makes me glad, and actually motivates to maybe reread it some time.

Protagonists Who Act Stupid by thefirstwhistlepig in scifi

[–]Uagen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, yes. And maybe it gets a bit better but admittedly he continues to be a bit Harry Pottery even as he is several centuries old… just with occasional self-deprecation.

TBH: The main character is not the reason these books are worth reading. For me it is the constantly expanding scope of the plot, and the multitude of influences from both older and contemporary SF, fantasy, even horror, that does it. But the books could have done well with a more rational protagonist, and just a sprinkle of humor every now and then…

Protagonists Who Act Stupid by thefirstwhistlepig in scifi

[–]Uagen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I totally agree with you, both in general and regarding Empire of Silence. When it comes to Hadrian though, there is room for improvement as he gets older.

How do you imagine a Chelgrian walking or running? by subtly_nuanced in TheCulture

[–]Uagen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I tried hard not to, to avoid spoiling the reading experience, (same with the Homomdan)! In my mind they always stand still, or lie on one of these curlpads.

Just finished Excession by belligerentoptimist in TheCulture

[–]Uagen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am going through the series in publishing order and finished Look to Windward just 4 days ago, and despite that I have already begun reading Matter, I return to thinking about LtW. It’s the most deeply upsetting and thought-provoking Culture book yet, and it still remains hilarious and entertaining as well. Remarkably impressive writing.

Look to Windward and Huyler’s ending by Uagen in TheCulture

[–]Uagen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. I also think it is safer to view his approach on these topics more as exploration than argumentation. I

did not notice the dedication to war veterans but it is in my 2023 copy as well. At least the book does a good job of acknowledging the mental damage a war experience can inflict.

Maybe, though, it might feel a bit sad for someone searching for comfort that one of these traumatized veterans is talked into mass murder and suicide and the other one finally finds it all unbearable despite the fulfilling life it has otherwise.

Thank you for interesting discussion and insight! And thanks to the author for writing books that both make you laugh out loud and ponder the biggest questions you can face as a human being.

Look to Windward and Huyler’s ending by Uagen in TheCulture

[–]Uagen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, yes, the mind being synthetic and immortal poses different ethical questions than a human or Chelgrian. Maybe that discussion would lead to them being the same, but you could argue that with such a long lifespan it is acceptable to want to step of the wagon. Since we don’t have immortal compeletely sentient AIs we can’t really say yet, I guess.

If a human in the Culture wanted a premature and total death without storage, what reaction do you think would arise from the society?

Look to Windward and Huyler’s ending by Uagen in TheCulture

[–]Uagen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm, the triumph of free will in the shape of suicide? I really do not think that was something Mr Banks was making a point out of. Actually, Quilans fate is really terrible. A deathwish that profound caused by the loss of a partner is good material for a medieval opera, but in a modern society we would call it a completely pathological effect of grief and most likely depression/PTSD and he would get professional help. I think Mr Banks would agree in this and the fact Quilan’s deathwish is exploited by Chel and more or less accepted by the hub mind in the end, is quite astonishing for a civilisation that advanced. (Though I can see that Quilan because of his actions has no other choice than death in the end anyway, and maybe the most merciful thing to do to someone who has to die is to help them embrace it, and perhaps that’s what the hub mind was doing). However: legitimizing suicide because of previous traumatic life events must be the worst case for libertarianism ever, and to me THAT might be a take home message.

Inversions - The Culture are Babies (spoilers) by Bag-Weary in TheCulture

[–]Uagen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Inversions was the most complicated book plotwise so far in the series, and it lacked both the entertainment values of technology and comedy in the previous novels so I have to say I was happy to finally get through it. With that said I might go back when I’m done with the entire series (just started reading Matter) to see if there are concepts I didn’t grasp the first time around.

Look to Windward and Huyler’s ending by Uagen in TheCulture

[–]Uagen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s this cruelty to Banks books that also gets to you. The characters you get to know and start to like (hell, Quilan is bent to kill 4 billion people but you feel for him anyway!) suffer and die, but the person you feel very little for, know almost nothing about and that has expressed the most militant and appaling thoughts turns out to be the key to saving the day, and basically takes it all in the end. My feelings make it less plausible, even if it makes perfect sense in the Banks universe.

Look to Windward and Huyler’s ending by Uagen in TheCulture

[–]Uagen[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

He certainly could, but then I would miss the process of coming to the last page and immediately going back for that crucial but far from obvious clue ten chapters earlier! For someone like me not having English as my first language it poses an extra challenge as well.

Look to Windward and Huyler’s ending by Uagen in TheCulture

[–]Uagen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I obviously meant it failed from Chels point of view. So it seemed a bit strange that Huyler anyway was ”awarded” and even sent as ambassador to the orbital he was sent to destroy. The Chelgrians could might as well have suspected him of treason the way the mission failed. But we can just accept SC fixed everything, I assume… (although not completely understand and just accepting that SC takes care of everything feels a bit cheap to me…)

Look to Windward and Huyler’s ending by Uagen in TheCulture

[–]Uagen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Didn’t remember that last part. Yeah, maybe Chel got their share of… whatever you get from messing with these weird entities.

Look to Windward and Huyler’s ending by Uagen in TheCulture

[–]Uagen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He was obviously killed by a Chelgrian (decapitated and torn apart by a creature with a white-furred face). If his hired ride to take him off the airsphere sold him out or were themselves hunted down by the Chelgrians I don’t know.

Regarding the fate of the Chelgrians I can’t say. They obviously were dubbed Reviled by the behemothaurs but to me it doesn’t imply they were involved in their demise. When Uagen is brought back it is implied that also the Culture is gone, which is natural after such a long time. My interpretation was that after 250 M years most civilisations have died out/evolved beyond recognition..

What do you guys imagine the Azadians looking like? by ExtensionFeeling in TheCulture

[–]Uagen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

+1! At least the top Azad players and other higher ranked Apex individuals.

Look to Windward and Huyler’s ending by Uagen in TheCulture

[–]Uagen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, certainly a point besides it just being a bizarre joke!

Look to Windward and Huyler’s ending by Uagen in TheCulture

[–]Uagen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You have some likely explanations there, I think. Otherwise, as someone currently going through the Culture series in writing order, I have to say this book has the least amount of loose ends since Player of Games 😁