This novel (written in 1987) is quite impressive. It is comparable to more modern "space operas" such as works by Aastair Reynolds.

The story has lots of action sequences, which are described in great detail. I look forward to reading more of Banks' work.

This novel describes a future India. It is a very scary place, mostly due to a proliferation of rogue AI. The story has some very graphic sequences, which made it more real to me.

There are about 10 main characters, and the story is told using first person plural. This makes the book challenging to read, but I found it well worth the effort. It is more difficult if you don't read the glossary of Indian words at the end of the book!

This is chock full of BIG ideas, and is another example of Ian McDonald's best work.

The key figure of the novel is the Shrike, a mythical / mystical creature on the planet Hyperion. Seven individuals have all been chosen to make a pilgrimage to Hyperion. The novel covers the short period of time during which the seven make their pilgrimage.

The majority of the novel has each pilgrim telling their life story to the others, in the hope their inter-relationships will be clarified. The stories are really interesting, and each pilgrim reveals their dark secrets.

This book is worth reading just for the first of the seven stories. It runs about 90 pages, and it covers several fascinating ideas. Most of the other stories are also really good.

The story is about early American history, and the relationship between the white men and the native Indians. The key character is Alvin, who is the seventh son of a seventh son. He is a Maker, who has nearly magical powers.

Everyone who dies becomes a second class citizen. They have to work a long time to pay off the cost of their resurrection. All of the dead have no rights, and must spend each night in a compound.

The basic story covers the conflict between the Shapers (psychological warfare) and the Mechanists (high tech hardware). These stories span over 100 years, so there is plenty of time for various ideas to develop.   

WARNING -  EXTREME EXPLICIT SEX
Not for the faint of heart! 

This is probably the only science fiction / erotica / pr0n novel I have ever read. The main female character is taken advantage of by some male characters at the beginning of the story. Her response is to become something not quite human.

The novel traces her path from civilization to a life in the jungle. Most of the story takes place in this setting. It is extremely well written, and amazingly inventive.

Diamond Dogs is about The Spire, which is a large artifact on an alien world. and the attempt by a group of people to unlock its mystery. The Spire is malevolent, and eventually tries to kill anyone who enters.

This story is about the Jesuits and first contact with aliens on another planet. The story spans 40 years, and at the outset, you are told there was only one survivor. The result is that the story reads like a Greek tragedy - you know what the outcome will be.

The character development is really well done. It made it rather painful to know there is only one survivor. This was very well written, and I really enjoyed reading it.

There is not a lot of hard science fiction in here. It is more of about the sociology of marketing. There are quite a few characters, and the story jumps between them rapidly. This was cleverly done, and a lot of fun to read.

The story is about data encryption, cryptographers and the NSA. The Digital Fortress refers to an unbreakable encryption scheme. I found this an interesting (and quick) read. The characters are quite entertaining.

This novel continues the trilogy which started with Hyperion. It attempts to tie together the stories of the Shrike pilgrims.

At the beginning, it was fairly interesting. But about halfway through, I found it fairly unsatisfying. Some of the ideas were interesting, but the whole conclusion seemed rather forced and implausible. Maybe I just didn't get it.

Oh well, this once again proves the adage that trilogies are rarely as good as the first novel in the trilogy.