I don’t read Banks (see explanation at the page I linked to at the bottom of the post, if you care).
You’ll want to avoid his recent Surface Detail then. A major plot component is virtual hells built from the religious specifications of multiple civilisations (according to the story, but it looked to me more like Bosch and Brueghel brought to virtual life), in which billions of people are tortured forever. Substantial parts are set within them, described in detail.
I remember the Eaters in Consider Phlebas, but my only reaction to that episode was “why is this in this novel at all?” It served no purpose and could, and I think should, have been cut without leaving a gap.
Torture doesn’t actually bother me much at all. -_- The more I talk about this the more I think it’s just me being weird.
I remember the Eaters in Consider Phlebas, but my only reaction to that episode was
“why is this in this novel at all?” It served no purpose and could, and I think should,
have been cut without leaving a gap.
That is exactly why it bothered me: it seemed to exist for the sole purpose of grossing me out, with no actual connection to the plot. I can deal with just about anything as long as it advances the plot.
You’ll want to avoid his recent Surface Detail then. A major plot component is virtual hells built from the religious specifications of multiple civilisations (according to the story, but it looked to me more like Bosch and Brueghel brought to virtual life), in which billions of people are tortured forever. Substantial parts are set within them, described in detail.
I remember the Eaters in Consider Phlebas, but my only reaction to that episode was “why is this in this novel at all?” It served no purpose and could, and I think should, have been cut without leaving a gap.
Torture doesn’t actually bother me much at all. -_- The more I talk about this the more I think it’s just me being weird.
That is exactly why it bothered me: it seemed to exist for the sole purpose of grossing me out, with no actual connection to the plot. I can deal with just about anything as long as it advances the plot.
-Robin