Excession
Excession is the fourth Culture novel by Iain M. Banks. A sudden Outside Context Problem occurs within Culture space in the form of a black sphere the size of a sun. Immensely old, the Minds of the Culture think that it could contain power which could topple civilizations, even their own, so they send Ships with hyperintelligent artificial minds to investigate. For more on the story log in and click the "read more" link. Two and a half
millennia ago, the artifact appeared in a remote corner of space, beside
a trillion-year- old dying sun from a different universe. It was a
perfect black-body sphere, and it did nothing. Then it disappeared. Now
it is back.
Silent, motionless, and resisting all efforts to make
contact, the artifact waits. The Culture ships, however, cannot. For
the artifact is something they need to understand first, before it falls
into less understanding hands - and triggers a political and military
crisis which will threaten everything the Culture has achieved.
One
person who saw the artifact when it first appeared may have information
concerning its purpose, but she is living out her death in the immense
Eccentric ship, the Sleeper Service. The Culture ships formulate a plan
to retrieve her. The Sleeper Service has other things on its mind.Posted by: T5, at: 2012-01-11 09:18. You must be logged in to comment. |
