Use of Weapons - Iain Banks

The Culture? What is it? Who is in it? What's it all about? Well to really understand Iain M. Banks’ Science-Fiction writing one needs to understand the Culture. Essentially, the Culture can be described as ''...a group-civilisation formed from seven or eight humanoid species, space-living elements of which established a loose federation approximately nine thousand years ago. The ships and habitats which formed the original alliance required each others' support to pursue and maintain their independence from the political power structures - principally those of mature nation-states and autonomous commercial concerns - they had evolved from.'' (Iain M. Banks) The culture is an extremely advanced and totally utopian society, where the concept of money doesn't exist. There are no biological limitations- people can change sex at a whim and similarly change back and genetic manipulation is as easy as an oral vaccination- and the only reasons for existing are hedonism and nurturing young worlds and societies.

This final point forms the basis of Use of Weapons as it deals with the ''Contact'' section of the Culture- more specifically ''Special Circumstances''. Essentially, Use of Weapons is the story of Cheradenine Zakalwe, a non-citizen of the Culture, who had been employed by Special Circumstances as a weapon to influence conflicts on a variety of planets and move their philosophies in the direction of the Culture. It involves another viewpoint, Diziet Sma (along with her sentient drone Skeffen-Amtiskaw), Cheradenine's former ''control'', so to speak, trying to bring him out of retirement to complete a final mission.

The book now diverges into two distinct and non-linear but logical threads. The main branch of the story moves forward in time with Sma pursuing and successfully convincing Zakalwe to come out of retirement and complete the final mission. The second plot moves backwards in time, recounting Zakalwe's grim adventures as a Special Circumstances agent all the way up to his recruitment into Special Circumstances and his experiences before coming into contact with the Culture. This is where we delve into the mind of Zakalwe and understand why his soul is so tortured and his outlook so grim. The climax of the book leads to some unimaginable and shocking revelations.

Science-Fiction is too simple a classification for a book of this calibre. The universe in which it exists and the ideology itself behind the Culture is incredibly vast and encompasses a visionary's imagination- that visionary being Iain M. Banks. It removes all restriction from constructive and imaginative energy and for once analyses the human conditions within the extreme situations that are so common to Sci-Fi personas. It is a dark novel describing a desolate mind with such empathy that the reader is almost filled with pathos for Zakalwe and his actions. Some of the scenes will stay with you forever especially those where the frivolities of the Culture are described (A dinner party where guests swap body parts???) You don't have to read Banks' other Culture novels to understand Use of Weapons, nevertheless, it would help further explain the philosophy of the Culture. Use of Weapons in itself ,though, is a tour de force both in prose and in understanding the human mind. It is a book of such complexity and sinister motives that I felt at times moved and at times frightened. Abandon your current book and devour this feast of imaginative literature- you'll not regret it!

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