Inversions
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- This is a page about a 1998 book by Iain Banks. There is also a 1981 book of art with the same name, by puzzle designer Scott Kim.
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| Author | Iain M. Banks |
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| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Orbit Books |
| Released | 1998 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 393 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-85723-763-3 |
| Preceded by | A Song of Stone |
| Followed by | The Business |
Inversions is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1998.
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[edit] Plot introduction
A Culture novel from the point of view of a planet being intervened in by the Culture.
[edit] Plot summary
It tells the story of two influential strangers within two competing societies on a world whose state of civilisation broadly resembles that of early modern Europe. The two entwined stories are of Vosill, or 'The Doctor', who looks after one kingdom's absolute monarch (King Quience, in Hapside), and the bodyguard, DeWar, of a rival and more "progressive" country's Cromwellian Protector (General UrLeyn). Vosill believes she can moderate the conservatism of the ruler by argument. DeWar becomes convinced that someone connected to UrLeyn is trying to kill him. Both, it turns out, are mysterious outsiders from farther away than the King or Protector can possibly imagine.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
Like many other Banks books, Inversions has an interlaced structure; the grandson of the purported reporter of some of the events portrayed introduces the reader to the tales of his grandfather, thus giving us three or four distinct layers of supposed narration (the two original fictional "authors", the fictional "editor" and Banks himself).
The two interlopers, intimate friends in the Culture before each came to intervene in the affairs of the book's world, develop different notions of the extent to which they can morally enforce change on an unwitting "weaker" society, and the two outlooks appear reflected in the way they choose to intervene in the societies they come to influence.
The book stands out in the context of the Culture novels for the relatively confined space in which it is set - the other novels tend to span many worlds, and often much longer timespans. Inversions represents the most intimate and microscopic portrayal in the Culture series of the ways in which Culture citizens can affect the paths of other societies.
There is some stylistic resemblance to A Song of Stone.
The character DeWar's name bears a close resemblance to the surname of Donald Dewar.
[edit] Title
The exact reason for the title Inversions is not obvious. Possibilities include that:
- it is a Culture novel set on a low technology world -from the other side of Contact operations explored from a Culture perspective in The Player of Games and Use of Weapons
- it is about a relationship between two people who never interact
- it is a science fiction novel that appears to be fantasy (though what "magic" there is in Inversions is clearly advanced technology, recalling Arthur C. Clarke's famous statement that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"), or even a historical novel.
- the two protagonists (initially friends, both from the same off-world culture, perhaps the Culture) end up taking stances opposite to their initial convictions. The one who initially proposes radical modification of a culture supports the status quo, the one in favour of avoiding actively modifying a foreign culture takes the most action.
[edit] Culture book?
Some have debated whether Inversions is a Culture novel. It soon becomes apparent to readers of the other Culture novels that the story is one of a Special Circumstances mission seen from the other side. To quote Banks, "Inversions was an attempt to write a Culture novel that wasn't"[1]. Furthermore, the initial hardback printing of the book contained the following brief preface:
"A Note on the Text
This Text, in two Parts, was discovered amongst the Papers of my late Grandfather. One Part concerns the Story of the Bodyguard to the then Protector of Tassasen, one UrLeyn, and is related, it is alleged, by a Person of his Court at the time, while the other, told by my Grandfather, tells the Story of the Woman Vosill, a Royal Physician during the Reign of King Quience, and who may, or may not, have been from the distant Archipelago of Drezen but who was, without Argument, from a different Culture. Like my much esteemed Grandfather, I have taken on the Task of making the Text I inherited more comprehensible and clear, and hope that I have succeeded in this Aim. Nevertheless, it is in a Spirit of the utmost Humility that I present it to the Society and to whomever might see fit to read it.
-O. Derlan-Haspid III, D.Phys, OM (1st class), ESt, RS (hons)."
Although this has been excised from subsequent paperback editions, there are many clues throughout Inversions that suggest that the two protagonists are citizens of the Culture.
Vosill possesses the best medical knowledge on the planet. She acts subtly to push King Quience in the direction of democracy and civilized values, in line with Special Circumstances' modus operandi. In Chapter 7, she explains the philosophical world-view of the Culture in veiled terms, while speaking with her apprentice. She can eavesdrop on private conversations in closed rooms, and various of her enemies are killed in mysterious circumstances. When about to be tortured, she somehow escapes from shackles and kills three men in the space of a few seconds. It is strongly hinted that the "enchanted dagger" Vosill carries (to use Banks' jokey term from the above interview) is a knife missile (which the servant who witnesses the death of Duke Walen takes to be a "dark bird"), or some similar Culture technology. Vosill eventually disappears from a locked cabin on a ship at sea, during an episode of unexplained atmospheric phenomena, and at this time she cites "an indisposition due to special circumstances" (emphasis added).
DeWar tells Lattens (the young son of the Protector General) stories that refer to the Culture. In Chapter 6, he says of one of these stories, "...there was more than just the language that needed translation. Some of the ideas and... ways that people do things and behave required alteration to make sense, too". The phrase "ways that people do things and behave", which he uses after hesitating, is essentially a definition of the word "culture". From DeWar's stories, one gathers that he is the character Hiliti, and that Vosill is the character Sechroom. Sechroom (or Vosill), believing that the Culture has a duty to help less fortunate civilizations where possible, is naturally an agent of Special Circumstances (in DeWar's words, "Perhaps more missionary, or even spy, than soldier"). It seems that Hiliti (or DeWar) could not be an SC agent, given his aversion to cultural interference. Rather, it seems he has followed Vosill to the planet for his own reasons, and never intends to return to the Culture (in Chapter 16 he says "He exiled himself from the luxuries of Lavishia (the Culture) for ever. Sechroom and Hiliti will never meet again"). In this interpretation, he may even be attempting to counterbalance Vosill's support of King Quience, who is plotting the downfall and discrediting of the Protector General whom DeWar is guarding. Other interpretations of this point are possible, however. DeWar does not use Culture technology like Vosill's dagger. However, he does know of the Half-Hidden Kingdom of Mottelocci (where he eventually takes exile) despite its great remoteness and his never having been there before.
[edit] Bibliography
Inversions, Iain M. Banks, London: Orbit, 1998, ISBN 1-85723-763-3
[edit] External links
| Iain M. Banks books |
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| Consider Phlebas • The Player of Games • Use of Weapons • The State of the Art • Against a Dark Background • Feersum Endjinn • Excession • Inversions • Look to Windward • The Algebraist |
