Excession

Excession is a science fiction novel by Iain M. Banks and the fourth published to feature The Culture. It is a large-scale space opera with a complex plot following many characters across large volumes of space.

Related Topics:
Science fiction - Iain M. Banks - The Culture - Space opera

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The book details the Culture's response to an "Outside Context Problem", the Excession of the title (essentially a Big Dumb Object), is a perfect black-body sphere that appears mysteriously on the edges of Culture space. The Excession is Mysterious and Ineffable for a while, and then disappears. One of the main plot elements is the relationship between the Culture and a civilization appropriately named the Affront, a sadistic species which tends to view all other sentient beings (including other members of their own species) as tools for their amusement.

Related Topics:
Outside Context Problem - Big Dumb Object - Black-body

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The book, more than any of the other Culture novels, focuses on the Culture's Minds as protagonists.

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