Use of Weapons
Banks tracks a mercenary through two timelines, one moving forward and one backward, toward a revelation that retroactively changes the meaning of everything. His most structurally audacious Culture novel. Also the bleakest.
That backward-counting timeline is the single most repeated complaint: readers lose track of chronology and say they needed a second read just to map events, the book “desperately slow and directionless for much of its length.” A widely followed genre blogger calls the middle “an uninteresting journey that is putatively justified by its destination.” Zakalwe reads as “a cypher who is slowly revealed by flashback sequences” rather than through direct characterisation; the hostile end declares Banks “one of the most overrated authors in science fiction.” Reviewers who respect the ambition argue the late turn prioritises shock over earned impact. And Diziet Sma is underwritten for her narrative importance, largely an offstage voice.
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
