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Use of Weapons
- Culture Series, Book 3
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
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Publisher's summary
The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.
The man known as Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks or military action.
Though the woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and aided his stratospheric rise, she did not know him as well as she thought.
The drone Skaffen-Amtiskaw thought it knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers, and it believed the man to be a burnt-out wreck - but not even its superlative machine-intelligence could see the horrors in his past.
The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art
Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist
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Behold the orphan. Born into a world that is not a world. A digital being grown from a mind seed, a genderless cybernetic citizen in a vast network of probes, satellites, and servers knitting the Solar System into one scape, from the outer planets to the fiery surface of the Sun. Since the Introdus in the 21st century, humanity has reconfigured itself drastically. Most chose immortality, joining the polises to become conscious software.
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Fabulous Story, Disappointing Performance
- By Ben on 12-08-13
By: Greg Egan
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We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
- Bobiverse, Book 1
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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There's a reason We Are Legion was named Audible's Best Science Fiction Book of 2016: Its irresistibly irreverent wit! Bob Johansson has just sold his software company for a small fortune and is looking forward to a life of leisure. The first item on his to-do list: Spending his newfound windfall. On an urge to splurge, he signs up to have his head cryogenically preserved in case of death. Then he gets himself killed crossing the street. Waking up 117 years later, Bob discovers his mind has been uploaded into a sentient space probe with the ability to replicate itself.
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Ignore the Publisher's Summary! This is Amazing!
- By PW on 04-12-17
By: Dennis E. Taylor
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Cryptonomicon
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 42 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mathematical genius and young Captain in the US Navy - is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists, and some of those people have names like Churchill and Roosevelt. The mission of Watrehouse and Detachment 2702 - commanded by Marine Raider Bobby Shaftoe - is to keep the Nazis ignorant of the fact that Allied Intelligence has cracked the enemy's fabled Enigma code. In the present, Waterhouse's crypto-hacker grandson, Randy, is attempting to create a "data haven" in Southeast Asia....
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Two thirds through and quit
- By Joshua on 06-20-16
By: Neal Stephenson
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Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
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Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
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Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
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Bazinga
- By Davidgonzalezsr on 05-04-21
By: Andy Weir
What listeners say about Use of Weapons
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 12-23-23
Thematically and structurally complex
This is one of the more demanding Culture novels with a bit more of Ian Banks and a bit less of Ian M Banks despite setting. Non-linear story telling at its finest.
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- Thomas Ohrbom
- 11-28-18
A bit of a mess really
I know the structure of it is rather unusual, but to me it was just confusing and not a plus. Great fun at times but overall a disappointment. By far the weakest of the Culture Series; I've currently finished the first six books of the series.
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- Nick
- 08-19-16
Another excellent culture novel
another great listen. The first three culture booms have been all excellent, and their narration makes then shine
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- Jacobus
- 04-20-12
Persevere and find gold!
Iaian M. Banks writes (what I would call) philosophical science fiction. He uses his stories to raise important ethical questions and to comment on the political establishment of the day. ???Use of Weapons??? is no exception. When listening to the story it might help asking yourself ???What is the weapon(s) used in the story and by whom????
When Special Circumstances a division of Contact, the (machine-humanoid symbiotic) Culture???s ???Intelligence Agency??? uses the man, Cheradenine Zakalwe, as an agent to do its dirty work, it eventually has to come to terms with his past. Banks hereby raises the question of superpowers using unknown front figureheads and groups to do their dirty bidding in ensuring that the world is shaped according to their will. What happens if this fa??ade cracks?
The story is complexly structured. There are two numbering systems in the book, a story going from chapter to chapter in chronological order and a numeral system which consists of back flashes seemingly arranged in a reverse chronological order. The numeral chapters give the listener hints an a little bit of insight into the person and being of Cheradenine Zakalwe. When the current time and the past collides the puzzle suddenly fits and the ???aha??? moment arrives. This makes the book in my opinion outstanding.
I found that while the story that moved from chapter to chapter was straightforward, the numeral chapters kept you guessing. I enjoyed the way the numeral chapters were written; each one could be a short story on its own.
Banks makes the listener a sleuth, encouraging you to puzzle out the story before he tells you the secret at the most crucial point in the story. He definitely caught me unaware. I think this is where the brilliance of this novel lies in, the surprise.
Peter Kenny, by now synonymous with the reading of Iaian M. Banks??? audio books does an excellent job.
Be warned, it is not an easy book to listen too at first, but is you persevere you will find the gold at the end of the rainbow. It took me a few times of rewinding and listening again to some chapters, but I am really glad I did it.
???Use of Weapons??? is the third Culture novel after ???Consider Phlebas??? and ???The Player of Games.??? I propose that you listen at least to ???Consider Phlebas??? first, just to get the feel for Bank???s science fiction universe. However it is not a must, you might probably enjoy this story just as much without listening/ reading his other books.
It comes highly recommended!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Per
- 09-28-19
Drags on too long
A good and entertaining, sometimes thought-provoking story that felt marred by an ending that dragged on for far too long.
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- Oscar
- 09-05-19
Slow but fascinating !
Starts slow but is worth sticking to it. The plot structure is a bit confusing, especially on audio book, but the individual chapters are immersive and interesting.
Not my favorite Culture book , but it was actually quite good and probably will re listen to it eventually.
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- CybranM
- 10-09-23
Great narration but confusing story
Despite the excellent narration the story itself was confusing. It's multiple interwoven timelines which aren't easy to keep track of in the audio version, might have been easier in a physical version of the book.
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- ruuden
- 06-02-22
Fragmented
I usually dislike fragmented storytelling, I quickly lose track of the different characters and timetable of events and can not really recommend this book on its own.
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- JCRW
- 02-01-18
Most disappointing book in the series
should have known by the title. It was a wandering mess going from one war to another. lacking absolutely all of the high minded big ideas that make this series worth reading
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- James Arnold
- 11-14-18
Nope! Does not work as an audible book.
The structure of this book does not work at all with the two intersecting story lines. But I could not keep clear in what story line I was on. And within the storylines it jumps a lot. It kind of pays off in the end but not really. Maybe read this one.
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