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Banks, Iain (M)
Bennet, E.A.
Betancourt, John Gregory


Iain (M) Banks

Iain (M) Banks's website: http://www.iain-banks.net

The Algebraist

The Algebraist
==============

Fassin Taak is a "Slow Seer", a specialist in the study of heavy-world
inhabitants the Dwellers. When the remote star system of Ulubis is threatened
by a vast invasion fleet, his skills are suddenly in demand. For in the depths
of the heavy planet Nasqueron there is a piece of information that might - just
might - save the day.

================================================================================

I think I've read all of Iain (M) Banks' books to date, except for Dead Air.
It's always interesting when he writes a new non-Culture SF story, not least to
see if it turns out to be as good as the best of the Culture novels. However,
it's not often that they do, and in this regard The Algebraist is no
exception. It has its moments, oh yes, and the famous Banks inventiveness is out
in force, but... 

On the plus side, I liked the Dwellers a lot. Anarchic, chaotic, larger than life,
the rambunctious (is that a real word?) inhabitants of the gas giant Nasqueron 
(and many other similar worlds throughout the galaxy) are largely indifferent to
the doings of lightweight, short-lived people like us, unless directly threatened.
Extremely long-lived, they are totally unfazed by the invasion of the local star
system, finding themselves much more interested in their internal wars which are
more like (rather violent) sporting events. They are fun-loving and gregarious,
enjoy their food and drink and they also hunt their children, which might not
always be such a bad idea. Dweller society comes across favourably in comparison
to the sinister and ridiculously hierarchical Mercatoria, the pan-galactic
government of the fast-living folks.

Also adding some spice are the doings of Archimandrite Luseferous, the power-mad
and creatively sadistic leader of the invasion fleet converging on the isolated
star system of Ulubis. He is an entertainingly nasty piece of work, although as
the story develops, he gets progressively smaller amounts of coverage.

Which brings me to some of the story's drawbacks. This is a voluminous novel,
and could easily have been trimmed to three quarters of its current length with
no appreciable loss. One strand of the plot - Fassin Taak's search for the fabled
Dweller List - is followed at the expense of the others, with the effect that these
other strands appear distinctly under-developed. Again, a little editorial pruning
and watering would have helped.

Nevertheless, I still found The Algebraist entertaining and a good read.
I found the Dweller society a joy to learn about. And there's exotic technology and
the odd space battle too, which is never a bad thing.

Will Iain M Banks ever write another Culture novel (preferably on a par with
Excession)? I suppose time will tell.

© Alex Cull, 25th January, 2005

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E.A. Bennet


What Jung Really Said

What Jung Really Said
=====================

Written by British psychiatrist Dr E.A. Bennet, What Jung Really Said
is an overview of Jung's psychology and how it developed from its earliest
stages. Edward Armstrong Bennet was a friend and contemporary of Jung's, and he
has a nicely clear and readable writing style. 

================================================================================

The first thing that concerned me, while composing this review, was the spelling
of the author's surname. Was he "Bennett" with two Ts or "Bennet" with just the
one? The paperback edition doesn't help, as it has both spellings, a fact that I
found vaguely disturbing. Well, I'm almost completely sure that it's "Bennet"
with one T, although I have found examples of both of them on the internet (e.g.
on Amazon in Canada.) So I'll be brave and go for "Bennet." 

So that's settled, then. Anyway, I found What Jung Really Said a concise
and lucidly-written account of Jung's psychology, tracing the development of his
ideas from his youth onwards. This would be an excellent introduction to the
subject for anyone unfamiliar with it; it was written by a friend of Jung's and
has nothing particularly controversial in it, but this is all to the good, from
the point of view of someone just starting out in their exploration of psychology
in general, and Jung in particular. 

An in-depth exploration and discussion of Jung's work would, of course, be a
mammoth task and take up hundreds more pages than Dr Bennet devotes to the
subject, but then the book would be a very different kind of beast entirely. As
it is, the outlines are all there, and the author ably condenses and explains the
major Jungian themes (e.g. the importance of dreams, the four personality types
and the collective unconscious) in a very palatable way, with enough biographical
detail to provide some context. 

I have to say that personally I find Jung's ideas thoroughly fascinating, although
they have incurred their share of controversy, both while Jung was alive and in
recent decades. I find I am always learning something new about them - for
example, from What Jung Really Said I learned that Jung studied Chinese
alchemy, as well as its European counterpart, and also had a working knowledge of
medieval Latin which enabled him to understand original alchemical texts without
needing to rely on other sources. 

I was also happy to learn that Jung met H G Wells (another of my all-time
favourite writers) and they had dinner together at Wells's house in Regent's
Park. Apparently they had a long and productive talk, from which Wells was
inspired to write his short story Christina Alberta's Father, which is
based on Jung's account of one of his schizophrenic patients, and which is one I
don't seem to have read yet, as it hasn't been in the anthologies that I've
encountered so far. 

For anyone who is starting out as a student of psychology and, like me, is drawn
to the ideas of C G Jung, I think this is a fine introduction (another good book
to start with is Jung by Anthony Storr, in Fontana's Modern Masters series.) 

Granted, it is rather a slim volume; however, for trainee counsellors with very
limited free time, this is actually another excellent feature. 

© Alex Cull, 25th January, 2005



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John Gregory Betancourt


Chaos and Amber
Dawn of Amber


Chaos and Amber
===============

In the second instalment of Gregory Betancourt's Amber series of prequels, the
plot thickens as Oberon fights for survival in the nightmarish Courts of Chaos,
and begins to learn more of his origins.

================================================================================

This series is definitely getting a bit better. Dawn of Amber was solid
but rather stodgy and conspicuously lacked the Zelazny brilliance which made the
originals such fun to read. Chaos and Amber starts slowly, then suddenly
shifts gear about halfway through - it was such a relief when Oberon begins to be
proactive and takes the fight to the enemy (and about time, too.) 

I know this project has drawn flak from some of the fans, who feel that the
Betancourt books are inauthentic and clumsy. Certainly some reservations are
justified - it was only in the second half of the story that I felt it really
spring to life, and the numerous typos didn't help (NB. do publishers still
actually use human proof-readers these days?) I thought that the depictions of
Chaos were good and felt suitably queasy at the relentless sideways slide of the
landscape, and its herds of monoliths and swirling stars. I also liked the pace
in the later chapters, which galloped along very nicely.

There was also some degree of character development - Oberon's half-brother Aber,
in particular, is becoming increasingly three-dimensional, although others,
including the elusive Dworkin, are much as they were in the first book.

The next and final instalment of this series - To Rule in Amber - is due
out later this year (2004.) Perhaps we'll get satisfying and clever answers to
the various mysteries Betancourt has woven in these first books. Maybe we'll see
some real fireworks at last, as young Oberon comes into his own and beats off all
opposition in his quest to become king of the world. Anyway, I live in hope.

© Alex Cull, 19th February 2004


Dawn of Amber
=============

Dawn of Amber is the first of a series of prequels to the Amber
series, authorised by the Roger Zelazny estate. Young Obere learns of his true
identity when he joins his mysterious father Dworkin in the land of Juniper, one
of the realms of Shadow that surround the Courts of Chaos.

================================================================================

To be honest, I didn't have high hopes for Dawn of Amber. Having already
been underwhelmed by the Brian Herbert/Kevin Anderson Dune prequels, I
was expecting another similar write-by-numbers piece of blandness. And I'm a fan
of the original Roger Zelazny series, I loved the ideas - Trumps, Pattern, Shadow
worlds and all.  

In fact I was not too badly disappointed. Yes, the plotline mirrors that of the
original Nine Princes in Amber, with Obere (Oberon) treading a similar
path to that of Corwin, his future son, gradually awakening to his true nature
and inheritance. As in Nine Princes we have a mystery to be solved and
we have a brand new set of bickering siblings (one of whom may be a murderous
traitor.) 

This is all familiar ground, and the whole thing does come perilously close to
being a pale copy of Nine Princes. However, I'm thinking that perhaps this
was the only way this could have been done - Betancourt preserves enough features
to make it consistent with Zelazny's books, adds a bit of development to try to
make the exercise worthwhile for existing Amber fans.

Does it work? Well, for me there were no radical surprises or departures, no
fireworks. I missed Zelazny's dry wit which brought Corwin to life as a
character, but trying to recreate Zelazny's style would have been a mistake. 
Betancourt's prose is workmanlike, adequate for the job. The characters largely
escape being two-dimensional cutouts; Dworkin and his fractious children mostly
display just sufficient ambiguities and quirks to flesh them out a bit. And 
there's plenty of action, with treachery afoot, armies of hell-creatures on the
move and so forth. So, not too bad, all things considered. 

This is the first of a projected trilogy. Put it this way: I won't actually be
sprinting to get the second book the moment it hits the shops. But
Dawn of Amber left me curious enough to find out, in due course, whether
the next instalment provides any answers to the questions raised so far. 

© Alex Cull, 4th June 2003



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