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The Algebraist
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
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The Algebraist
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Summary
The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. With breathtaking imagination and extraordinary storytelling, they have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.
It is 4034 AD. Humanity has made it to the stars but Fassin Taak, a Slow Seer at the Court of the Nasqueron Dwellers, will be fortunate if he makes it to the end of the year.
The Nasqueron Dwellers inhabit a gas giant on the outskirts of the galaxy, in a system awaiting its wormhole connection to the rest of civilisation. In the meantime, they are dismissed as decadents living in a state of highly developed barbarism, hoarding data without order, hunting their own young and fighting pointless formal wars.
Abruptly seconded to a military-religious order he's barely heard of - part of the baroque hierarchy of the Mercatoria, the latest galactic hegemony - Fassin Taak has to travel again amongst the Dwellers. He is in search of a secret hidden for half a billion years.
But with each day that passes a war draws closer - a war that threatens to overwhelm everything and everyone he's ever known.
Books by Iain M. Banks:
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
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist
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Critic reviews
'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson
What listeners say about The Algebraist
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- S D ORR
- 08-04-06
The Agebraist
This is a book was written by someone from another galaxy, science fiction at its very best. Don't plan to do anything else when you start to listen to it, if you do you will be late.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Schnipper
- 16-08-20
Huge breadth of Sci-Fi scale
love the writings of Iain M Banks. They're highly complex and require reading and rereading or listening.
Anton Lessor is a great interpreter of The Algebraist and makes all the characters very believable.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Norma Miles
- 22-08-20
"None of this is about kindness."
I am an enormous fan of the late (what a loss) Iain Banks, with or without the central K. Over the years, I have read and, sometimes, re-read all of his books since the Wasp Factory was first published. With one exception: The Algebraist. Seeing that Audible offered a copy.read by the wonderful Anton Lesser, I immediately began the listening adventure. And thoroughly enjoyed it. Mr.Lesser's voice is so distinctive, passionate and descriptive but, sadly, he usually limits his narration to abridged versions of books and I realized too late that this was true a!so of this book, the content reduced to a mere seven and three quarter hours, about one third of the original.
So this Review is but a taster as I have now obtained an Audible copy of the Algebraist, unabridged, to fully enjoy the pleasure of Iain M Bank's intricate beauty of language and ideas. But this was still an impressive listen.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Jharcourt
- 23-01-11
Good recording, but ...
A great book, that suffers for being abridged. Shame.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Wojtek_S
- 19-04-15
Couldn't get past the lack luster narration.
Couldn't finish as the narration just grated me.
Good story. Maybe it just my personal taste, or listened to too many Peter Kenny narrations, so expected better. Story seems ok, but does lack a certain something. Will try and read the book instead when I get time. Didn't finish the audio book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- tombanx
- 18-08-17
Complex and satisfying
I read this years ago, and remembered it as being good but bewildering - however with Anton Lesser reading it, it all seemed to fall into place. Very enjoyable.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- The Rylander
- 20-12-16
Literally one of the best pieces of SF ever
This 'stand alone' SF novel is not part of the fabled 'culture' series, but does represent one of the most gloriously detailed descriptions of an unmistakably alien civilization. Highly thought provoking, recommended to any fans of Iain M Banks, or SF in general. The Dwellers alone make the whole book worth it.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 04-04-21
better than the unabridged book
this isn't one of Banks' better books, I think it positively benefits from the abridgement. Anton Lesser gives an excellent narration.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- ben
- 08-08-11
Perfect
Iain Banks could write a parking ticket and I would probably read it 1000 times and smile with glee. The man is a genius and the only author I would have to dinner. Anton Lesser reads this better than any other audiobook I have (and I have a few), his nuance and fleshing out of the characters is so subtle and correct whilst not being dramatic..this is a near perfect audiobook on all fronts.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Martin
- 11-09-08
Requires you to pay attention
This a great story, gripping and not one you could guess what was coming at all, very entertaining overall. My one and only problem with it as an audiobook, if it is a problem at all, is that you really have to pay attention! This is not an audiobook you will easily listen to whilst you have to think about doing anything else. Its one for lying back and paying attention to other wise you can loose track of what is happening. Great for a plane journey or something, not so good for work or the gym....I suppose though that a story you have to pay attention to is a good thing really. I kept this one for times I had nothing else at all to think about other than the story.
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5 people found this helpful