Takes no parameters. Soloing Spawns on a Sampire - A Definitive Guide by Feersum Endjinn. It won a British Science Fiction Association Award in 1994. A quarter of the book is told by Bascule the Teller and is written phonetically in the first person using phonetic transcription and shorthand (also evinced in the novel's title). Asura broadcasts to the world the truth regarding the encroachment and the attempts of the monarchy to prevent the activation of the crypt sub-systems. feersum_endjinn said: It doesn't really matter if the review was written by a trans person or not, it's glaringly idiotic regardless and not worth any further consideration. The scale thing is pretty unnecessary plotwise, but it adds fantastic whimsy and atmosphere to proceedings. She and her fellow conspirators are considering how to respond when the security forces attempt to arrest them, although Gadfium manages to escape into the depths of the castle. I’ve read a lot of Iain Banks’ books, and all of his M. alter ego sci-fi stuff. She is interrogated within the crypt, but is able to resist the questioning, becoming stronger at understanding and manipulating her virtual environments. Book discussion of Feersum Endjinn (Iain M. Banks). Alongside the mind snapping imagination of his sci-fi novels (eg. Yet another science fiction novel, Feersum Endjinn, featured sections narrated by a character who can only spell phonetically, leading to sentences such as "Unlike evrybody els I got this weerd wirin in mi brane so I cant spel rite, juss-2 do eveythin foneticly." This is a harder book to read, because, whereas Surface Detail's unifying story begins to take shape about half way through, Feersum Endjinn doesn't get there until the last fifty pages (in fact the title only makes sense in the last sentence). She explains her origin, being an emissary of the crypt that was combined with the mind of Count Sessine who sacrificed himself in the process. Paul D'Amour (born May 12, 1967) is an American musician and the first bass guitarist for Tool. Change ). Reviews Home Columns Fiction by Title Fiction by Author Nonfiction Movies by Title Movies by Rating Audio Games: Feersum Endjinn, Iain M. Banks, Orbit, 1994, 279 pp. Of course, these various plot strands gradually converge in a climactic finale wherein the Earth is saved from the Encroachment by the eponymous Endjinn. Of course, these various plot strands gradually converge in a climactic finale wherein the Earth is saved from the Encroachment by the eponymous Endjinn. I won’t talk about the plot in this review, as perhaps the most beautiful thing is to immerse themselves in the universe created by the author without knowing anything and be surprised by the wonders born from his imagination. Buy a cheap copy of Feersum Endjinn book by Iain M. Banks. “Feersum Endjinn” is largely one of them, even if I haven’t completely disliked it. With the assistance of other species, humans have spread across the galaxy, which is largely ruled by the Mercatoria, a complex feudal hierarchy, with a religious zeal to rid the galaxy of artificial intelligences, which were blamed for a previous war. Share your thoughts Complete your review. A superb standalone novel from the awesome imagination of Iain M. Banks, a master of modern science fiction. the expansive battle in Feersum Endjinn where the plain is strewn with gigantic, mountain sized bits of furniture just blew my mind, when I’d finally penetrated the difficult phonetic speak of the main character Bascule!) Indeed, I got the odd little intellectual kick from figuring out what Baskule was talking about. This is a harder book to read, because, whereas Surface Detail's unifying story begins to take shape about half way through, Feersum Endjinn doesn't get there until the last fifty pages (in fact the title only makes sense in the last sentence). She learns of a message apparently sent from the fast tower, the highest and previously inaccessible part of the castle, which stresses the danger of the Encroachment and tells of an attempt by the crypt to activate a long forgotten sub system which may prevent disaster. In a future where the ancients have long since departed Earth for the stars, those left behind live complacent lives filled with technological marvels they no... Free shipping over $10. Feersum delivers both free design advice up front and consults on appropriate processes should issues arise. The plot follows four perspectives: Count Sessine (recently assassinated for unknown reasons, now resident of the crypt and on the hunt for his killers); Chief Scientist Gadfium (struggling to figure out how to deal with the Encroachment, an approaching interstellar dust cloud that will wipe out all life on Earth); the Asura (a representative of the Crypt — highly reminiscent of Milla Jovovich’s character in The Fifth Element); and Baskule the Teller (a young interpreter of the Crypt charged with a quest by a talking ant). It might not quite be up there with The Player of Games or the best of his Culture stuff, but it is still highly entertaining and highly memorable. "[3], British Science Fiction Association Award, Links to reviews of Banks' works, including, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Feersum_Endjinn&oldid=993084826, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 8 December 2020, at 18:28. Title: Feersum Endjinn Title Record # 1962 Author: Iain M. Banks Date: 1994-00-00 Type: NOVEL Webpages: Wikipedia-EN Language: English User Rating: 8.20 (5 votes) Your vote: Not cast VOTE Current Tags: nanotechnology (1), mega-engineering (1), natural disaster (1) Add Tags Feersum Endjinn is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1994. . Gadfium, the Chief Scientist of the ruling class, is engaged in a conspiracy with like-minded nobles who believe that the elite are not acting in the best interests of the population, and who question the real motive of the ongoing war with the rival clan of Engineers. I’m glad I reread it. Instead of the usual cyberpunk mega-corporations and seedy streets filled with high-tech low-lifes, Banks set Feersum Endjinn sometime in the far future after most of humanity has abandoned Earth, their tech becoming a somewhat mythical element to our point of view characters, themselves descendants of those who chose an Earth bound existence. Feersum Endjinn is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1994. Just because someone is trans doesn't mean we just have to sit and nod while they talk nonsense. He is eventually tasked with ascending the central shaft of the highest tower in a vacuum balloon in order to reach its control room. Endings are often Banks’ weak point (the worst culprit, IMHO, being Matter) and this one is characteristically imperfect, finishing just a little too abruptly. At least in this world the King has some actual claim to superiority (being supported by some serious genetic and technological oomph). She is compelled to travel towards the castle, rapidly gathering knowledge about the world before being captured by the security forces. Bascule the Teller is a young man who contacts the dead personalities within the crypt on behalf of their relatives or other interested parties. The world is in crisis as the solar system is slowly drifting into an interstellar molecular cloud ("the Encroachment"), which will eventually dim and then destroy the Sun, ending life on Earth. This was my second reading of Feersum Endjinn, and I enjoyed it just as much as the last time I read it. Much of the story takes place within a giant, decaying megastructure known as the "Fastness" or "Serehfa" built to resemble a medieval castle, in which each "room" spans several kilometers horizontally and vertically, and the king's palace occupies one room's chandelier. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 1 Star - I hated it 2 Stars - I didn't like it 3 Stars - It was OK 4 Stars - I liked it 5 Stars - I loved it. The central character is the human Fassin Taak who is a "Slow Seer" at the Court of the Nasqueron … Asura states that both the humans and chaos will have to learn to live with each other. Despite not being as advanced as once they were, there’s still some pretty slick technology about — for example, personalities can be uploaded to the cryptosphere (a future implementation of the internet) allowing a sort of life beyond death. Some may come to Feersum Endjinn through the much admired writing of Banks as novelist Iain Banks. Endings are often Banks’ weak point (the worst culprit, IMHO, being Matter) and this one is characteristically imperfect, finishing just … They now live in a cyclopean castle built by their forebears. 37 out of 52 found this helpful. She was created by the crypt because the relevant systems were kept separate by their designers to prevent infection by chaos. I liked that government has regressed alongside science — goodbye democracy, hello monarchy. The novel is sometimes referred to as Banks' second science fiction novel not set within the Culture universe, the first being Against a Dark Background. So, instead of a fearsome engine, there’s a feersum endjinn (and so on…). The narrative switches between four main characters. In the far flung future of Earth, some time before the events of the novel, humanity reached a pinnacle of technology and left to visit the stars. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. TLS sockets are NOT supported nor are they detected. Tell readers what you thought by rating and reviewing this book. There were some timeline issues around this that confused me (if anyone’s read it recently please feel free to explain to me exactly what went on there), but it was still a very satisfying turn of events. FEERSUM ENDJINN. (b) Valence electron density distribution around the titanium (Ti. I don't know enough to say anything about this particular example, except that I wouldn't want to read "Obímp3" in text because I wouldn't be able to pronounce it (I felt the same with 3Jane in Neuromancer, for what it's worth), unless it was somehow explained, perhaps in a footnote. Asura is a young woman who awakens in a re-incarnation facility with no memory. As she escapes her virtual prison, she is physically freed by Gadfium, assisted by the copy of Count Sessine who guided her to Asura's location. I know this hinders the enjoyment of many readers, or at least slows them down considerably, but, personally, I didn’t find either of these to be the case. Anyway, yes, it’s classic M. Banks. ( Log Out / Literary critic and historian Ian Duncan has argued that Banks's ‘fearsome engine’, like his bridge, “is another allegory of the state, except that this apparatus is not just sublime in its dissociation from human accountability – it is omniscient, providential, and even organic.”[2] Kirkus Reviews described it as "Dazzling stuff: a shame it doesn't add up. ( Log Out / Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Probably the most memorable aspect of the book (and the reason why I wouldn’t suggest it to a Banks neophyte) is that about a quarter of the prose (Baskule’s perspective) is written in a phonetic style. 7 /10. Permalink. Some chose to remain behind, and over successive generations these remnants have gradually lost much of their past technical know-how. Mission 88 is as slow as Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C Clarke, bizarre like Feersum Endjinn by Iain M Banks and as poignant as Misspent Youth by Peter F Hamilton. It won a British Science Fiction Association Award in 1994. Rate it * You Rated it * 0. Plot summary. Feersum Endjinn is also something of a mystery story. Count Sessine is a high-ranking member of the court who is assassinated, ending his last life. ( Log Out / Four seperate stories finding their way to an eventual unifying story. Feersum Endjinn: An eclectic far-future science fantasy mashup Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Sometimes a book has so many incredible elements that it defies easy summary. Was this review helpful? Advanced Mechanical Engineering solutions to Energy, Renewables, Space Industries, and Marine sectors. Four seperate stories finding their way to an eventual unifying story. by Iain M. Banks. Get FREE shipping on Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. Banks, from wordery.com. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feersum_Endjinn. There’s also a lovely little twist towards the end in which two characters are revealed to be more closely related than was thought. Intricate, disconcerting far-future saga from the author The Player of Games (1989), etc., in which the Encroachment, a cloud of space dust, threatens to extinguish all life on Earth. On his last virtual life, he makes contact with a copy of himself who assists him. The message also warns that this will be opposed by those in power as it will threaten their interests. Some may come to Feersum Endjinn through the much admired writing of Banks as novelist Iain Banks. Feersum Endjinn fits closest to Surface Detail. Feersum Endjinn. Sign in to vote. He spends many subjective years wandering the wider reaches of the crypt before being contacted by its representative who requests his aid in relation to the encroachment. The book is set on a far future Earth where the uploading of mindstates into a world-spanning computer network (known as "Cryptosphere", "the Data Corpus", or simply "Crypt") is commonplace, allowing the dead to be easily reincarnated, a set number of times, first physically and then virtually within the crypt. use_socket($sock) Use the file-descriptor attached to a listen-socket to accept connections. For many pages, the reader has little or no idea of what is going on or where the plot is leading. This does not, however, stop him from being an enormous tool. Nonetheless, Banks does lots of very nice things in the novel (there’s a reason he’s so popular). Titanium’s electron configuration can be written as: [Ar] 3 d 2 4 s 2. Having read all the other sci -fi novels by Banks, I’d originally been put off this one since it. The novel takes place in 4034. Compound that with the fact that it shares themes with some of your favorite genre classics, and that it is written by the incredibly-talented Iain M. Banks, and you have the recipe for a very unique reading … Kenny's intonation and characterisation are perfectly suited to Banks' intricate plots and diverse characters, and this was thoroughly enjoyable. by Iain M. Banks ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1995. Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. Banks 9,755 ratings, 3.83 average rating, 368 reviews Feersum Endjinn Quotes Showing 1-4 of 4 “Very little matters very much and almost nothing matters greatly.” Reborn inside the crypt he comes under repeated attack and is almost permanently killed. It didn’t quite evoke the fervour that I experience when reading a Culture novel, but his humour, pacing, scale, imagination, and characterisation were definitely up to his usual high standards. The structure used to be a space elevator, left behind by the ancestors of those who remained on earth, with the circuitry of the crypt built into its structure. The so-called chaotic elements of the crypt are a burgeoning ecology of Artificial Intelligences. To those not even mildly conversant. The crypt has become increasingly chaotic, causing much concern within society. For unknown reasons (though presumably because it would be a laugh), it was constructed on a scale appropriate for giants hundreds of times the size of normal humans. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Asura is able to activate the "Fearsome Engine" of the title, which begins the slow process of relocating the solar system out of reach of the cloud. I’m not sure, but I suspect part of this was due to it being my second time reading it…. endjinn() Returns the Feersum singleton. 2. No dialect words are used, but there are (inconsistent) hints of a Scottish and a Cockney accent.[1]. Honestly, Feersum Endjinn was never my favourite Banks book, but Peter Kenny's excellent narration brought it to life for me in a way reading it didn't, all those years ago. Get FREE shipping on Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. Banks, from wordery.com. ( Log Out / Feersum Endjinn is his first non-Culture SF novel, a story set in the far future with a fractured narrative which follows four characters through events in a world which is heading to a crisis point. On the morning of the one hundred and forty-third day of the year which by the new reckoning was called second-last, Hortis Gadfium III, the chief scientist to the pan-alignment clan Accounts/Privileges, sat on a steel girder and looked up at the almost-finished bulk of the new Great Hall oxygen plant number-two liquifier unit, and shook her head. Asura and Gadfium depart, reaching an elevator which is activated for them by Bascule after reaching the control room at the summit of the tower. A somewhat … Feersum Endjinn fits closest to Surface Detail. Whilst searching for a lost friend, he attracts the attention of the Security forces and takes refuge with various chimeric animals whose implants have taken on personalities from within the crypt. His bass sound is recognized by the aggressive picked tone he developed with his Chris Squire Signature Rickenbacker 4001CS, which can be heard on Tool's first full-length album, Undertow.Since March 2019, he has been the bassist for industrial metal band Ministry. Feersum needs to use the socket at a low level and will ignore any encryption that has been established (data is always sent in the clear). Feersum Endjinn was generally well-received, the completeness of the plot and the detailed description of the mega-architecture and the crypt were praised by critics. A copy of himself who assists him their forebears who awakens in a re-incarnation facility with no memory where. Assists him read it novel by Scottish writer Iain M. 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