Against a Dark Background

by Iain M. Banks

Overview

From science fiction master Iain M. Banks comes a standalone adventure of one woman on the run in an isolated galaxy. 

Sharrow was once the leader of a personality-attuned combat team in one of the sporadic little commercial wars in the civilization based around the planet Golter. Now she is hunted by the Huhsz, a religious cult which believes that she is the last obstacle before the faith's apotheosis, and her only hope of escape is to find the last of the apocalyptically powerful Lazy Guns before the Huhsz find her.

Her journey through the exotic Golterian system is a destructive and savage odyssey into her past, and that of her family and of the system itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316075947
Publisher:	Orbit
Publication date:	07/01/2009
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	89,839
File size:	888 KB

About the Author

Iain Banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984. Consider Phlebas, his first science fiction novel, was published under the name Iain M. Banks in 1987 and began his celebrated ten-book Culture series. He is acclaimed as one of the most powerful, innovative and exciting writers of his generation.

Editorial Reviews

On the run from a cult of intergalactic religious fanatics who want her death, the Lady Sharrow emerges from retirement to seek out a powerful artifact that may save her life--the legendary Lady Gun, a weapon that kills by altering the reality around it. The author of Consider Phlebas ( LJ 5/15/88) and The Player of Games ( LJ 2/15/89) has constructed a richly hued, far-future tapestry for his latest space adventure. Sophisticated prose, complex characters, and an unbridled imagination combine in this tale of high drama and intrigue. A good choice for most libraries.

Library Journal

As the lone survivor of an aristocratic lineage, Lady Sharrow bears the ancient curse of the fanatical Huhsz religion: to wit, return the Lazy Gun--a deadly and enigmatic weapon stolen by one of her distant ancestors--or suffer ritual assassination. Yet before she can find the gun, Sharrow must retrieve another priceless treasure, the "Universal Principles", a book that may or may not reveal the gun's location. To remain one step ahead of the Huhsz assassination squad, Sharrow assembles her old team of neurally bonded mercenaries to assist in the hunt, and leaps headlong into a series of imperiled adventures spanning several worlds. Her only rivals for the gun are a pair of mysterious clones who keep her in thrall to a lethal virus--one that allows them to dispense excruciating pain at any distance. By ingeniously interweaving striking characterizations, richly conceived futuristic landscapes (e.g., a world-enveloping organism with a civilization among its roots), and an utterly compelling story line, Banks proves himself a master of the genre on all fronts. For sf fans who like their science hard and their action fast, this is a must read.

Carl Hays

"Banks writes space opera on the grand scale: he measures time in eons, space in lightyears, tragedies in gigadeaths."—Time

"Banks is a phenomenon: the wildly successful, fearlessly creative author of brilliant and disturbing non-genre novels, he's equally at home writing pure science fiction of a peculiarly gnarly energy and elegance."—William Gibson

From the Publisher