Posted: Jan 20, 2011 4:36 pm
Matt_B wrote:Ubjon wrote:Matt_B wrote:I'd also recommend reading at least one of the Culture novels before Inversions. It's somewhat ambiguous as to whether it's actually a Culture novel at all, but there are a few hints dropped in various places that you might pick up on if you've read some of the others.
Ambiguous?The knife missile killing the torturer at the end wasn't that ambiguous!
I'd say that it's ambiguous, as the story is told from the viewpoint of unreliable narrators who know nothing of the Culture. A reader who does, however, might pick up on a few references.
For what it's worth, there's also a knife missile in The Bridge, but most people wouldn't call that a Culture novel.
To each their own I guess. I just saw it as a snapshot of culture interference in a developing civilisation. Its nice to have that variety of story in his books.