Spheres within spheres: Matter (2008) by Iain M. Banks

Should the Culture intervene in the struggle for a shellworld?

Sursamen is no ordinary planet. Entirely artificial, it is a vast construct of concentric spheres, each layer a world unto itself. Its days and nights are determined by synthetic stars which run on rails along its colossal ceilings. Built for an inscrutable purpose by a long-extinct species, it is home to various intelligent races, from the humanoid Sarl to the monthian megawhales. A new discovery threatens the balance between even more formidable factions from outside - including the Culture.

Matter (2008) is the seventh novel in the Culture series by Iain M. Banks. On publication, it had been eight years since the previous Culture novel Look to Windward (2000). This novel opens the final phase of Banks’ beloved series, a trio of lengthy works long on epic spectacle. The biggest Culture novel so far, Matter is a bold tale which fuses flavours from its precursors: the grand conflicts of Consider Phlebas (1987), the subterfuge of Use of Weapons (1990), and the fantasy adjacent trappings of Inversions (1998).

Matter is a grand-scale SF adventure, and a continuation of Banks’ use of the Culture series to explore questions of agency and intervention.

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A family affair

Matter is a novel which operates literally and figuratively on a number of levels. It opens on the eighth level of Sursamen, during the closing stages of a war between the Sarl and the Deldeyn, two humanoid species with technology roughly equivalent to that of renaissance Europe. Under their leader King Hausk, the Sarl win a victory over the Deldeyn, who had dominated the ninth level. In the aftermath, the wounded king is murdered by his long-time adjutant, Mertis tyl Loesp. This killing is witnessed by Ferbin, one of the king’s sons, who is believed dead.

This war story expands into something of a family saga. Mertis tyl Loesp appoints himself regent, because Hausk’s other son Oramen - now apparently the king’s heir - is too young to succeed his father. Oramen, appointed to duties at a spectacular ruined city in the ninth level to keep him away from the Sarl capital, begins to suspect foul play. 

King Hausk’s daughter also learns of her father’s death. Djan Seriy Anaplian left Sursamen fifteen years earlier, and has become a novice Special Circumstances agent for the Culture. In their own way, all three siblings - Ferbin, Oramen, and Djan Seriy - have eye-opening encounters with powerful alien species which each have a mysterious interest in the fate of the shellworld.

Matter has something of an epic quality, and Banks packs it with characters, locations, and incidents. There is a former Culture agent stirring up wars for entertainment, murderous court intrigue, sentient cloud creatures, and bloodthirsty drone that disguises itself as a sex toy. 

Culture shock

Relations and transitions between societies with different cultures and varying levels of technology is a common feature of Banks’ novels, and Matter explores this thoroughly. The feudal monarchy of the Sarl strongly recalls the civilisations in Inversions, albeit with more advanced technology like firearms, explosives, and trains. Crucially, the Sarl are well aware of the sophisticated elder species which control their galactic vicinity. They have friendly if confusing diplomatic relations with the crablike Oct and to a lesser extent with the Culture. 

The relative sophistication of the Sarl does not preclude them from worshipping a vast creature that occupies the core of Sursamen, which they revere as their “WorldGod”. This species, the Xinthian tensile aeronothaurs, are described as “utterly ancient” and “once near-invincably powerful” but now enjoying a kind of retirement. Banks also poaches on fantasy turf with multiple species of domesticated flying creatures, which are flown by elite Sarl scouts.

Djan Seriy is a key character in that, as a native of Sursamen who has joined the Culture, she has distinct views on both. In some ways she resembles Cheradenine Zakalwe from Use of Weapons, although she is an enthusiastic novice rather than a jaded veteran. In a memorable scene, she meets a critic of Special Circumstances and defends the agency’s “well-meaning, sometimes risky, and just occasionally catastrophic interference in the affairs of other civilisations”. While even Djan has reservations about her work - is in fact trained to have them - she enjoys the Culture’s lack of sexism and misogyny.

With great power

It is not only Djan Seriy who is confronted with questions about power and intervention. Mertis tyl Loesp, essentially the novel’s villain albeit a fairly small player in the grand scheme of things, is driven to acquire power largely for its own sake. Ferbin meets a cynical former Culture operative who provokes wars in a kind of godgame for the amusement of far more powerful civilisations. Similarly, advanced species like the Oct and the Aultridia - who evolved from a species of parasite - manipulate the fates of factions on Sursamen, but are also manipulated in turn.

The sympathetic characters in Matter are those who are initially reluctant to wield power over others (like Ferbin) or are troubled by their need to do so (like Djan Seriy). For his part, Oramen is rightly suspicious of an artificially intelligent machine discovered on the ninth level, which like today’s large language models tells its audience what they want to hear. His desire to wield power responsibly, and to earnestly seek the truth, sets him apart within the court intrigues of the Sarl.

Under the influence

Matter is interesting also because it seems to react interestingly to other SF works. For example, the mentor and mentee relationships between species recalls the works of David Brin. It also feels as though Banks had been reading Alastair Reynolds since the previous Culture novel - especially because the combat suits accessible to Djan Seriy and her allies strongly resemble those in the Revelation Space series.

With that being so, Matter is still unmistakably the unique voice of Iain M. Banks. While it deals with huge questions and spectacular events, the novel is still littered with moments of humour. What this novel lacks in tight focus compared to some of its predecessors in this loose and wonderful series, it makes up for in huge scope, and richness of wild imagination.