Transition

Banks usually splits his novels between contemporary fiction and science fiction, but here he publishes what is obviously a science fiction story under his ‘contemporary' nom de plume. I'm unsure of the reasons for this, but it is certainly his most enjoyable novel in quite some time, certainly an improvement on The Steep Approach to Garbadale, which was just The Crow Road reheated.

The story, told from the point of view of several characters, but mainly that of a man called Temudjin Oh, is about an organisation called The Concern, which intervenes in the affairs of alternate realities for supposedly benign reasons. They do this using the talents of ‘Transitionaries', people who can flit between realities with the aid of a drug called Septus. With me so far? Good.

But the head of the Concern's central council, Madame d'Ortolan, has her own agenda, and Oh finds himself a hunted man. A renegade called Mrs Mulverhill comes to his aid and he finds himself caught in a power struggle for control of The Concern. It's an ambitious storyline and thankfully free, for the most part, of Banks's recent penchant for making his character's mouthpieces for his political rhetoric.

Banks is no stranger to mixing genres, his earlier novels such as Walking on Glass and The Bridge featured fantasy elements, but here the whole story is fantastical.

However I do have reservations. The structure is fragmented to say the least and the start of the book is very confusing. You're not sure what the hell is going on and it takes perseverance to get a grip on the story. As ever Banks' can tell a good tale but what I'd really like is for him to return to the form of Espedair Street or The Crow Road - brilliantly told contemporary fiction. However, well worth reading.