Inversions is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1998. It is implied to be set in his Culture universe. However, this is not made explicit within the book, and unlike most other recent editions of Banks' science fiction novels, does not carry the tag 'A Culture Novel' on the cover.
Banks has said "Inversions was an attempt to write a Culture novel that wasn't."
The book takes place on a fictional planet b...
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Inversions is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1998. It is implied to be set in his Culture universe. However, this is not made explicit within the book, and unlike most other recent editions of Banks' science fiction novels, does not carry the tag 'A Culture Novel' on the cover.
Banks has said "Inversions was an attempt to write a Culture novel that wasn't."
The book takes place on a fictional planet based on late-Middle Ages Europe. It alternates chapter-by-chapter between two concurrent storylines.
The first storyline is presented as a written account from Oelph, publicly a doctor's assistant, but privately a spy for an individual identified only as "Master", to whom much of the account is addressed. Oelph is the assistant to Vosill, the personal doctor to King Quience of Haspidus and a woman. The latter is unheard of in the patriarchal kingdom, and is tolerated only because Vosill claims citizenship in the far-off country of Drezen. The...
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