The Algebraist
by Iain M. Banks, Geoff Annis
Rating: 4.0 / 5 · Read · Finished 2018-05-06
A little hard to get through at parts, but would recommend.
Lots of great action and plenty of cool sci-fi concepts. If only there weren’t several very slow, somewhat pointless sections in the middle that you need to slog through to make it to the gratifying conclusion. The Dwellers are a hugely amusing what-if that result in a couple really satisfying scenes.
Spoilers follow.
I’ve got a theory on how to interpret the story. The Mercatoria is the United States, an amalgamation of corporations, religion and military that exert control over the rest of the galaxy. Luseferous is a stand-in for any truly evil dictator the U.S. uses as an excuse to invade a foreign country. The Beyonders are the people/culture that work with the evil dictator out of necessity, made out as evil by the U.S. The Dwellers don’t correspond to anything in the real world, but are a wonderful “what-if” group that is truly immune to extortion, terrorism and other forms of control. No idea how the A.I.’s fit in.