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Title details for Transition by Iain M. Banks - Available

Transition

by Iain M. Banks
Peter Kenny
Audiobook
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There is a world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse. Such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light. But does it need the Concern: an all-powerful organization with a malevolent presiding genius, pervasive influence and numberless invisible operatives in possession of extraordinary powers?
Among those operatives are Temudjin Oh, of mysterious Mongolian origins, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice under snow; Adrian Cubbish, a restlessly greedy City trader; and a nameless, faceless state-sponsored torturer known only as the Philosopher, who moves between time zones with sinister ease. Then there are those who question the Concern: the bandit queen Mrs. Mulverhill, roaming the worlds recruiting rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, under sedation and feigning madness in a forgotten hospital ward, in hiding from a dirty past.
There is a world that needs help; but whether it needs the Concern is a different matter.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 23, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781600248900
      • File size: 390027 KB
      • Duration: 13:32:33

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      In an alternate universe, an organization called The Concern is run by people who "flit" from body to body and world to world. They work, ostensibly, for the betterment of mankind, but the heads of the organization are attempting an enormous power grab while a rogue member works desperately to stop them. Peter Kenny gives a virtuoso performance, juggling multiple narrators of various genders, ages, and accents. American, British, Scottish, Russian, French, middle European--his mellow tenor handles all these accents and ensures the listener is never lost for a moment. Kenny also helps the listener keep track of all the twisty threads as they weave together the intricate story. This is speculative fiction at its finest, with a narration to match. G.D. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 31, 2009
      Banks's latest novel opens with a warning from "Patient 8262" stating that he or she is an unreliable narrator, before the epic takes off, plunging the reader into a whirlwind of intricately constructed characters and detailed accounts of their experiences as they "flit" across multiple Earths. The cast of characters include Adrian, the greedy city trader, emblematic of the selfishness needed to become a "traveler"; the Philosopher, an assassin who despises killing; a catch-me-if-you-can rogue operative named Mrs. Mulverhill; and the imperious Madame d'Ortolan, possibly the leader of the Concern, a vast multi-world organization that claims to protect worlds from chaos, but may also hide a greater, darker purpose. Banks's prose is elegant and electric and his story dizzying, but inevitable contradictions are brilliantly tied together-the only way many characters maintain sanity is to question everything, and readers would be well-advised to do the same. Banks manages the neat feat of synthesizing 19th-century style with the cutting edge, the irreverent with the philosophical, and the intellectual with the adventurous.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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