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  • The Hydrogen Sonata

  • Culture Series, Book 10
  • By: Iain M. Banks
  • Narrated by: Peter Kenny
  • Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (128 ratings)

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The Hydrogen Sonata cover art

The Hydrogen Sonata

By: Iain M. Banks
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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Publisher's Summary

The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.

The Scavenger species are circling. It is, truly, the End Days for the Gzilt civilisation.

An ancient people, organised on military principles and yet almost perversely peaceful, the Gzilt helped set up the Culture ten thousand years earlier. Now they've made the collective decision to follow the well-trodden path of millions of other civilisations: they are going to Sublime, elevating themselves to a new and almost in­finitely more rich and complex existence.

But, amid preparations, the Regimental High Command is destroyed. Vyr Cossont, a former soldier for the Gzilt, appears to have been involved, and she is now wanted - dead, not alive. Aided only by an ancient, reconditioned android and a suspicious Culture avatar, Cossont must complete a ­final mission; she must ­find the oldest person in the Culture, a man over nine thousand years old, who might just hold the key to understanding what happened . . .

The ­final days of the Gzilt civilisation may prove its most perilous.

The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art

Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist

©2012 Iain M. Banks (P)2012 Hachette Digital

Critic Reviews

"Nobody does it better." (Sunday Times)

"The standard by which the rest of SF is judged." (Guardian)

"Essential for SF fans." (Library Journal)

What listeners say about The Hydrogen Sonata

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A master of SF running out of puff

I rate Iain very very highly as a writer of SF, but this must be his least compelling novel. It never seemed to get going or present anything compelling in the area of plot, description, character or sci fi ideas. He seems to be suffering the writerly equivalent of glandular fever - plodding on without vigour. I ran out of puff myself with 5 hrs still to go.
Kenny's narration in this, as in other Culture novels, delivers a calibrated British insouciance so reflective of culture Minds, and is a pleasure in its own right.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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sublime perfection

loved this like all I.M.B culture novels. sad though. I've been saving this final novel for a few years never wanting to read/hear the last culture novel, admitting it's all over, I was not disappointed.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

a fitting end to banks immortal series.

a review requires atleast 15 words words words words words that are unique and different from eachother

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A sweet farewell

Iain m banks’ final book. It’s got the feeling of a farewell, and can perhaps be read as a reflection on mortality. Or just as another excellent entry in his culture series. Better than some of his books, though probably not his best, it’s still a good read, and feels like a fitting bookend to his corpus.
If you’ve enjoyed his other work then give it a read. If not - perhaps start with player of games or use of weapons.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

the void

Yet another void left internally after completing a good series. The feeling is bittersweet however "the Algebraist" should be a fond reminder of this universe and writing style.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Peter Kenny

Peter Kenny is the only one who should narrate Iain m Banks. He has become the voice of the culture. I listened to both versions of 'The Algerbreist' done by other people, and neither performance was up to Peter Kenny's standard.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Brilliant but missing something

*Mild tone spoilers* I got to the end and sort of found myself wondering what the point of it all was. Nothing of great importance is effected by the protagonists of the story. No great justice is done, and while tragic things happen there is little sense of tragic culmination. Even romantic subplots don't really go anywhere. It all just sort of fizzles. Arguably this is a sort of philosophical point being made by the story, but that doesn't make it less disappointing.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding

Excellent Culture novel superbly read by Peter Kenny. Kenny is incredible. Highly recommended. RIP Iain.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The Easiest 5 star ever.

I will listen to this work again, probably a few times. four more words needed.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Intriguing but not outstanding.

An interesting book, not as gripping as Consider Phlebas, and the characters aren’t as memorable, except a small selection. However, the narration is as always second to none, and it is an intriguing in depth look into the Minds of the Culture.

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