Transition by Iain Banks
Little Brown, £18.99
As fans of his novels know, the M in Iain Banks is pretty crucial. Iain M Banks is the author of a series of well-regarded sci-fi novels mostly set in a vaguely libertarian-socialist future society called the Culture while Iain Banks (without an M) writes mainstream fiction which gets turned into TV drama (The Crow Road) or attains cult status (The Wasp Factory).
My list of completed Banks books is heavier on the sci-fi side. I’ve always felt that while the quality there is solid, some of the straight fiction is a little light. Dead Air and The Business both have their moments but almost appear to be a contractual obligation on the part of the author.
Now we have a new Banks book – without an M – but with what could reasonably be called a sci-fi plot. Transition is set on earth. In fact, it is set on every possible earth. The conceit is the many worlds theory which suggests every time there is a fork in the road and you take one path rather than another, two divergent timelines are created. There are an infinite number of worlds; some might only differ in the motion of a single electron while others exist where life never managed to coalesce.
The characters in Transition are, mostly, those who can flit between these different worlds through force of will and a helpful narcotic. They form the Concern, a sort of uber-conspiracy which goes about interfering in the destinies of other worlds to make sure the good guys succeed and the bad guys do not. The problem is one person suspects the Concern has a much more selfish – and deadly – agenda.
Banks structures his book with a series of first person pieces from the half dozen or so principal characters. This fractured effect neatly mimics the sense of a universe reflected in a shattered mirror. These solipsistic narratives also help show how difficult it is to understand the grand plan behind the Concern’s individual interventions.
The problem is that Banks hasn’t gone to an awful lot of trouble to make his characters particularly appealing or memorable. Several, such as Aidan, the drug dealer made good, are very two dimensional. He spouts lines at which an EastEnders’ scriptwriter would balk.
The plot begins briskly but then flattens out as Banks moves his characters around like chess pieces. It’s all rather flaccid, despite the ever increasing number of sex scenes. Then, in the last 60 pages, the pace picks up again and there is a terrific showdown. I fear, though, that many readers will begin Transition but not make it through to that finale.
Phil Chamberlain
