The Hydrogen Sonata | |||
Author | Iain M. Banks | ||
Publisher | Orbit Books | ||
Publication Date | 4 October 2012 (UK) 9 October 2012 (USA) | ||
Page Count | 528 | ||
ISBN | 978-0356501505 | ||
[Source] |
The Hydrogen Sonata is Iain M. Banks' ninth novel in the Culture series, and, due to his passing, also the last.
“ | I was lying on a sort of bubble-bed wotsit at the side of a large swimming pool, in the sunlight at a spa complex called Archena, in southern Spain, in October 2011, thinking about an edition of QI I’d seen a week or two earlier, in which Stephen Fry had mentioned something called The Great Disappointment. Bang; the plot of The Hydrogen Sonata just unfolded in my head. | ” |
–Iain M. Banks , Orbit Books 25th Anniversary Interview[1] |
Synopsis[]
The Hydrogen Sonata is about the Gzilt, a civilisation that almost joined the Culture 10,000 years before the novel, that have decided to Sublime, leaving behind “the Real” to take up residence in higher dimensions. The Zihdren-Remnant, what is left of an older species that Sublimed before the Culture was formed, send an envoy to confess a long-kept secret before the Gzilt depart but a Gzilt warship intercepts and destroys their ship several weeks before the Sublimation is due to take place in order to preserve that secret.
The story follows a group of Culture Minds that are trying to find out the secret and what to do after they find it. The search centers around a truly ancient Culture citizen (Ngaroe QiRia) who is supposed to have taken part in the setup of the Culture some 10.000 years ago.
Artefacts etc.[]
- Antagonistic Undecagonstring, an eleven stringed musical instrument, designed to be played by a humanoid musician with four arms
- Aphore, an animal a human can ride, analogous to a horse
- Apranipryla, a giant raft, on Perytch IV, capable of storing a body, in a usable state, for decades
- Book of Truth, aka BoT, Gzilt holy book
- Emergency Helmet Collar, a Gzilt safety device, worn like a thick necklace, creates a helmet shaped protective area when needed
- Hydrogen Sonata, a piece of music, clashing and atonal, written for the Antagonistic Undecagonstring by T'ikrin Vilabier, as "a joke", according to QiRia
- Interesting Times Gang, aka ITG, mentioned
- Raspulescent, adj, Of a simulated scenario: becoming ripe with political intrigue, Presumed to be coined after the Russian historical figure, Grigori Rasputin.
Civilisations & Factions[]
- Dolstre
- Gzilt
- Issialiayns, of Perytch IV, a water world
- Liseiden
- Oglari
- Ronte
- The Culture
- Uwanui, of Cethyd
- Werpesh, builders of the Girdle City on Xown, also the sculptors of Eshri
- Zihdren-Remnanter, the portion of the Zihdren that are in contact with the Gzilt
- Zihdren, a sublimed race
Characters[]
- Berdle, avatar of Mistake Not...
- Boyuter, Gzilt Marshal
- Briper Drodj, a Gzilt scribe, a disgraced, ruined trader from a fallen aristocratic family with classical military connections, writer of the Book of Truth
- Cagad Agansu, Gzilt
- Chekwri, a Gzilt Marshal
- Chuje, a child
- Docent Luzuge
- Eglyle Parinherm, aka Unit Y988, a Gzilt android
- Folrison
- Frix, Gzilt
- Gaed, Gzilt, Tech Commander
- Gazan'tyo, Gzilt General
- Geljemyn, the Gzilt president.
- Hassipura Plyn-Frie, Culture drone, retired. The size and shape of a large grey suitcase. A rather battered and dusty large grey suitcase.
- Jevan
- Jelwilin Keril, the Iwenick Cultural Mission Director
- Jonsker Ap-Candrechenat, Drone, Culture representative from the Beats Working, to the Ronte
- Mierbuenes, an Iwenick, a Liseiden Ambassador to the Gzilt
- Ngaroe QiRia, aka Isseren, aka Tursensa Ngaroe Hgan QiRia dam Yutton, aka Yutten Turse, an ancient Culture citizen, supposed to have taken part in the setup of the Culture
- Ny-Xandabo-Tyun
- Nyomulde
- Oceanic-Dissonance, oZihdren-Remnanter Adjunct Entity
- Orpe, aka Virisse
- Ossebri 17 Haldesib, Ronte, Swarm Prince, Sub Swarm Divisional Head, Fleet Officer in Charge,
- Pyan, Cossont's familiar
- Quvarond
- Reikl, Gzilt General, Marshal elect
- Scoaliera Tefwe, a friend and a lover of Ngaroe QiRia, when he was already a very old man and she had been of conventional middle age – a little under two hundred
- Septame Banstegeyne
- Sklom, avatar of Warm, Considering
- Solbli
- T.C. Vilabier, aka Vilabier The Younger
- Uhtryn, combat arbite, companion to Cagad Agansu
- Vyr Cossont, a musician, the protagonist
- Warib, Cossont's mother
- Ximenyr, The Master of the Revels, Girdlecity
- Yegres, Quavarond and Int'yom - Gzilt trimes
- Yenilve, Gzilt
- Yoawin, an aphore, hired by Tefwe.
- Yueweag Etalde, commissar colonel
- Ziborlun, an avatar of Passing By And Thought I'd Drop In
Ships[]
- 5*Gelish-Oplule, Gzilt regimental cruiser
- 7*Uagren, Gzilt
- A Fine Disregard For Awkward Facts, GSV
- Anything Legal Considered, GCU
- Beats Working, Culture, Limited Contact Unit, Scree Class, 5 crew
- Caconym
- Contents May Differ, GSV
- Displacement Activity, Contact Unit (GCU)
- Empiricist, GSV
- Eshri, a Gzilt sculpt planet
- Equatorial 353, vacuum dirigible, the last airship travelling through the Girdlecity
- Exultation-Parsimony III
- Fzan-Juym, sub-summit-orbit satellite of Eshri
- Gellemtyan-Asool-Anafawaya, Liseiden flagship, Collective Purposes vessel, named for a Liseiden hero
- Headcrash, GOU, Delinquent-class Offensive Unit
- Iberre, Jelwilin Keril's private yacht.
- IR-FWS 8*Churkun
- Kakistocrat, Home GSV to Caconym
- Melancholia Enshrines All Triumph, Ronte Flagship
- Mistake Not..., Culture, Erratic Eccentric
- Outloaded, Culture
- Outstanding Contribution To The Historical Process, VFP
- Passing By And Thought I'd Drop In, GSV
- Pressure Drop
- Refreshingly Unconcerned With The Vulgar Exigencies Of Veracity, Very Fast Picket
- Smile Tolerantly, Once a GCU, now a Culture-Zihdren-Remnanter hybrid
- Teething Problems, GSV
- The Washing Instructions Chip In Life's Rich Tapestry, GSV
- Uagren, Gzilt Battle Cruiser
- Unreliable Witness, GSV, The Smile Tolerantly's old home GSV
- Value Judgement, Very Fast Picket
- Warm, Considering, GCU, Delta class
- Xenocrat, GOU, Delinquent-class Offensive Unit
- You Call This Clean?, LSV
- Zoologist, Superlifter, Boulder class
Locations[]
- Ablate
- Barlbanim, Gzilt world
- Cethyd, a planet in the Heluduz system
- Chyan’tya, a location on the Honn plate of the Dibaldipen Orbital
- Dibaldipen, Culture Orbital
- Eshri a Gzilt world in the Izenion system, a Werpesh Sculpt planet, home of Fourteenth Regiment HQ
- Girdlecity, a large city on Xown
- Heluduz, a star system
- Honn, a plate on the Dibaldipen Orbital
- Hzu Sea, a sea on Zyse
- Izenion, Gzilt world, home of Fourteenth Regiment
- Kwaalon
- Land, the landmass in the Pinicoln Sea, on Zyse
- Launch Falls, in Girdlecity
- Loliscombana, ??
- M'yon
- Neressi fictitious location, claimed by Yutten Turse, another alias but spelt backwards
- Ocean, an ocean on Zyse
- Ospin, a Bokri, microrobital, in a red giant system
- Perytch IV, a water world, home of the Issialiayns
- Sapanatcheon, a star
- The Mountains of the Sound, on Cethyd, in the Heluduz system
- Taushe, Gzilt world
- Xown, a Gzilt world in the Mureite system.
- Zyse, a Gzilt world
Bibliography[]
To be Added