''The Algebraist'' is a
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
novel by Scottish writer
Iain M. Banks, published in print in 2004. It was nominated for a
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
for
Best Novel in 2005.
It was his third science fiction novel not to be based or set in
The Culture
The Culture is a fictional interstellar post-scarcity civilisation or society created by the Scottish writer Iain M. Banks and features in a number of his space opera novels and works of short fiction, collectively called the Culture series.
...
, the earlier two being ''
Against a Dark Background
''Against a Dark Background'' is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1993. It was his first science fiction novel not to feature, or be set in, the Culture.
Plot summary
The main protagonist is Lady Sh ...
'' and ''
Feersum Endjinn
''Feersum Endjinn'' is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1994. It won a British Science Fiction Association Award in 1994.
The novel is sometimes referred to as Banks' second science fiction novel no ...
''.
Plot summary
The novel takes place in 4034. With the assistance of other species, humans have spread across the galaxy,
which is largely ruled by the Mercatoria, a complex feudal hierarchy, with a religious zeal to rid the galaxy of
artificial intelligences
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
, which were blamed for a previous war.
The central character is the human Fassin Taak who is a "Slow Seer" at the Court of the Nasqueron Dwellers. The Nasqueron's star system has been cut off from the rest of Mercatoria civilization because their
portal
Portal often refers to:
* Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel
Portal may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Gaming
* ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...
(the only means of
faster than light travel
Faster-than-light (also FTL, superluminal or supercausal) travel and communication are the conjectural propagation of matter or information faster than the speed of light (). The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero ...
) was destroyed by the Beyonders. The Beyonders are a large fleet of space marauders who originated from the fringes of the galaxy. The local Mercatoria adherents await the delivery of a wormhole connection from a neighboring system via sub-lightspeed travel.
The Nasqueron Dwellers are an advanced and ancient civilisation of non-humanoids who inhabit
gas giant
A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Gas giants are also called failed stars because they contain the same basic elements as a star. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" ...
s. They lead an almost
anarchic
Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...
existence based on kudos, and inhabit the majority of gas-giant planets in the galaxy. They are the only major species outside the control of the Mercatoria, being rumoured to possess devastating defensive weaponry. Dweller societies try not to get involved with "Quick" species, those with sentient beings who experience life at around the speed human beings experience it. Dwellers are one of the "Slow" species who experience life at a much slower rate. Dweller individuals live for millions of years, and the species has existed for billions of years, long before the foundation of the Mercatoria. Slow Seers like Taak are a
dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
of researchers who attempt to glean information from the Dwellers' vast but disorganised libraries of knowledge. They do it in part by artificially slowing their metabolisms to better communicate with the Dwellers.
Taak is looking forward to a life of quiet scholarship when he is astonished to be
drafted into one of the Mercatoria's religio-military orders. It turns out that in a previous research expedition to the Dweller-inhabited gas-giant Nasqueron, Taak inadvertently uncovered a book containing information about the legendary "Dweller List" of coordinates for their own private systems of wormholes. Since Dwellers are sufficiently long-lived to colonise the galaxy at sub-light speed, the very existence of such a network was considered doubtful.
The Dweller List is only a list of star systems. Portals are relatively small and can be anywhere within a system so long as it is a point of low
gravitational gradient
Gravity gradiometry is the study and measurement of variations ( anomalies) in the Earth's gravity field. The gravity gradient tensor is the spatial rate of change of gravitational acceleration; as acceleration is a vector quantity, with magnit ...
, such as a
Lagrange point
In celestial mechanics, the Lagrange points (; also Lagrangian points or libration points) are points of equilibrium for small-mass objects under the influence of two massive orbiting bodies. Mathematically, this involves the solution of th ...
. The list is useless without a certain
mathematical transform needed to give the exact location of the portals. Taak must go on a further expedition to Nasqueron in order to find the Transform.
The Archimandrite Luseferous is a tyrannical
warlord
A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...
of the Starveling Cult. He is in loose alliance with the Beyonders. He sets out to invade the Ulubis system from the Cluster Epiphany Five Disconnect while also aiming to possess the secrets of the Dweller portals. A Mercatoria counter-attack fleet hurries to defend Ulubis against the Starveling Cult ships and their Beyonder allies. Both fleets are forced to travel at sub light speeds, leaving the inhabitants of the Ulubis system anxiously wondering which will arrive first.
Taak's hunt for the Transform takes him on a journey, partly through the Dweller wormhole network. In a back story, it is revealed that he has been out of sympathy with the Mercatoria for some time, particularly over their treatment of artificial intelligences, and has in fact been a Beyonder agent. It is also revealed that the Dwellers have been harbouring artificial intelligences from Mercatoria persecution.
The Beyonder/Starveling forces arrive and easily overwhelm Ulubis's native defences. They discover to their dismay that the counter-attack force is arriving much sooner than predicted, and is superior. The Beyonder factions despair of locating Taak and the secret in the time available before the recapture of Ulubis, and retreat. The Starvelings under Luseferous remain. He makes a last-ditch attempt to force the Dwellers to yield up Taak, threatening them with antimatter weapons. The Dwellers respond with devastating blows on his fleet. Luseferous flees under Mercatoria pursuit.
Taak returns from his journey with his memory partly erased. He is still able to piece together the secret from the remaining clues: every massive body has a region of zero net gravitational attraction at its exact centre. The Dwellers have hidden wormhole portals in the cores of all their occupied planets, and the Transform was never necessary. It remains unclear whether the Dwellers will give the necessary cooperation in allowing other species access to their network, now that the secret is out.
The novel ends with Taak, having left Ulubis and joined the Beyonders, suggesting to a lifelong friend he has just discovered is an AI, "One day we'll all be free".
Reception
In an interview in 2004, Banks stated that "It probably could become a trilogy, but for now it’s a standalone novel." ''The Algebraist'' was shortlisted for the 2005
Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...
. In 2011, the novel was short-listed for the
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
Top-100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Titles.
Release details
* First edition hardcover: ''The Algebraist'', Iain M. Banks, London: Orbit, 2004 (UK)
*
Night Shade Books
Night Shade Books is an American, San Francisco–based imprint, formerly an independent publishing company, that specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among its publications have been the U.S. edition of Iain M. Banks' novel ''T ...
published the novel in the U.S. in September 2005. ()
See also
*
Simulated reality
The simulation theory is the hypothesis that reality could be simulated—for example by quantum computer simulation—to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds that may or may not know that they live i ...
*
Simulated reality in fiction
Simulated reality is a common theme in science fiction. It should not be confused with the theme of virtual reality.
Literature
Theater
* ''Possible Worlds (play), Possible Worlds'' (1990) and the 2000 Possible Worlds (film), film adaptation
* ' ...
References
External links
Trashotron reviewNthposition.com review
''The '' Guardian ReviewThe NASA image used as the basis for the book cover designLinks to reviews of Banks' works, including ''The Algebraist''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Algebraist, The
2004 British novels
2004 science fiction novels
British science fiction novels
Faster-than-light travel in fiction
Fiction about gas giants
Fiction about wormholes
Fiction set in the 5th millennium
Novels about artificial intelligence
Novels by Iain M. Banks
Orbit Books books
Scottish novels
Social reputation in fiction