Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
A Song of Stone
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Iain M. Banks
Class/Genre: Science Fiction Military
Simon & Schuster, Sep 1998, $23.00, 280 pp.
Civil war has erupted, leaving the land in lawless chaos. Wandering militia bands constantly roam, ravage, and plunder the countryside, fighting each other and anyone else who happens to get in their path. Lieutenant Loot and her partisans capture a local aristocrat Abel and his lover Morgan as they are trying to flee the region by dressing up as displaced peasants. Loot forces her captives to return to his castle so that she and her ragged lot of troops can camp out there.
At the four-hundred year old castle, Loot and her men treat people abusively, and wantonly and unceasingly destroy priceless works of art and centuries-old artifacts. The outlaw band live for today with no regard for tomorrow. They play at life to its fullest, having non-stop orgies while stripping away the veneer of patrician civilization from their host and hostess, who happens to be Abel's sister. The vile Loot barges into the middle of the incestuous relationship by bedding Abel's sibling, an act that he catches. This final sexual intrusion enrages the enfeebled noble into a final showdown with his tormentor.
Readers can always bank on Iain Banks for providing some of the best literature available today. The great English author's latest novel, A SONG OF STONE, is a symbolic look at war that in the hands of a lesser mortal would have been another pale imitation of Speilberg. Instead, Mr. Banks turns his tale into a introspective look at how various individuals' depravities surface, making for an original war story that is haunting and beautiful in its psychological depth. Though not for everyone, A SONG OF STONE is a lyrical ode to the cruelty of the Homo sapiens towards anyone and everything.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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