this one is a brilliantly structured Culture novel that slowly reveals its emotional core and lands with some real impact with not one but two gut-punch twists that leave you reeling.
Use of Weapons (1990)
The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action. The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought. The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a burnt-out case. But not even its machine could see the horrors in his past. Ferociously intelligent, both witty and horrific, USE OF WEAPONS is a masterpiece of science fiction.
- ISBN:
- 9781611131154
- Length:
- 400 pages
Genres: science fiction
Lists: …
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Reviews2
this is special cuz I've just reread this. It all worked out really nicely as well that I just reread it.





