Iain Banks

Stewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth. After 5 years in exile his presence is required at the funeral of patriarch Joe Murston, and even though the last time Stu saw the Murstons he was running for his life, staying away might be even more dangerous than turning up.

A world that hangs suspended between triumph & catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall & the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism & global financial collapse, such a world requires a firm hand & a guiding light. But does it need the Concern?

It is the end for the Gzilt. They've made the decision to follow the well-trodden path to Sublime, elevating themselves to a new rich and complex existence. Amidst preparations though High Command is destroyed. Lieutenant Commander Vyr Cossont appears to have been involved and she is now wanted: dead, not alive.