The Algebraist

My father-in-law, who is a huge sci-fi fan, passed this book on to me because I wanted to escape. I've been working so much lately that I need to clear my head from time to time. He meant well, but he's also very smart and reads books like this constantly. Me...well I'm ashamed to say it, but I didn't understand much of it.

I'm going to try hard to summarize the story. My father-in-law approved this version, so it should be passable.

Several million years in the future, several galaxies are interconnected. We can access them via portals that allow us to go even faster than the speed of light and thus save a lot of time traveling. However, there are still holes, and we cannot travel everywhere yet.

In a planet (whose name I don't remember), there is a human, Fassin Taak. One day, a kind of intergalactic committee gives him a mission: to go and find a secret that the Dwellers (another kind of creature) hid thousands of years ago, and that would hold the key to access all the intergalactic portals in the universe. It's not clear if this key really exists, but everyone wants it so badly that a war is brewing. Fassin must therefore act quickly. So he sets off blindly across the universe and has some wonderful adventures.

The snags

There you go, approximately. It is a priori a rather good story. And as soon as you open the book, you realize that the author can write (very well).

But the problem is that the book is full of invented and/or very specialized terms. In English, too (which may not have helped me). Another hitch is that the book is dense, and even though it's an action book, it's rather slow. And in those cases, I tend to read without paying attention to the meaning of the words and sentences. I read (aloud) and I like the sound of the words, but keeping track takes concentration, and I don't put in enough effort.

As a result, whole pages go by without me understanding much. Characters appeared and disappeared without me understanding their role. The main person went from one place to another without me seeing the transition. There were explanations I missed, etc.

Anyway, I was glad it ended.

Conclusion

Honestly, I couldn't tell you if you should read it or not. According to my father-in-law, it is very entertaining and even funny (?). Even I could see that the author has a great imagination and a very nice pen. But if you are like me and tend to read without reading sometimes: bad idea. Take one of the many other books I've read that managed to hook me despite my rambling brain.

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The Algebraist

Iain M. Banks

15,99 $