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| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
May 1993 | Publication | Received as a strong standalone science fiction novel, with critics praising the grimness of the world and the originality of the quest structure. Some reviewers noted it as darker and more relentlessly bleak than the Culture novels, and the novel has a reputation as one of Banks's most uncompromising works. It is less widely read than the Culture sequence but is regarded by Banks's admirers as one of his finest achievements in the non-Culture mode. |
1994 | Award Nominated | Locus Award SF novel category, 10th place |
Received as a strong standalone science fiction novel, with critics praising the grimness of the world and the originality of the quest structure. Some reviewers noted it as darker and more relentlessly bleak than the Culture novels, and the novel has a reputation as one of Banks's most uncompromising works. It is less widely read than the Culture sequence but is regarded by Banks's admirers as one of his finest achievements in the non-Culture mode.
Locus Award
SF novel category, 10th place