'You can always expect the unexpected with an Iain M. Banks novel. So sit back and enjoy a tale with more than a twist or three in Matter. For a start, it's a rattling good story: a man accused of something he didn't do. Lots of action, lots of mind-boggling imaginative thought in this excellent piece of SF, read by Toby Longworth' Daily Express 'You can, if you must, draw clever comparisons between the conflicts in Matter and what's happening in Iraq. Or you can just sit back and listen to Toby Longworth's tongue-in-cheek reading of a very funny book' The Guardian 'There is now no British SF writer to whose work I look forward with greater keenness' The Times 'Confirms Banks as the standard by which the rest of SF is judged' The Guardian 'Explosive' Sunday Times 'Gripping, touching and funny' T.L.S. 'A wild imagination' Mail on Sunday 'Captivating' Time Out 'Spectacular ... the field needs his energy' The Scotsman 'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson 'Beautifully written and filled with memorable characters and startling technology, this tale of intricate politics and intersteller warfare ably demostrates that Banks is still at the height of this powers' - Publishers Weekly 'Banks can bring across the essence of a character with one sentence where others might hammer things home over the course of a chapter...Matter is as engrosing as you'd expect a Banks book to be' - Starburst 'Unexpectedly savage, emotionally powerful and impossible to forget' - The Times 'Set in an intricate, yet wonderfully realised world, this latest Culture novel will pull you in and keep you hooked right up to the explosive finale. Matter cannot fail to captivate established fans and newcomers alike' - Waterstone's Books Quarterly 'This long-awaited return for both a writing legend and his finest creation is a delight' - SFX 'A searing inquiry into justified warfare and the dangers of imposing your ideas of civilisation, told at a rattling pace with breathtaking set pieces and oddles of wit and charm. ..It's exhilarating to see what he can do when he goes full-throttle into the form: to my mind, he's simply the finest and most consistently challenging writer in that genre' - Scotland on Sunday

Iain Banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, THE WASP FACTORY, in 1984. He has since gained enormous popular and critical acclaim for both his mainstream and his science fiction novels.