FEERSUM ENDJINN Paperback – 8 June 1995

Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. BanksMy rating: 3 of 5 starsI have read all of Iain M Banks books, and I read Feersum Endjinn the year after it was first published in 1994. This is probably the only Science Fiction book of Iain M Banks that I had read problems finishing.This is a future earth story, and part of the issue I have with this book was that the main character: Bascule the Teller writes a large part of the story phonetically, and is really quite difficult to get used to. What actually happens is your reading pattern is disrupted, and instead of focusing on the story and the character's dilemma, you end up deciphering the text like hieroglyphs.To give you an idea, the fourth chapter starts:Woak up. Got dresd. Had brekfast. Spoke wif Ergates thi ant who sed itz juss been wurk wurk wurk 4 u lately master Bascule, Y dont u ½ a holiday? & I agreed & that woz how we decided we otter go 2 c Mr Zoliparia in thi I-ball ov thi gargoyle Rosbrith.The book was well received and won a BSFA award in 1994, however I have only read it once and with great difficulty.Not one I normally recommend, but for completeness sake, one has to read it.