Use of Weapons
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Narrated by:
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Peter Kenny
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By:
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Iain M. Banks
About this listen
The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks, and military action.
The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him toward his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.
The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a lost cause. But not even its machine could see the horrors in his past.
Ferociously intelligent, both witty and horrific, Use of Weapons is a masterpiece of science fiction.
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In 1943, when the United States learns that Germany is on the verge of a deadly innovation that could tip the balance of the war, the government turns to an unlikely source for help: the nation’s top science fiction writers. Installed at a covert military lab within the Philadelphia Naval Yard are the most brilliant of these young visionaries. The unruly band is led by Robert Heinlein, the dashing and complicated master of the genre. His “Kamikaze Group,” is tasked with transforming the wonders of science fiction into science fact....
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Pulp Perfection!
- By Jim N on 08-31-12
By: Paul Malmont
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SilverFin
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- By: Charlie Higson
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Parker
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
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What does it take to become the greatest secret agent the world has ever known? In this thrilling prequel to the James Bond series, readers meet a 13-year-old schoolboy whose inquisitive mind and determination set him on a path that will one day take him all over the world, in pursuit of the most dangerous criminals known to man.
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A Pleasant Surprise
- By Troy on 09-17-15
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Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds
- The First Adventure of Alacrity Fitzhugh & Hobart Floyt
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- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
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Mankind was beginning its third leap into the Galaxy, but Old Earth had so long kept to herself that her people were unable to travel safely among the rough-and-tumble cultures that had evolved on distant worlds. That annoyed Earth's rulers, for Hobart Floyt--a minor Terran bureaucrat-- had been left a mysterious inheritance by the deceased ruler of a small but wealthy interstellar empire.
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Best Sci Fi Fun anywhere!
- By A. Foxter on 07-07-15
By: Brian Daley
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Stormbreaker
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They said his uncle Ian died in a car accident. Alex Rider knows that's a lie, and the bullet holes in his uncle's car confirm the truth. But nothing can prepare him for the news that the uncle he always thought he knew was really a spy for Britain's top-secret intelligence agency. Enlisted to find his uncle's killers and complete Ian's final mission, Alex suddenly finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, with no way out.
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Okay action story held up by an great narrator
- By Mary Fan on 08-13-13
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The Final Empire
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For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison.
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Prepare for sleepless nights
- By tercia on 10-21-18
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The Forge of God
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On September 28th, a geologist working in Death Valley finds a mysterious new cinder cone in very well-mapped area. On October 1, the government of Australia announces the discovery of an enormous granite mountain. Like the cinder cone, it wasn't there six months ago.
Something is happening to planet Earth, and the truth is too terrifying to contemplate
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Great Story, Wonderful Listening, But the Editor?
- By George Knight on 07-14-13
By: Greg Bear
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Void Star
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Not far in the future, the seas have risen, and the central latitudes are emptying. But it's still a good time to be rich in San Francisco, where weapons drones patrol the skies to keep out the multitudinous poor.
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if you're That Guy
- By Zachary on 06-18-17
By: Zachary Mason
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Dead Man's Land
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Deep in the trenches of Flanders Fields, men are dying in the thousands every day. So one more death shouldn't be a surprise. But then a body turns up with bizarre injuries, and Sherlock Holmes' former sidekick, Dr. John Watson - unable to fight for his country due to injury but able to serve it through his medical expertise - finds his suspicions raised.
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Watson is wonderful, amid very grim surroundings
- By L. Gutman on 03-01-18
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The Ninth Rain
- The Winnowing Flame Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Jen Williams
- Narrated by: Jot Davies
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Jen Williams, acclaimed author of The Copper Cat trilogy, featuring The Copper Promise, The Iron Ghost and The Silver Tide, returns with the first in a blistering new trilogy. The great city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves. Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for sitting around waiting to die while the realm of his storied ancestors falls to pieces - talk about a guilt trip. Better to be amongst the living, where there are taverns full of women and wine.
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Couldn’t put it down!
- By Renae on 09-09-22
By: Jen Williams
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good, but flawed
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What listeners say about Use of Weapons
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dan
- 05-05-13
Good Mystery w/ no Culture
What did you love best about Use of Weapons?
If your every listened to Banks novel "Consider Phlebas", well, you're in for the same kind of thing. If you want to hear a story told from the perspective of an AI persona -= THIS AINT IT. The story was well written (technique was 1st rate), but it did make me wish they would just tell me why the protagonist was so messed-up (you learn that at the VERY END of the story). Also, the narrator does a good job, as always. I have to say that I rated it a 4 (instead of a 5), because it was not up to the standard of other Culture novels such as "Player of Games" or "Surface Detail" (both 1st rate; buy them now if your haven't listened yet). But, I this novel was still a whole lot better than a lot of other stuff that I rated a 4.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Prairie Dog
- 08-12-15
Stellar
Great story...will remember this work for a long time to come. Banks has an incredible imagination.
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- Brice
- 09-22-17
Great ending, but not as detailed as other stories
What made the experience of listening to Use of Weapons the most enjoyable?
Great interesting world and amazing ending.
What other book might you compare Use of Weapons to and why?
The first two books dug deeper into world building, this one doesn't provide as much backstory to all the characters involved nor spends as much time in one place so it isn't as deeply fulfilled.
Which scene was your favorite?
End twist
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
hard to stop listening to
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- ancientcampus
- 06-30-19
Solid Culture novel
It’s a book in the Culture series. If you want more Culture books, it delivers. The non-linear storytelling is not my cup of tea, but it’s surprisingly engaging regardless.
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- John C. Ryan
- 03-17-21
wow
like its hard to say how great this was, I loved every second of it. not as straight to the point and easy to pick up as player of games but the prose THE PROSE is so good. twist was ok, lots of hints here and there.
THE FACT THAT THE NEXT FEW BOOKS AREN'T AVAILABLE DUE TO REGION LOCK MAKES ME VERY SAD
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- Fred Kiesche
- 07-23-23
Harder the Second Time Around
I have not read this since it first came out. The ending section hits post-PTSD me a lot harder than decades ago pre-PTSD me.
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- Russell Collett
- 03-12-24
An interesting format and great ending
The disjointed, non-linear telling of the story in Use of Weapons pulled me along and had me drinking in every detail. The final detail that ties everything up was a great payoff. Great book!
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- Daniel Handley
- 07-05-24
story structure most engaging
good story masterfully read. kept me engaged throughout. a good book series. the author at peak skil.
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- Darden H.
- 04-04-23
LISTEN TO THIS BOOK TWICE!
The way this story unfolds offers a totally unique and brilliant experience that really blew me away. There are many moments where the story feels disjointed, or that you missed an important piece of information early on that's being referenced as background knowledge. towards the final quarter of the story though, things really start to click into place as more information is revealed. The end brings everything together, and will rock you.
If you immediately start the book over again, scenes that worked in a metaphorical sense initially will take on new and more in depth meanings. I fully believe the author intended the readers to read the book again after finishing it the first time- It offers an entirely new, beautifully deep experience once you start with the whole picture already revealed.
The fact that the author was even able to come up with such a complex narrative concept, and to employ it with such skill and emotional depth absolutely boggles my mind. What an incredible experience, and please, PLEASE finish it twice!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Michael Lyons
- 09-23-17
Best Culture novel I’ve read yet.
This is the fourth Culture novel I’ve listened to and is now my favorite. The order I read the books so far have been ‘A Player of Games’, ‘Consider phlebas’, ‘Surface Detail’ and now ‘Use of weapons’. This book is truly unique compared to the others I have read in the way that the characters are developed and in Peter Kenney’s excellent performance. I highly recommend this book but only for folks that have read atleast one Culture novel previously so that you are familiar with GSVs, SC, etc.
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