Back cover:

PRAISE FOR IAIN M. BANKS

"Banks writes with a sophistication that will surprise anyone unfamiliar with modern science fiction."
- New York Times

"Pyrotechnic, action-filled, satiric, outlandish, deep and frivolous all at once... a revelatory energy rarely matched in speculative fiction."
- Science Fiction Weekly

"There is now no British SF writer to whose work I look forward with greater keenness."
- The Times (London)

"Banks is a phenomenon."
- William Gibson

Front flap:

In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war.  For one man it means a desperate flight and a search for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name.  For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder.  And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.

But the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilizations throughout the greater galaxy.

Concealing her new identity - and her particular set of abilities - might be a dangerous strategy, however.  In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter.

Matter is a novel of dazzling wit and serious purpose. An extraordinary feat of storytelling and breathtaking invention on a grand scale, it is a tour de force from a writer who has turned science fiction on its head.

Back flap:

IAIN BANKS came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984.  Consider Phlebas, his first science-fiction novel, was published under the name Iain M. Banks in 1987.  He is now acclaimed as one of the most powerful, innovative, and exciting writers of his generation.  Iain Banks lives in Fife, Scotland.  Find out more about him at www.iainbanks.net.

MATTER is a novel of dazzling wit and serious purpose.  Am extraordinary feat of storytelling and breathtaking invention on a grand scale, it is a tour de force from a writer who has changed the face of science fiction.

'Of all the books I've read of ultrapowerful galactic civilisations, this one does it best.  Incredible tech and a huge scope, yet telling a very human story that stands out among the vastness'  WIRED.COM

'This long-awaited return for both the writing legend and his finest creation is a delight'  SFX

'[Banks] can summon up sense-of-wonder Big Concepts you've never seen before and display them with narration as deft as a conjuror's fingers' SCIFI.COM

'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 oodles of wit and charm'  SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

'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'  WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY

"beautifully written and filled with memorable characters and startling technology... Banks is still at the height of his powers'  PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STANDARD REVIEW)