by Iain Banks
First published 2012
Lieutenant Commander Vyr Cossont faces a death sentence from her own people. The Gzilt civilization prepares to Sublime, abandoning physical existence for a higher plane like millions of species before them. But someone destroyed the Regimental High Command, and Cossont stands accused. Now she runs from Gzilt forces while Scavenger species circle, waiting to claim abandoned territory. Her only allies are a rebuilt android and a Culture avatar she cannot trust. The High Command gave her one final mission before their destruction. She must locate the oldest living person in the Culture, a man who has survived over nine millennia. He alone might know the truth about events from ten thousand years ago, when the Gzilt nearly joined the Culture as a founding member but chose independence at the last moment. Time runs short as her civilization approaches its final transformation. Cossont discovers that the Gzilt's last days may become their most dangerous.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, mystery, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Gzilt, Culture
Period: 10000 years ago, 9 millennia
528 pages · Hardcover · Orbit