Iain M. Banks, známý také jako Iain Banks, byl skotský autor, jehož díla zkoumala hluboká témata lidské společnosti a budoucnosti. Pod pseudonymem Iain M. Banks psal rozsáhlá a ambiciózní sci-fi díla, často zasazená do propracovaného vesmíru s komplexními politickými a filozofickými podtexty. Jeho styl se vyznačoval bystrým humorem, ostrým sociálním komentářem a fascinací technologickým pokrokem a jeho dopadem na lidstvo. Jeho psaní často odráželo jeho levicové přesvědčení a zájem o utopické a anarchistické společenské systémy.
Two and a half millennia ago, the artifact appeared in a remote corner of space, beside a trillion-year-old dying sun from a different universe. It was a perfect black-body sphere, and it did nothing. Then it disappeared. Now it is back.
It was one of the less glorious incidents of the Idiran wars that led to the destruction of two suns and the billions of lives they supported. Now, eight hundred years later, the light from the first of those ancient deaths has reached the Culture's Masaq' Orbital. For the Hub Mind, overseer of the massive bracelet world, its arrival is particularly poignant. But it may still be eclipsed by events from the Culture's more recent past. When the Chelgrian Ziller, a composer of great renown now living in self-imposed exile, learns that an emissary from his home world is being sent to Masaq' Orbital, he fears the worst: that the Chelgrians want him to return. A considerable debt is owed to the Chelgrians, but Ziller is an honoured guest on their world and the Culture would not force him to leave.They know that they are facing a slight diplomatic problem. However, Ziller is not the only thing on the Chelgrian emissary's mind. If his mission is successful, it illuminate the Culture's future as well as its past. Look out for more information on this book and others on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk