I discovered Banks's sci-fi stuff in 2008, and decided I wanted to read the lot. So I went on a bit of a library spree in 2009. But I've been saving Matter up because I didn't want to run out of Culture novels too quickly. Once I've read this, there'll only be Against a Dark Background (which isn't a Culture novel) left.

Despite the hype Camilla is obsessively trying to create, which I know is offputting for some people, I do think you'd enjoy The Gone-Away World a lot. It is super-cool. The beginning drags, but by the end you will see why it had to, and it is so worth it.

Re: your 2009 reads:

1. Stardust- Neil Gaiman

Awesome. And so much more poignant than what the film turned it into. Did you read the illustrated version or the prose version? I tell everyone who will (or won't) listen to read the illustrated version, despite the higher cost.

4. The Blade Itself- Joe Abercrombie
7. Before they are Hanged- Joe Abercrombie
8. Last Argument of Kings- Joe Abercrombie

I really want to read him. Is he good?

15. The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho

I first read this in French (skiing in the French Alps, finished my book early, needed to get something quickly), and enjoyed it. Then Silje told me she had thought it was really childish, and I realised she was right – I just hadn't noticed it before because my brain was sufficiently occupied, not by the concepts but by translating it as I read. I am now a bit dubious about Coelho. Also, I know a girl who takes her entire philosophy of life from The Alchemist. I find this quite pathetic. What did you think of it?

19. Watchmen- Alan Moore

Awesome. Don't you just love this quote?:

"Come... dry your eyes, for you are life, rarer than a quark and unpredictable beyond the dreams of Heisenberg; the clay in which the forces that shape all things leave their fingerprints most clearly."

59. Servant of a Dark God- John Brown

I've never heard of this, but it has a seriously awesome title.