Iain M. Banks, známy aj ako Iain Banks, bol škótsky autor, ktorého diela skúmali hlboké témy ľudskej spoločnosti a budúcnosti. Pod pseudonymom Iain M. Banks písal rozsiahle a ambiciózne sci-fi diela, často zasadené do prepracovaného vesmíru s komplexnými politickými a filozofickými podtónmi. Jeho štýl sa vyznačoval bystrým humorom, ostrou spoločenskou kritikou a fascináciou technologickým pokrokom a jeho vplyvom na ľudstvo. Jeho písanie často odrážalo jeho ľavicové presvedčenie a záujem o utopické a anarchistické spoločenské 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