Ian M.Banks est sur tous les fronts en ce moment avec la sortie de son nouveau roman Matter.

Voici une nouvelle interview ce matin.
Petit extrait (en anglais, sorry)
"
One of the tragedies (or perhaps mistakes) at the heart of Matter involves two civilizations -- the Sarl and the Oct -- dealing with other groups whose technological sophistication far outstrips their own. Is this in some sense a story about uneven development -- a clash between developed and developing worlds -- on a galactic scale?
Iain M.Banks
Yes. But it's no big deal, in a sense. Even the people at the bottom of the developmental heap, such as the Sarl, know what their position is - there's no big reveal regarding the fact they're surrounded by hyper-teched aliens, they know that from the start - but they know, or at least believe, that it's not about what toys you possess, it's about what you do with what you've got; how well and cunningly you use the abilities and advantages you have and minimise the effects of your weaknesses. It is all relative and there's even a sense in which the whole civilizational game is more rewarding for the less developed because they've still got important stuff they can accomplish; those the Sarl call the Optimae - the Culture and its fellow Galactic top dogs - have nowhere to go, nothing more of true substance to win.

They've achieved a lofty plateau from which all they can do is watch over and sometimes in the affairs of those beneath them. So being a god is boring. "