Two and a half millenia 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.

A novel of extraordinary imagination, richness and energy, Excession is Iain M. Banks at his magnificent best.

'Banks is a phenomenon … wildly successful, fearlessly creative.' William Gibson

'Thrilling, affecting and comic … probably the finest science fiction he has written to date.' New Scientist

'Banks has rewritten the libretto for the whole space-opera genre.' The Times

'Gripping, touching and funny.' TLS

'The story is vital and urgent and has a brilliantly subtle resolution … wildly enjoyable.' Interzone

'A dizzying adventure.' Daily Mail

'Explosive but tender.' Sunday Times