Use of Weapons
Iain M. Banks · 1990
Banks tracks a mercenary through two timelines, one moving forward and one backward, toward a revelation that retroactively changes the meaning of everything. His most structurally audacious Culture novel. Also the bleakest.
The case against
Chapters alternate between a forward mission and a life story told in reverse, which keeps you deliberately disoriented while the present-day plot runs a fairly standard Culture errand. Everything rides on the final reveal, devastating or cheap depending on your tolerance for structural gimmickry. Banks bet the whole book on one chair, and not every reader honors the wager.
Science Fiction & Fantasy · the Pro canon
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
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