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FANTASY STORY

Thinking that it maybe was about time for something not so spectacular, I grabbed this
book by Iain Not-M Banks while I was at the bookstore (getting The Naked God). Good
thing. 
Even with it's high finance setting and international business milieu, The Business is
the most quiet and laid back book I've ever read by Banks. This is mostly because of the
main character Kate Telman, who's just so nice, and warm and understandable that it's
nearly too much. But only nearly, Banks keeps her well in line and makes her tell her
story, in just about the best possible way that the story can be told. 
Kate is a lever three executive (level one is the top) in the company called The
Business. Now that may sound like the recipe for a silly move with Sigourney Weaver and
Harrison Ford, but really it is not. The Business is a different kind of company, first
of all; it's old, in the sense that it owned the Roman Empire for a short period; it's
democratic, in the sense that it's executives are elected by the employees and thirdly
it's big, in the sense that it's trying to buy a country so that it can get a seat in the
UN. 
The country-buying bit is where Kate comes into the picture - The Business wants her to
checkout this small country in the Himalayas. Oh, and could she possibly marry the local
prince while she's at it? There's a lot more to the story, but no as much as one might
have hoped. Lot's of zipping around the world and talking to people with way too much
money and definitely too much power, but somehow I had a feeling that Banks didn't know
Kate well enough before he started out on this story. Oh, the story is great, but I could
have used just a bit more depth of character in Kate.