A European nation not unlike Bosnia: Armed forces roam
the lawless land where dark columns of smoke rise up from
the surrounding farms and houses. The war is ending, perhaps
ended. But for the castle and its occupants, a young lord
and lady, the trouble is just beginning.
Fearing an invasion of soldiers, the amorous couple take
to the roads with the other refugees, disguised in rags. But
the sadistic female lieutenant of an outlaw band of
guerrillas has other ideas. Just hours into their escape,
the fleeing aristocrats are delivered back to the castle,
where, now prisoners in their own home, they become pawns in
the lieutenant’s dangerous game of desire, deceit, and
death. The physical, sexual, and political tensions that
ensue catapult the narrative from war story to universal
morality tale.
Already a number one bestseller in England, A Song of
Stone demonstrates Iain Banks’s unique ability to
combine gripping narrative with a soaring, voyaging
imagination. As he did in his widely acclaimed novel The
Wasp Factory, Banks once again addresses the timeless
questions of truth, betrayal, duty, and loyalty, weaving
them around a complex plot and into a seamless, spellbinding
whole. Banks has been hailed by The Times of London as the
most imaginative British novelist of his generation; this
noir fable confirms his reputation as the master of things
dark and debauched. Singular, haunting, and viciously wry,
A Song of Stone is a tour de force of contemporary
fiction.