GCU Grey Area
Encyclopedia
In the Culture
novels by Iain Banks
, the GCU Grey Area is a General Contact Unit (a self-aware spaceship dedicated to the task of exploring the universe and interacting with other species) of the fictional Culture
society that has turned eccentric. It is described in the novel Excession
and has the dubious distinction of being one of the few Culture ships to not to be listed in official records by its chosen name.
The Grey Area has a fascination with war
, genocide
and pain
and the methods of inflicting it. Its interior is a museum containing devices that inflict pain and documents detailing their use. The ship has been described in reviews as "psychopathically righteous", and as a good example of Banks' not letting technological terms and SF-staples stand in the way of describing interesting characters. The descriptions of the ship's actions are also cited as examples of how Banks uses both elaborate and plain language to underscore his points.
The main reason Grey Area is despised by its peers is that it has chosen to ignore the Culture's taboo
on non-consensual mindreading. It is for this reason that the ship is more commonly known among the other Culture Minds as Meatfucker, a highly charged expletive among the Culture's artificial intelligences (one by which Banks alludes to less utopian subtext in the relationship between the Culture's Minds
and its human members, in which undue intimacy between these is seen as akin to bestiality). In the novel Look to Windward
it is explained that the denial of a Culture Mind's chosen name is viewed as a grave insult and mark of disapproval by its peers.
, the Grey Area pauses its historical research into a very comprehensive incident of genocide
to help deliver Byr Genar-Hofoen to the GSV Sleeper Service. It travels within the Sleeper Service to the excession, and near the end of events appears to allow itself to crash into the energy grid near the excession and is presumed by the Culture to have been destroyed, though this is not the case, with the ship apparently having transcended some sort of boundary between universes or else having been assimilated into another consciousness.
The Culture
The Culture is a fictional interstellar anarchist, socialist, and utopian society created by the Scottish writer Iain M. Banks which features in a number of science fiction novels and works of short fiction by him, collectively called the Culture series....
novels by Iain Banks
Iain Banks
Iain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...
, the GCU Grey Area is a General Contact Unit (a self-aware spaceship dedicated to the task of exploring the universe and interacting with other species) of the fictional Culture
The Culture
The Culture is a fictional interstellar anarchist, socialist, and utopian society created by the Scottish writer Iain M. Banks which features in a number of science fiction novels and works of short fiction by him, collectively called the Culture series....
society that has turned eccentric. It is described in the novel Excession
Excession
Excession, first published in 1996, is Scottish writer Iain M. Banks's fourth science fiction novel to feature the Culture. It concerns the response of the Culture and other interstellar societies to an unprecedented alien artifact, the Excession of the title.The book is largely about the response...
and has the dubious distinction of being one of the few Culture ships to not to be listed in official records by its chosen name.
The Grey Area has a fascination with war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
, genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
and pain
Pain
Pain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...
and the methods of inflicting it. Its interior is a museum containing devices that inflict pain and documents detailing their use. The ship has been described in reviews as "psychopathically righteous", and as a good example of Banks' not letting technological terms and SF-staples stand in the way of describing interesting characters. The descriptions of the ship's actions are also cited as examples of how Banks uses both elaborate and plain language to underscore his points.
The main reason Grey Area is despised by its peers is that it has chosen to ignore the Culture's taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
on non-consensual mindreading. It is for this reason that the ship is more commonly known among the other Culture Minds as Meatfucker, a highly charged expletive among the Culture's artificial intelligences (one by which Banks alludes to less utopian subtext in the relationship between the Culture's Minds
Mind (The Culture)
In Iain M. Banks' Culture novels most larger starships, some inhabited planets and all orbitals have their own Minds: sentient, hyperintelligent machines originally built by biological species which have evolved, redesigned themselves, and become many times more intelligent than their original...
and its human members, in which undue intimacy between these is seen as akin to bestiality). In the novel Look to Windward
Look to Windward
Look to Windward is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 2000. It is Banks' sixth published novel to feature The Culture.-Plot introduction:...
it is explained that the denial of a Culture Mind's chosen name is viewed as a grave insult and mark of disapproval by its peers.
In Excession
During the events of ExcessionExcession
Excession, first published in 1996, is Scottish writer Iain M. Banks's fourth science fiction novel to feature the Culture. It concerns the response of the Culture and other interstellar societies to an unprecedented alien artifact, the Excession of the title.The book is largely about the response...
, the Grey Area pauses its historical research into a very comprehensive incident of genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
to help deliver Byr Genar-Hofoen to the GSV Sleeper Service. It travels within the Sleeper Service to the excession, and near the end of events appears to allow itself to crash into the energy grid near the excession and is presumed by the Culture to have been destroyed, though this is not the case, with the ship apparently having transcended some sort of boundary between universes or else having been assimilated into another consciousness.