''As good as anything Banks has ever written, if not better'' Sunday Telegraph

After years of exile, Alban Wopuld has been summoned back to his family''s highland estate, Garbadale. The Wopuld clan are closing ranks. They have built their fortune on the boardgame Empire! - which has become a hugely successful computer game - and now the Americans want to buy them out.

As the family gathers for their Extraordinary General Meeting, old grudges, forbidden passions and dark secrets emerge. What drove Alban''s mother to take her own life? And is Alban over Sophie, his bewitching cousin and teenage love?

Praise for Iain Banks:

''The most imaginative novelist of his generation'' The Times

''His verve and talent will always be recognised, and his work will always find and enthral new readers'' Ken MacLeod, Guardian

''His work was mordant, surreal, and fiercely intelligent''

Neil Gaiman

''An exceptional wordsmith''

Scotsman