Look To Windward Ian M Banks - Paperback

The Twin Novae battle was one of the last and most horrifying of the Idiran war. The Idirans, desperate to avoid defeat, caused the explosion of two suns, destroying entire worlds and their inhabitants. These were massive assaults, referred to as gigadeathcrimes. However, the war eventually came to an end and life continued. Now, 800 years later, light from the first explosion is finally reaching the Masaq' Orbital, home to the adventurous and indulgent individuals of the Culture. As it falls upon Masaq's 50 billion residents, they gather to remember the innocent lives lost and to contemplate the Culture's role in the tragic event.

Also journeying to Masaq' is Major Quilan, an emissary from the war-ravaged world of Chel. In the aftermath of the conflict that split his world apart, most believe he has come to Masaq' to bring home Chel's most brilliant star & self-exiled dissident, the honored Composer Ziller. Ziller claims he will do anything to avoid a meeting with Quilan, who he suspects has come to murder him. But the Major's true assignment will have far greater consequences than the death of a mere political dissident, as part of a conspiracy more ambitious than even he can know--a mission his superiors have buried so deeply in his mind that even he can't remember it.