Perosteck Balveda
Encyclopedia
Juboal-Rabaroansa Perosteck Alseyn Balveda dam T'seif, usually referred to as Perosteck Balveda, is a character in the science fiction
novel Consider Phlebas
by Iain M. Banks.
Balveda, as she is usually addressed, is a member of the Culture
, an anarchic yet high-tech humanoid civilization. She has chosen to work in the faction known as Contact
, specializing in interactions with other cultures, and especially the select group calling itself Special Circumstances
, dealing in covert operations, assassinations, etc.
Balveda is an active participant in the Culture's war against a non-humanoid race, the Idirans. Deeply ambivalent about the methods employed by her faction in the war, she meets Horza, a humanoid fighting with the Idirans who is as passionate about his opposition to the Culture as Balveda is about the rightness of its objectives, if not its methods.
After the end of the war, Balveda's experience during a mission to Schar's World (where she accomplishes her objective at the cost of almost all other lives, including Horza's) causes her to elect to be put in suspended animation
until such a time as the entire war can be justified in terms of eventual benefits. However, like most who take this course after the war, she chooses to euthanize herself a few months after being awakened.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel Consider Phlebas
Consider Phlebas
Consider Phlebas, first published in 1987, is a space opera novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks. Written after a 1984 draft, it is the first to feature the Culture.-Overview:...
by Iain M. Banks.
Balveda, as she is usually addressed, is a member of the 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....
, an anarchic yet high-tech humanoid civilization. She has chosen to work in the faction known as Contact
Contact (The Culture)
In the science fiction of Iain M. Banks, Contact is an organization that exists within the anarchist/libertarian socialist civilization known as the Culture .- Activities :...
, specializing in interactions with other cultures, and especially the select group calling itself Special Circumstances
Special Circumstances
Special Circumstances, abbreviated SC, is a 'secret service'-type organisation that exists within the fictional anarchist utopian science fiction civilisation known as the Culture. It forms a background and plot device in several novels and shorter works of Iain M...
, dealing in covert operations, assassinations, etc.
Balveda is an active participant in the Culture's war against a non-humanoid race, the Idirans. Deeply ambivalent about the methods employed by her faction in the war, she meets Horza, a humanoid fighting with the Idirans who is as passionate about his opposition to the Culture as Balveda is about the rightness of its objectives, if not its methods.
After the end of the war, Balveda's experience during a mission to Schar's World (where she accomplishes her objective at the cost of almost all other lives, including Horza's) causes her to elect to be put in suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
until such a time as the entire war can be justified in terms of eventual benefits. However, like most who take this course after the war, she chooses to euthanize herself a few months after being awakened.