The Affront are a species described in Excession. Originally named after their homeworld Issorile, their current name was given to them by another Involved species - the Padressahl - after they ate the members of a Padressahl trade mission to Issorile. They embraced their given name, proud of their exuberant sadism.
Critics have remarked on how Banks uses the Affront's combination of geniality and buffoonery (compared to a caricature of British landed gentry) to offset their brutality and sadism, in a bid to both amuse and discomfort his readers.
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