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Here's a bookend for the first impressions thread. There was a place around chapter 12 where it slowed down and I felt like taking a prozac, but once I got to chapter 13, it was very dramatic, if not cinematic, and I was happy with how it turned out. It's very dark though. And sometimes I don't quite understand what he's describing. I hear the later books are supposed to be different, more from the Culture's point of view.

/review/show...

Overall verdict: just OK.

If the point of the novel is to illustrate the futility of war then mission accomplished. However, reading about the futility of war was a bit of a slog.

I enjoyed the appendices.

I'm willing to give Banks another shot. I think a novel from the Culture's perspective would be interesting.

^ The next book, Player of Games, is fairly good IMO. Some people like Use of Weapons. I found that one overly cutesy in construction. Good story, the author really enjoyed his literary tricks there and it got old. The last one, Hydrogen Sonata, is likely the best, but you should read at least a few other Culture books before tackling that one. There are references to ideas and situations from pretty much all the other books. I read the books in order and Hydrogen Sonata made the most sense that way.

@chris - read The Player of Games.


All - for those who've not read the series, it's not a series with arcs and each book is pretty independent although they are set in the same general timeframe (+/- a few hundred years). Phlebas is really the only book set outside of the Culture, which is why I didn't like this pick and don't feel it's a good intro to the series - it's very different from the other 9 books.

Having said that, if you are meh on this, read Player Of Games and don't like that, the series might not be for you.

Rick wrote: "@chris - read The Player of Games.


Will give it a shot. Thanks!

Rick wrote: "Phlebas is really the only book set outside of the Culture, which is why I didn't like this pick and don't feel it's a good intro to the series

What?! Oh no! Why didn't you tell us at every possible moment in all the other threads on the book? 😉

Jan wrote: "Rick wrote: "Phlebas is really the only book set outside of the Culture, which is why I didn't like this pick and don't feel it's a good intro to the series

What?! Oh no! Why didn't you tell us at..."

HAHAH... So let me tell you again...

This is my second read. The first time around was my first Culture book but having now read them all and gone back to the start I don't think my opinion has changed much. I still think it's an entertaining grungy space opera. If you want a lazy summary then 'Its the Dirty Dozen Spaaaace!' does the job but I think there's more to it than that.

The way Banks builds tension going into big action sequences is excellent. First with a general unease exploring the abandoned megaship and then with frequent scene jumps in the control tunnels. I was really intrigued by the game of Damage. How many steps removed from todays reality TV is it really? The Island of the Eaters was probably a metaphor for trickle down economics. A really gross metaphor.

Weak areas included Horza being a highly motivated POV character without any obvious source for that motivation. He despises the Culture (enough to side with the religiously motivated imperialists who just might be the bad guys) but it wasn't obvious to me why. Balveda, by design, is a largely passive and forgettable character. The other members of the CAT's crew are little more than sketches. Only Unaha-Closp, the shanghai'd amalgam of R2D2 practicality and C-3PO sniffiness, and, to a lesser extent Xoxarle, leave any impression of having a personality - despite neither being human.

I'm sticking with 4 stars. Ultimately the imagination in the locations and control in the action sequences is entertaining enough to make up for the void where the chracterisation should be.