"Consider Phlebas" Book Review

[senkora]

> I found the underlying philosophy of the war much more interesting than the story.

This matches my experience. The Culture is fascinating to read about independent of the books. Here's a short essay by Ian M Banks (the author of the Culture series) about the Culture:

https://cultureandempire.com/html/culture.html

[ahartmetz]

Yeah. IME, the world (universe) of the Culture is quite interesting and thought-provoking, but the plots are kind of lame and predictable. Not terrible, but not the reason to read the books.

[aleksiy123]

"Player of Games" is my favourite.

While I totally understand the intent of introducing the Culture from on outside point of view.

I think "Consider Phlebas" was not as enjoyable as some of the other books.

[tstrimple]

I think this is the common take on culture novels. Most recommendations I see for reading order start with something other than Consider Phlebas. Player of Games and Use of Weapons tends to be more recommended as a first book. I adored Player of Games because the whole concept is so different than most sci-fi I've encountered. And it really examines what it means to be a citizen of The Culture.

[FooBarBizBazz]

I have a hard time reading The Culture books as anything but a satirical condemnation of the current society. Which is not at all the position that Banks, in interviews, claims to take.

I thought Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky presented a much more sympathetic picture of a cosmopolitan trading culture, in its clash (and hybridization) with a conservative warrior culture. That book did make "the liberal capitalists" sympathetic.