ho-hum.

It's quite reminiscent of Hyperion (enough so that it would not be difficult to trace out how similar the plot lines are) - a collection of various individuals are forced to go to a world that is 'officially' off-limits in order to find/chase/defeat something else. There are lots of obstacles en route and the stalwart main character is constantly fighting, narrowly escaping death, and thinking about the greater meaning behind everything.

Unfortunately, we don't care. The characters are bland -they all behave in similar ways - and the reader isn't encouraged to particularly like any of them.

The science/environment/story is interesting though - the concepts are great (and there are a LOT of them tossed into this book). Unfortunately the story isn't engaging enough to make me want to read more about them. ( )

The books starts interesting but I soon lost interest. There are only hints at the Culture background, it hasn't been filled with substance and life though. What remains is an action packed adventure with an unusal hero and some interesting characters. I am not a huge fan of such stories and rather waited for some mind blowing SF ideas - they didn't come so the book left me unimpressed.I recommend to skip this book and to read [b:The Player of Games|18630|The Player of Games|Iain M. Banks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166984450s/18630.jpg|1494157] or [b:Use of Weapons|12007|Use of Weapons|Iain M. Banks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166490846s/12007.jpg|1494156] instead. ( )

The books starts interesting but I soon lost interest. There are only hints at the Culture background, it hasn't been filled with substance and life though. What remains is an action packed adventure with an unusal hero and some interesting characters. I am not a huge fan of such stories and rather waited for some mind blowing SF ideas - they didn't come so the book left me unimpressed.I recommend to skip this book and to read [b:The Player of Games|18630|The Player of Games|Iain M. Banks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166984450s/18630.jpg|1494157] or [b:Use of Weapons|12007|Use of Weapons|Iain M. Banks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166490846s/12007.jpg|1494156] instead. ( )

While this book was full of lots of interesting ideas and some fun action sequences, I found the main character unlikeable and that brought the level of enjoyment down quite a bit for me. Horza--and those around him--go through one hellish scenario after another. Since I wasn't rooting for Horza (or even his side in the Idiran-Culture War), I found it a difficult slog to get to the end of this one. Bottom line: some interesting concepts, but overall depressing. Underneath the bottom line: It is a book about the pointlessness of war, so the reader is probably not supposed to like either side in the war or feel good about the events in the book. Maybe if I had known this going in, I would have been able to appreciate the book more for what it is. ( )

“Consider Phlebas” is story of one man (well, let us say humanoid :)) against what he thinks is unnatural order of things – famous Banks’s Culture and everything Culture represents.
Culture is at war with alien civilization from planet Idir – ruthless warriors bend on destroying all “lesser” beings and civilizations. War has escalated quickly from small border skirmishes into full scale conflict engulfing entire star systems. Horza is a Changer, shape shifter, covert agent working for Idirans on task to retrieve one of the Culture’s famous Minds on an isolated sacred planet protected by mysterious alien race that nobody wants for the enemy. Soon he will face what seem to be insurmountable odds.

Great story (although sad one) with great characters.

Recommended. ( )

This is the first Culture novel, and as I like to start a series (even a stand alone one like the Culture) at #1, I started here. The book follows one Culture humanoid on the chase of a Mind (AI) with all battles and problems along the way. It is an entertaining and nice read, but no more than that. ( )

This is the first of Banks' Culture novels, following a Changer (humanoid shapeshifter) working for the Idirans (three-legged aliens) who are fighting a war against the Culture (various human-like species, but as the book is apparently set in 1300-something, I guess they aren't humans really) on a mission to capture a Mind (sentient computer used to run a spaceship) which is hiding in a Planet of the Dead (a planet where the whole population killed themself in a war, protected by some god-like energy being that won't let most people land there).

So yeah, it is a space opera. I liked it a lot, especially the ending. I'm not sure it was supposed to seem hilarious to me, but never mind. ( )

ZB13 ( )

Strong sense of wonder, but unlikeable characters and a mechanical plot. Disappointing overall. Full review here. ( )

My first Culture novel, and what a ball it is!

Drags.

Most series' suffer from bloat where, as the author gets more famous, and the editor has less control the latter books become unnecessarily verbose, withut the impact of the earlier works. It is therefore a shame that the culture series starts with an unnecessarily verbose and longwinded story that is badly in need of trimming before it finally reaches a very sudden and pointlessly bloody conclusion.

Quite an interesting premise though. Mankind has spread throughot the galaxy splintering and evolving (sometimes through deliberate choice) into various factiions and species. Our hero Horza is a Changer, deliberatey bred species as soldiers of limited numbers with the ability to alter his physical apperance, impersonate others, , emit and resist venom and acid and countless other adaptions. We first meet him in a particularly unplesant death row, where he has been sentanced following his discovery as a spy. His deception was unmasked by an agent of the Culture, also human but dedicated to AI and the sentenance of artifical brains. The Culture are in a war with an alien species the Iridians (fundamental religionists) who recruited the Changers.

What follows could have been an exciting and fascinating series of excerpts from the two agents personal battles in various arenas as part of the wider war, exploring the fascinating universe Banks' developed. Instead we suffer through Horza's tortuous fantasy quest style journey through a few pointless encounters with a mercinary company until we reach the planet foreshadowed in the introduction as being the pinacle of this phase of the war. This is at least half the book, snd i's all spent thinking. Horza just get on with it!

The remaining half of the book is equally tedious aided by confusing descriptions of what's happening to whom where, some contrived excuses for not imagining futuristic technology properly and some more of the frankly unbelivable aliens. Horza explores a world with the previously mentioned culture agent as his prisoner for no good reason. Running out of ways to end the story Banks goes for the last man standing at the OK coral style fight. To preserve what limited suspense there is I won't say who it is. But you can guess. All the remaining plot points (lots) are supposedly tied up in a series of excerpts from 'history' and an epilogue as well for good measure.

The extremely graphic violence doesn't work as a writing style to make up for the deficiencies in the plot or the rest of the prose. Not on my list for re-reading, and I can't see why the series has the aclaim that it is normally granted.

.................................................................................................................... ( )

Exciting and imaginative. ( )

While it seems like a universe that has potential, I found that the only characters in the book I really liked were the artificial intelligences. ( )

I have read a couple of the Culture series before, but now that I have copies of the whole series, I am going to read them all in order.

"Consider Phlebas" is set during the Idiran-Culture War, and is the story of the race to recapture a start of the art Culture Mind (sentient computer) which is hiding in a tunnel complex on a forbidden planet. It's interesting that the first Culture story is told from the viewpoint of one of their enemies, as Horza the Changer sees the things that are wrong with the Culture so the reader has no excuse for being blind to its faults, however marvellous the technological wonders of its post-scarcity society may seem to be. ( )

Bank's first Culture novel introduces his idealic universe as the bad guy in a war between two galactic armies. Great head trip for the reader, although it could have benefited from an editor willing to cut cool/grotesque bits that were great in an of themselves but did not keep the plot chugging along. ( )

Banks' first Culture novel is as fresh today as when it was written. Themes of religion and war resonate with all time periods and cultures. Most of the novel is so enjoyable, you're unaware of the larger themes, until the end when the title's meaning is revealed. The endgame of the book seems a bit long in proportion to the rest, but as long as action fight scenes keep your interest, you'll be fine. ( )

Having read "Excession", "State of the Art", "Use of Weapons", "Against a Dark Background" and "Player of Games", I was excited to pick up another of Iain Banks' Culture novels, "Consider Phlebas".

"Consider Phlebas" is the first of the Culture novels, but it works very well if you've already read a few in the loose series. Instead of learning about the Culture from the inside, we follow Bora Horza Gobochul (great name), an agent who is at war with the Culture, who opposes its ideals with violent action. I'm impressed that Banks started on this note, most authors would have held this type of narrative device in reserve for a follow-up work.

"Use of Weapons" and "Player of Games" explored how the Culture shapes the destiny of less advanced civilisations through its Contact and Special Circumstances branches Think of Contact as the arm that does the heavy lifting and Special Circumstances as a hand that practises sleight of hand most of the time, but is always ready to form a fist as a last resort. Horza works for the equivalent of Special Circumstances among the enemies of the Culture, the Idirans. Horza is a shape changer, the ultimate spy, and quite literally a born killer, with venomous teeth and poisoned nails. He fights the Culture because their intelligent machines are in his mind the enemies of all living beings.

As with many of the Culture novels, "Consider Phlebas" takes an impressively long view. There are small and long arcs that nudge forward the larger plot. Most of these diversions do their job well enough, carrying us through the varied set pieces Banks has lovingly crafted and placed before us. As always, Banks provides a lot of descriptive detail, which requires careful reading, and is a kind of workout for the imagination, but is generally enjoyable.

As with many of the Culture novels, Horza picks his way through his own past as he draws closer to his final goal. This is perhaps a mild cliché, but as the reader begins each novel in utter ignorance of the life and history of its main character, a wee bit of self-absorption and reflection on the past are necessary evils to help us understand the emotional weight of the character.

I don't want to give anything away, but "Consider Phlebas" is, if anything, a bit darker than "Against a Dark Background" in its ultimate resolution (thankfully it's a bit lighter than "Use of Weapons"). It's a testament to Banks that this book is neither much better or much worse than his later Culture novels. Each novel finds a way to mine different facets of the same material, and each stands alone in its own right. All are highly recommended.

I'm in the midst of reading "Look to Windward", thus far it's a great read, stay tuned for that review in a few days. ( )

I still haven't figured out why this book is called 'Consider Phlebas', but despite that, it is still one of Bank's best Culture novels. This is set against a background of a religious jihad vs. the Culture, with the primary story being about one individual who is really on neither side. This book is perhaps supposed to be anti-religion, but that theme is very much muted by the fact that most of the action centers around individuals, not ideologies. An excellent story! Hard-core sci-fi fans will like this one, though I always find the Culture somewhat unbelievable. ( )

Gripping, well written, with intriguing characters. The story jumps from frying pan to fire to space battle to colossal cruise ship about to crash - definitely engaging, but occasionally almost too much peril. I enjoyed the complex moral fabric of the universe, and the author's willingness to make sorrow a part of the book and world. My first Iain M. Banks: I plan to read more. ( )

This was my first culture book, and my first Banks book as well, and I must say it has been the best culture book I've read so far. The images that Banks draws are amazing, the story telling breathtaking, and as usual the story line it self very well written and thought of. ( )

(Amy) I've not previously read any Banks, believe it or not, despite the general air of approval with which people often seem to refer to his work. I'd just never got around to it. Well, I finally did, and my verdict is:

Surprisingly easy to read; easy enough that I was most of the way through the book before I realized I hadn't a damned clue what was going on. Seriously, I finished the thing with an air of "What was that all about, and was I supposed to care?" - but still want to read more Banks. I can't explain it. Perhaps I'll understand it better after I've read another book or two, or read this one again, or something. It's very odd.
( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ze... ) ( )

Nice action scenes. In fact, every single chapter is an action scene. Very little character development. When there is only action and not much else - I'm afraid I get bored. What's the point in all this action if I don't care or understand why it's happening? There is nothing to compel me to keep reading it. I'm afraid I put it down for now. ( )

While not terrible in any way, the book strays little from the median line of 'ok'. In itself, there is little here that would make it worth reading. The appendix though, and very likely the expansion of the universe itself that might take place in later books, is very interesting. This instead is where the true value of the book lies. ( )

I wanted to read something from the Culture series because I was interested to see how the idea of a post-scarcity society could be explored. Consider Phlebas was disappointing on this front.

The novel is not about the utopian Culture itself but is rather a space opera that takes place amid an intra-Galactic war between the Culture and another species. The plot concerns a race to capture a damaged Culture supercomputer, a MacGuffin that could have just as easily been Death Star plans or a jewel-encrusted falcon. Along the way there are a couple of great set pieces about a horrific desert island religious cult and the galaxy's most decadent poker game, but there are also a few too many laser gun firefights, and the dramatic tension of the final act is overly reliant on bad judgement on the part of characters who are supposed to know better. (Word to the wise: when the murderous nine foot tall non-humanoid military fanatic complains that the wires you've tied him up with are hurting his wrists do not loosen them!)

Banks does touch on interesting ideas about utopianism and fanaticism, which unfortunately come in the form of chunks of explication not fully integrated into what is otherwise a fairly generic chase story. Well, it's a long series, so maybe it takes him a while to warm up. ( )

A favorite of mine. Need to re-read. ( )