I have had a few encounters with The Culture now. I started with The Algebraist, which managed to put me off very quickly with all the oddly named, oddly titled personages all over the place. A voice in my head told me to have another go, so I bought Matter which is excellent. I had several hours in Frankfurt airport with nothing to do and consumed Matter almost whole.

Next came Consider Phlebas which made my head hurt, goes on forever and has the curious distinction of being the only book to bring me near to vomiting. I suspect those who have read it will know the section I mean. Under normal circumstances that would have menat a parting of the ways with the Culture, but I had bought The Player of Games so on I plodded.

TPoG is the easiest read of the Culture books so far. The characters are well drawn, although one inherent problem with the Culture is that the people are all so very smug. They live in a perfect society that has everything, so one can't blame them I suppose, but it is difficult to give a damn about them. Also, I find Banks can get a bit carried away with all the 'she changed into a man, had a baby, changed back, decided to be a space explorer for a bit then invented cold fusion after lunch' stuff. We get that the Culture has lots of cool stuff and being reminded so often can get dull.

That said, the basic plot is good and well paced (if vaguely reminiscent of a classic Star Trek episode - maybe not one specific one, just a general feel). The story moves on and has much more focus and direction than Consider Phlebas. Others have noted that some apprarently significant scenes are forgotten about - why no follow up on the sex scam? - but that's forgivable when the ideas come as fast as Banks's do.

Someone called this a master class in leading the reader to an unexpected conclusion. Sorry, but I saw the conclusion coming from 100 pages off. That said, I enjoyed reading it and have recommended it to friends.

Player of Games is well written but not without flaws. The beginning is very strong with a unique setting. Once the games start, I slowly got bored. The main character Gurgeh didn't convince me, I often felt lost and didn't understand his motivations. Events that should have had an impact were simply washed aside. The game itself also had not big appeal to me so the overall impression is rather poor. There is much pontential but unfortunately not used. Or maybe it's just me. ( )

Player of Games is well written but not without flaws. The beginning is very strong with a unique setting. Once the games start, I slowly got bored. The main character Gurgeh didn't convince me, I often felt lost and didn't understand his motivations. Events that should have had an impact were simply washed aside. The game itself also had not big appeal to me so the overall impression is rather poor. There is much pontential but unfortunately not used. Or maybe it's just me. ( )

The Player of Games is the second Culture novel, and came recommended to as being better that the first (Consider Phlebas). I would have to agree. Our lead character here is a player of games, and this is what he does for a living. He is kind of bored with this life, and due to circumstances takes up a job to play a game that rules a word.

The descriptions are great, and you can really get into the world that Iain M. Banks has created. It is a very detailed world, and a great story that takes place in it. ( )

This is one of the two best books I've read so far this year, and I doubt it will be dethroned.

The Culture, from which the main character springs, is easy for a science fiction reader to identify with: technologically advanced, socially progressive, inventive and aesthetically pleasing. But it's hard not to see some reflection of our own Earth in the 'barbaric' Empire that the Culture's Player of Games visits. Some of his pecularities, Culturally speaking, make the protagonist seem a bit more like a man of our world and time than of his own. Those ambiguities and similarities are richly plumbed. I found my liking or disliking for the nuanced characters was seldom allowed to set firm, which added to the tension and played off the themes of the book.

The book's slowly building plot is engrossing, the concepts fascinating and epic. It has some cogent yet wildly imaginative settings and intriguing bits of worldbuilding that hint at insights into power, society and politics. It leaves much of this unsaid and unpacked, the plot central and the themes gathered tightly around it. In short, it's beautifully crafted. One of the things I admire about it most is the way it uses language, from the first, to demonstrate attitudes and ways of thinking. An artificial intelligence's tiny physical body is not small enough to fit in your hands, it's small enough to hide in your hands. It is after all not an object, but an entity, sentient and independent-willed. Tiny notes like this are hit throughout the narrative, illustrating the power of language to shape thought before the plot ever touches on that power. It's elegant, challenging, and entertaining. ( )