The Player of Games (The Culture)
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In The Player of Games, Iain M. Banks presents a distant future that could almost be called the end of history. Humanity has filled the galaxy, and thanks to ultra-high technology everyone has everything they want, no one gets sick, and no one dies. It's a playground society of sports, stellar cruises, parties, and festivals. Jernau Gurgeh, a famed master game player, is looking for something more and finds it when he's invited to a game tournament at a small alien empire. Abruptly Banks veers into different territory. The Empire of Azad is exotic, sensual and vibrant. It has space battle cruisers, a glowing court-- all the stuff of good old science fiction--which appears old-fashioned in contrast to Gurgeh's home. At first it's a relief, but further exploration reveals the empire to be depraved and terrifically unjust. Its defects are gross exaggerations of our own, yet they indict us all the same. Clearly Banks is interested in the idea of a future where everyone can be mature and happy. Yet it's interesting to note that in order to give us this compelling adventure story, he has to return to a more traditional setting. Thoughtful science fiction readers will appreciate the cultural comparisons, and fans of big ideas and action will also be rewarded. -- Brooks Peck
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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** 'Few of us have been exposed to a talent so manifest and of such extraordinary breadth' THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF SCIENCE FICTION ** 'Poetic, humorous, baffling, terrifying, sexy - the books of Iain M. Banks are all these things and more' NME ** 'All his [Banks] books are lively and entertaining. They are laced with a wry humour, fascinating characters and inspired plots. THE PLAYER OF GAMES, I am pleased to say is no exception.' STARBURST
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not a book for purists (Iain Banks or Sci Fi). This is the most Culture-d(imho) of Banks' books. All the amusing ship names and foul mouthed witty droids are here, plus excellent alien races and sly and not so sly reference to modern popular culture. There are some great themes about boredom, cheating, redemption and the glory of untamed cultures with primaeval urges and how attractive that can be. The Culture does not come out of this one unscathed; but the rationale for its power and success is evident.
Banks continues a theme started in Consider Phlebas about the importance of games in a society where much of the danger, and therefore excitement has been diluted by obsessive and overbearing technology - people cannot even die decently and eventually get bored and order themselves to be destroyed; it seems that immortality will eventually suck.
The visceral thrill that the protagonist feels when he realises that his entire reputation is on the line because he has cheated is relevant to how we currently live today, fairly insulated from excitement or having hygiencally cleansed experiences like bungy jumping to try and reconnect with our limbic system and some more basic pleasures like, fear, lust and anger.
If you like the Culture element of Banks' books then this is the one to read and if you like a bit of redemption and thoughtfullness then go for it!
Banks continues a theme started in Consider Phlebas about the importance of games in a society where much of the danger, and therefore excitement has been diluted by obsessive and overbearing technology - people cannot even die decently and eventually get bored and order themselves to be destroyed; it seems that immortality will eventually suck.
The visceral thrill that the protagonist feels when he realises that his entire reputation is on the line because he has cheated is relevant to how we currently live today, fairly insulated from excitement or having hygiencally cleansed experiences like bungy jumping to try and reconnect with our limbic system and some more basic pleasures like, fear, lust and anger.
If you like the Culture element of Banks' books then this is the one to read and if you like a bit of redemption and thoughtfullness then go for it!
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In "The Player Of Games", an immensely powerful but somewhat lazy and hedonistic man-machine society called the Culture plays a game against the much smaller but aggressively militaristic Empire of Azad. The Empire has as one of its key social drivers a hugely complex board game called Azad (which means Life). Successful players of Azad prosper in the Azadian society, winning promotions in the military and civil service. Every few years the society stages a major tournament at which the best Azad player becomes Emperor.
Into this milieu the Culture plays its "piece", a professional game-player called Gurgeh who has spent his entire life playing every sort of game of strategy but would probably hurt himself if he tried to use any kind of weapon. Gurgeh's attempts to compete in the Azad tournament reflect the many contrasts between the two civilisations - and also show up unexpected similarities.
This fine novel can be read in different ways. On one level, it's simply a blast - pacy, exciting, suspenseful widescreen space opera. Read it on a beach and get badly sunburnt. However, there's a lot more depth there if you want it. Banks raises a lot of interesting questions about how we set the rules of our society and how all kinds of play interact with those rules. Are cruelty and ruthlessness taught by game-play - whether in the children's playground or in multiplayer internet shoot-'em-ups - or do people's choice of games tell you about their society? Banks is a known addict of the "Civilization" series of strategy computer games, which many otherwise mild-mannered people play as brutal conquerors and commit acts which in Real Life(TM) would be war crimes. The Culture itself, of course, has gained power and stability at the expense of what one might call "soul". Most people who read this as their first Iain M novel tend to think the Culture sounds great, but on a re-read, or combined with the other novels, there are plenty of problems. The name itself is a sly joke - after all, a "culture" can mean both a human society and bacteria growing on a plate.
Finally, some reviewers have commented that the book's ending seems a little flat after the immersive, sweaty-palms roller-coaster of what comes before; I feel that Banks has perfectly captured the slight feeling of anticlimax when one finishes a particularly intense game of Civilization!
Among Banks' output, this is the easiest of the "Iain M" books to get into and one of the most enjoyable of all his novels. Intelligent, gripping science fiction with a literary edge - warmly recommended.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Shifting between lives that mirror games, games that control lives, with confusion between reality, gameplay, and subterfuge, The Player of Games is a truly splendid novel. The story expands (along with Gurgeh's horizons) as homely Chiark is left far behind en route to play the Game, but the full stream of the narrative (and Banks' frankly mind-boggling imagination) really switches on when he reaches Azad.
A fantastic and deeply realised, well-characterised story. Beats me what the negative reviewers have been reading.
A fantastic and deeply realised, well-characterised story. Beats me what the negative reviewers have been reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Still the best Culture Novel
One of the very few novels that I have reread, this is still for me the best Culture book. Not as complex as the multi-stranded novels that Mr M. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Andy
A big surprise!
A friend bought me this book for my birthday, telling me that it was unputdownable. The only book I'd read by this author was The Wasp Factory which I hated, so I was in no hurry... Read more
Published 2 months ago by The Book Nut
Dragging affair
I finally finished this book, but I did it out of obligation and hoping that, perhaps, the ending could save a very boring journey through extremely vague games (with extremely... Read more
Published 2 months ago by gbyron
Classic Banks
Having read a number of Iain's Culture titles I wanted the pleasure of not only refreshing my memory but also embarking o nt he adventure again a number of years after the original... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog
Yet another winner from Iain M Banks
Having read all the novels published under
Iain Banks, I embarked upon the SF books
starting with 'Consider Phlebas'. Read more
Iain Banks, I embarked upon the SF books
starting with 'Consider Phlebas'. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. D. J. Harding
Interesting read as always
I have only read one other book by Ian Banks and that was the Wasp Factory which I loved. This one I picked up in the airport after having read the back cover. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Dash Selvaratnam
A slightly bored game
The central premise of this novel; that a game plays an integral part in the running of an entire culture, is an interesting one. Read more
Published 5 months ago by sft
Boring
Persevered with this for about half of the book and then gave up. Boring descriptions of games, little or no plot line to speak of and spent far too long getting to what presumably... Read more
Published 9 months ago by gadgetslave
Falls Flat
If there is one thing that invariably takes precedence in Jernau Gurgeh's life it's game-playing. As the protagonist of The Player of Games this does not make him very compelling... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jason
good sci-fi reading
I liked this book, although end of the story could have been better developer (emperor being very good player should have thought of more effective ways to oppose Culture)
Published 10 months ago by S. Kravchenko
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