Consider Phlebas

From Library Journal In the midst of a war between two galactic empires, a shapechanging agent of the Iridans undertakes a clandestine mission to a forbidden planet in search of an intelligent, fugitive machine whose actions could alter the course of the conflict. Banks ( Walking on Glass ) demonstrates a talent for suspense in a new wave sf novel that should appeal to fans of space adventure. For large sf collections. JC Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review ‘Banks is a phenomenon: the wildly successful, fearlessly creative author of brilliant and disturbing non-genre novels, he's equally at home writing pure science fiction of a peculiarly gnarly energy and elegance' William Gibson ‘There is now no British SF writer to whose work I look forward with greater keenness' The Times ‘Poetic, humorous, baffling, terrifying, sexy - the books of Iain M. Banks are all these things and more' NME

I’m certainly considering Phlebas. There was a lot of action in this book, and though some of it got densely descriptive and confusing, it was still intense. Banks bends the third-person limited perspective in really interesting ways and starts breaking the rules of his prose to create tension or mystery in a very cool way. Story was very intentionally bleak, done well. Feels like I would need to read it again to truly appreciate it, but I think Horza is a fascinating and complex character.

I was torn between giving 3 or 4 stars. It's a good book with solid world-building (with enough left for the reader to figure out between the lines) and a decent plot. However, I felt the characters were a bit weak, with really weak motivations behind their actions. For presumably galactic civilisations, you would assume there would be a bit more nuance behind their actions, but that wasn't the case.

That said, I gave 4 stars not because of that but rather because the ending happened way too quickly, and it wasn't clear to me what the crescendo in the last 1/3rd of the book was building towards. Overall, a great book and my opinion might change once I finish the whole series.

Skotlantilainen kirjailija Iain M. Banks (1954–2013) tunnettiin scifikirjallisuuden puolella Kulttuuri-kirjoistaan. Ensimmäinen niistä on Muista Flebasta, Consider Flebas, joka ilmestyi vuonna 1987. Merkittävä tieteiskirjallisuuden suomentaja Loki-kirjat julkaisi Ville Keynäsin suomennoksen romaanista vuonna 1993.    Loki-kirjat lopetti toimintansa vuonna 2007, mutta sen perustaja Niko Aula on sittemmin perustanut uuden kustantamon Aula & Co:n. Nyt Aula palaa Iain M. Banksin pariin: Aula & Co julkaisi komean uuden kovakantisen painoksen Muista Flebasta-teoksesta 30 vuotta ensisuomennoksen jälkeen. Kirja on sama Ville Keynäsin suomennos, mutta se on tarkistettu.    Muista Flebasta on tyyliltään uutta avaruusoopperaa. Wikipedia luonnehtii, että genren pääpaino on avaruussodissa, joissa on melodramatiikkaa, riskejä ottavia avaruussseikkailuja, ihmissuhteita ja ritariromantiikkaa. Tarinoissa on kehittynyttä teknologiaa, galaktisia imperiumeja ja tähtienvälisiä sotia. Kuvaus istuu tähän kirjaan hienosti, melkein jokaiseen kohtaan saa vetää rastin ruutuun.    Tämän yksilöistä kertovan tarinan taustalla on nimittäin galaktisten imperiumien välinen sota. Siinä vastakkain ovat olemassaoloaan oikeuttava Kulttuuri ja uskontonsa puolesta sotivat idiriläiset. Sota on vahvasti periaatekysymys molemmille puolille. Sodan keskellä on Bora Horza Gobuchal, joka on muuttuja: harvalukuisen lajin edustaja, jonka erikoiskykynä on muuttaa ulkonäköään ja olomuotoaan. Hän on idiriläisten puolella, koska ei voi sietää sitä, miten Kulttuuri on tekoälyjen ja koneiden hallitsema.    Hän saa idiriläisiltä tehtävän: hänen täytyy käydä keräämässä talteen suljetulle kuolleiden planeetalle paennut Kulttuurin tekoäly. Planeetalle on pääsy kielletty, mutta Horza on ollut siellä ennenkin, joten hän voi päästä sinne uudestaan. Kulttuurikin haluaa luonnollisesti tekoälynsä takaisin, joten tehtävä ei ole missään nimessä yksinkertainen.    Kuten avaruusoopperan henkeen kuuluu, Horza joutuu tehtäväänsä suorittaessaan moninaisiin vaikeuksiin. Hengenvaarallisia vastoinkäymisiä riittää, mutta kunnon toimintasankarina Horza selviää kaikista vaaroista kuin ihmeen kaupalla. Mutta onko siitä mitään hyötyä? Kirjan lopussa Banks kuvailee sodan kulkua tietosanakirjamaiseen tapaan ja lukija voi pohtia, mitä Horza toimet saavuttivat. Banks on Wikipedian mukaan haastattelussa kertonut kirjan olevan jonkinlainen reaktio scifikliseeseen yksinäisestä sankarista, joka toimillaan ohjailee kokonaisten sivilisaatioiden suuntaa. Sellainenhan on todellisuudessa lähes mahdotonta.    Muista Flebasta on yli 30-vuotiaaksi kirjaksi edelleen oikein toimiva. Sen scifi-ideat eivät ole vanhentuneet oikeastaan mihinkään. Banks kirjoitti niin kauas tulevaisuuteen ja niin villillä mielikuvituksella, että Muista Flebasta ei ole teknologisesti höpsö. Se maalailee päinvastoin kiehtovan maailman, täynnä kaikenlaista jännittävää. Vähän raskaanpuoleinen kirja kyllä on – tämä kovakantinen painos on 573-sivuinen, joten luettavaa riittää. Juonen käänteet alkavat paikoin hieman väsyttää, kun Horza joutuu tiukasta paikasta toiseen. Parhaimmillaan teos kiitää kuitenkin hienosti ja Scharin Maailman tunneleissa tapahtuva loppuhuipennus on jännittävä.    Muista Flebasta on siis yhä elinvoimainen klassikko ja on arvokasta, että siitä on vihdoin ja viimein saatu uusi suomenkielinen painos. Aula & Co on jo julkistanut syksyllä ilmestyvän uuden painoksen Pelaajasta. Saapa nähdä, jatkuuko julkaisusarja ja saadaanko kaikista Loki-kirjojen julkaisemista Bankseista uudet suomennokset: listalla olisivat myös Tähystä tuulenpuolta, Aseiden käyttö ja Algebraisti. Näiden lisäksi Gummerus on julkaissut Pintakuvion vuonna 2012. Muita Banksin scifi-romaaneja ei ole suomennettu, eli jos kirjat käyvät kaupaksi, kenties ne loputkin vielä saadaan suomeksi.    Iain Banks kirjoitti myös valtavirtakirjallisuutta nimellä Iain Banks eli ilman M.-nimikirjainta. Niistäkään ei ole suomennettu kuin muutama: WSOY julkaisi läpimurtoteoksen Ampiaistehdas jo 1986, Loki-kirjat julkaisi Kävelyä lasilla 1997, Crow Roadin käsikirjoituksen 1998 ja Syyllisyyden 2002. Gummerukselta tuli Siirtymä vuonna 2013 Pintakuvion seuraksi. 

80% action 20% sci-fi.

Oscillates in tone between goofy and grim in a way enjoyed.

It's quite violent. I wanted to learn more about the Idirans and the Culture and was a bit disappointed by how much of this novel is just adventure as opposed to sci-fi but I'm intrigued enough to investigate other titles in the series.

Interesting universe. Somewhat boring and pointless story. Some things thrown in for shock value that add little to the story. I'm 50/50 to read more Culture books. Player of Games and Use of Weapons are supposed to be far better books, so maybe.

Nice war you've got there
sneaky people on both sides
don't get too attached.

As I write this I've finished Player of Games, and I can say that this book has done its job of setting up what I expect are the core philosophical questions of the series, but I don't feel as though enough attention was given to the narrative of this specific entry. Characters feel flat, motivations are written out and grappled with but there's no catharsis, I didn't come away feeling as though I understood what the point was.

This is my introduction to The Culture, a far in the future symbiosis of human and intelligent machine, an ever expanding post-scarcity anarchist utopian society. I enjoyed this book, it's a fast paced pan-galactic heist that does a good job of introducing its larger world. I felt like I was reading a sci-fi adaptation of The Mummy. Our main character is a “changer” shapeshifter on a mission from his alien overlords, he gets his ass kicked six ways from Sunday as he and his makeshift crew galivant disastrously across temples and desolate ruins. No one safe, nothing is sacred, and the author isn't afraid to build up a trope just to yank the rug out from under us.

I came away positive on the series, but this book is a freshman effort; The female characters might as well be cardboard cut-outs and the rest of the cast has zero agency which is weird since the MC doesn't start running the show until nearly the half-way point. At certain points in the story MC himself appears to be railroaded into the narrative, and for all the political philosophy and high minded rhetoric of the warring factions, the character's motivations aren't explored in a meaningful way.

The first novel in the Culture series, Consider Phlebas' protagonist is an enemy of the Culture, an Idiran spy. His mission is to retrieve a Culture mind (a sentient machine) that evaded Idiran capture. The real beauty of this novel (beyond the exquisitely layered language, worldbuilding and plot) is that it sets up the reader to view the Culture as a questionable force in the universe, while all the other novels in the series have Culture protagonists! From the get-go to the very end, I found myself disliking the Culture, and yet fascinated by Banks' world. I'll definitely be purchasing the other novels in the series. Cannot recommend enough.

Cela faisait un moment que je voulais lire le cycle de la Culture de Iain M. Banks et je me suis enfin décidé à m'y mettre. Je ne sais pas si je dois me réjouir d'avoir autant attendu ou regretter de ne pas l'avoir fait plus tôt, tout est-il que le premier roman du cycle m'a beaucoup plu.

Le récit est rythmé et finalement assez classique. On s'attache énormément aux personnages et on suit avec plaisir leurs aventures et mésaventures. Surtout, l'univers est original, on pressent une grande richesse à explorer dans la suite du cycle. C'est de la science-fiction inventive et intelligente, tout ce que j'aime.

Rough.

The style was the worst part. I couldn't visualize anything Banks described, even though he spends literally paragraphs describing the most mundane thing. I could just be a bad reader. Or maybe British English is just too much for my feeble American mind to handle. Either way, God was I bored at many points in this book.

Nearly just as bad is the false marketing of this book. It's not sci-fi, it's action with sci-fi elements. I've seen other reviews claiming Banks's later books are better in this regard, so I'll read The Player of Games at some point.

I rated this book 3 stars for the “sci-fi elements.” It is really imaginative, at the end of the day. I always adore deep lore in books (Foundation and Hyperion were great series for this reason), and I can tell there's a lot to look forward to with the Culture series.

Also, either I serverely under-analyzed, or this book is really superficial. Foundation and Hyperion are deeply philosophical and have brilliant novelties. Consider Phlebas felt like a book made for social media: looks amazing on the surface, but lacks any sort of depth. That might just be a preference, but books that have something to say about today are always appreciated more for me.

I really enjoyed elements of this book, the world building and sense of adventure, really really good. Unfortunately I also disliked large parts of it, mainly the hard sci fi tech stuff, just a bit too much of “look at my big shiny laser with extra throbbing bits” for me.

The book had moments that were really good and interesting but then I would lose interest in other parts. Might be I just didn't have the attention span for this book at this time. It was interesting in that the main character could change his appearance.

Not a series I'll be continuing with. A friend said this book read like a series of short stories strung together and I agree. I can do without the island side story in particular. I did hear “Consider phlebas” towards the end but it went by so fast that I have no idea how the title relates to the story.

Still good decades later.
This story is heavy on action with short interludes. It is really just one damned thing after another. The characters get quite a workout and the body count is high.
Banks also includes a lot of cool world building and far-out tech speculation.
Solid 4 stars.

At first, I was pretty into this book. I liked the concept of Changers and the back and forth between Horza and Balveda, but as the book went on, I just wound up seeing more and more of the trope that ruin “classic” sci-fi for me. From the gruesome cannibal cult to the constant fridging of women in the protagonist's sphere to the general unlikeablity of the protagonist himself, this book just lost me.

The absolute worst though was when Yalson reveals her pregnancy to Horza and promptly offers to have or abort the baby on his whim. You know a book is written by a dude when... And of course the pregnancy only exists to fuel Horza's rage further when she gets killed.

I read this for book club, but it was first recommended to me by a guy I was chatting with online who then went crazy stalker, flooding my messengers with hundreds of repetitive, creepy things when I failed to respond to him instantly, so I had a bit of a bad taste in my mouth for it before I read it. That said, other than Balveda, I just couldn't find much to enjoy in this one.

This was interesting. It reminded me a bit of Hyperion and a bit like Rendezvous with Rama in that it felt like several vastly different scenarios and stories within a single science fiction narrative and included a bit of an exploration of a strange environment with imaginative world-building. A medieval dungeon, an island of cannibals, a high-stakes casino, a heist or two, a rag-tag crew, etc.

While I won't say it is stellar or on the level of Hyperion (which is one of my all-time favorites) I did enjoy it and there were several times I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. There were also a few times of “get on with it” which knocks it down a star for me.

One thing I enjoyed was the personality that was put into the various races and settings. Changers in general and Horza specifically, Yalson, Balveda. Also Schar's World, orbitals, Minds. I liked the imagination.

This is my first foray into the Culture series, and I look forward to exploring it more.

Utopia at War

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This is the first installment of Iain Banks Culture series.

I was blown away by it as a diamond in the “Space Opera” exhibit.

First, we have alien civilizations. In this case, the main alien civilization is the “human” civilization of the Culture. I put “human” in quotes because I am not sure that they are human, at all. They act as humans, i.e., the good guys, but Banks never identifies them as human and the Culture appears to be an egalitarian melange so it isn't clear.

The Culture is clearly a hyper-advanced socialist system encompassing a large part of the galaxy. Society is largely run by artificial intelligences. Humans are not excluded from the system, but, clearly, society is too complex for mere human intelligence. In addition, artificial intelligences are incorporated into society as independent beings in their own right.

The Culture is wealthy enough to have solved most problems of existence for its inhabitants. This seems to leave the inhabitants with something of an ennui issue. We might call them “decadent” but Banks presents them as the lucky inhabitants of a culture that Marx dreamt of.

There is still ambition among some and they become explorers, pirates, mercenaries, etc. at the fringe among the non-Culture worlds (which it is understood that the Culture will eventually incorporate and enlighten.)

The plot of the story involves a war with an alien species. This alien species is not enlightened and not quite as technologically advanced. The Culture needs to time to repurpose its enlightened, peaceful systems to a war footing. In the meantime, the war will be handled by “Special Circumstance,” which acts in part as the Culture's intelligence and Special Operations Executive.

Second, there is the magnificence of concepts that is typical of Space Opera. The Culture mostly resides on specially created objects (“Orbitals.”) In this case, there is something that is not exactly a ringworld but is flat and constitutes a huge flat ocean on which ocean liners endlessly tour. It is the kind of off-hand extravagance that one would expect from a wealthy, somewhat decadent civilization.

Third, there is the action/adventure of the plot. In this case, the plot involves a race to get to a marooned AI which has important information. The reader watches as a crew of fringe pirates battle against the agents of the enemy to get to the AI. I was surprised at how much action there was in a book whose background was a decadent socialist utopia.

Banks' “The Culture” series has a good reputation. I was impressed with this opening book.

I can see why some people love this, but it really wasn't for me.

Not sure what to think of this book except I probably won't be reading anymore of this series. I skipped through a lot of paragraphs as the author was a bit verbose for me. The premise of the conflict was interesting but that's about it. And I never was fully drawn into it. There were some comedic points with the machine on board the ship but I was never really impressed with the main protagonist and what he stood for.

Another re-read after many years and although excellent I now feel it inferior to Player of Games. I felt I learnt a lot more about the Culture through the latter however this is a fine introduction

Pretty decent, bit slow, enjoyable world building. I was warned that this is a bad book to start the series on. They were right. I actually started with Hydrogen sonata, and lost nothing of the introduction. These books appear to be somewhat standalone.

I don't consider 3 stars a bad review. The universe created was wholly interesting and I think I will continue to read books set here but this book was a bit slow and like getting closer to the speed of light it got longer and longer toward the end of the book. Some scenes it would rush through and then the last 3rd of the book took place with hours of exposition being painstakingly described from 4 different perspectives.

It moves along at a breakneck pace, so it is engaging from that point of view. But, in the end, everybody gets killed off. Ultimately, it just seemed like a tremendous waste of time.
Started Master of Games, but gave it up about 20% of the way into it. It seemed like it was starting to head off into the weeds and I was starting not to care about the characters.

That was a really great read. Most of the book was very good with an really interesting story, interesting characters, great background and on top of that it was written really well. Parts of it were so good that couldn't really stop reading.

Other parts had a bit of a drag in it and felt disconnected from the overall ark.

Overall I highly recommend this book and I am looking forward to read more from the Culture series.