Iain M Banks Culture 25th Anniversary Bo Paperback

Ian Banks is a genius author. The Culture series is akin to a more developed and modern take on the traditional space opera. Don't be alarmed by the vast number of pages; the storylines will captivate you through the encounters with strange beings, planets, species and cultures and awesome technologies. Sprinklings of dark humor here and there as well.RIP Mr. Banks!!!!

Came on time in new condition

I have read all of Iain M Banks books, and this boxset brings together the first three books in The Culture series.It is interesting to speculate that when Iain M Banks wrote these story he definitely was not thinking about a series or a trilogy,and for us Iain M Bank purists it is entertaining to see them boxed up in this way, because in all honesty, Iain M Banks only ever wrote stand alone novels.My point being that this is not a trilogy, you don't have to read the books in any particular order, and you can read one and never read the other two or vice versa.To recap The ten books of the Culture are: Consider Phlebas, 1987; The Player of Games,1988; Use of Weapons, 1990; The State of the Art, 1991; Excession, 1996; Inversions, 1998; Look to Windward,2000; Matter,2008; Surface Detail, 2010; The Hydrogen Sonata, 2012.To summarise each of these books:Consider Phlebas is the story of anti-hero Horza who fight against The CultureThe Player of Games is about Gurgeh a bored Culture citizen who is blackmailed into fighting a very unique kind of game war on behalf of the CultureThe State of the Art is about three siblings who from a golden childhood see their lives descend into the murder and cruelty of civil war. The Culture wants to intervene to help them but... Things are never what they seem.Personally I like the Player of Games the best. To my mind with its echoes in contemporary game culture it is the most accessible of iain M Banks texts, and I love the civilisation of Azad which has so many echoes of our own world.However once you get started on The Culture novels, once Iain M Banks voice start to speak to you, you will be hooked for life, and eternally grateful that there in fact 10 distinct novels in this series to enjoy.

Didn't like the ending on some of the books. Also, you really have to focus. It's a lot of work to read these books because there are so many made-up words for the universe Banks creates, and so many characters it's sometimes hard to figure out who the main character is until 30% or so into each book. Really good brain exercise trying to keep track of all the new words, but he creates a very interesting universe. Just wish he didn't introduce so many new made-up words to keep track of. I read these books, but won't be buying anymore because I didn't' like the ending of a few.

From order to delivery was 4.5 weeks, and right out of the shipping box, the book cover box was scuffed & torn in several places (see photo). Not a big deal though. I bought the books, which are in good condition, to read rather than to collect. I suppose the cover did its job. The delay seems to be, in part, because the books were printed in the UK & shipped to the United States.

Five stars to Player of Games, four stars each to the other two books. Consider Phlebas could be made into a good action movie.

The first book, "Phlebus" was somewhere between fine and good. At least it took place in what passed for occurring in a galaxy and a timeframe distant from today. The second book, "A player of games" was again mostly sci-fi-like but it was also somewhere between unimaginative and tedious. The third book," the use of weapons" was flat out disappointing. Except for a few scenes, with a little editing, it could have been a book about a hypothetical war setting from either WW1 or WW2. The few scenarios that reference light year travel, advanced genetics, etc. were almost superfluous and I felt they were inserted to remind the reader that this is supposed to be a sci-fi novel. I will admit a few scenes made me laugh because I found them funny but others were laughable because they were so out of place. My bottom line is I plan to return the set to Amazon if I can, take the enormous hit on the purchase, and start chasing down some other quality stuff from the likes of A. C. Clarke, et al.