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This guy deserves it. The Culture series is a fantastic work, I wish he could have finished it (he stated last year that he figured around 3 or 4 more books wo

This guy deserves it. The Culture series is a fantastic work, I wish he could have finished it (he stated last year that he figured around 3 or 4 more books would cap the series). And, while I loved the Culture series, his other sci-fi was often as good, or better. If you love sci-fi, and for some reason you haven't heard of this guy, do yourself a favor and read a couple of his books.

stormbrew 13y ago
What I love most about his work is that I think he really managed to nail down one of the original concepts of Star Trek in a way that actually worked without neutering the element of conflict entirely (a problem Roddenberry ran into head long): The post-scarcity space-faring society.
- wildwood 13y ago
  Agreed. One of the things I liked best about Matter was how it took all of Star Trek's hand-wringing about "first contact" and turned it on its head - there were right and wrong ways to initiate contact with a primitive culture, but it wasn't a big deal, all in all.
keenerd 13y ago
Though if you prefer hard sci-fi to space opera, skip Culture and start with The Algebrist. I can't pin down why, but it was a much more enjoyable read and has a higher density of parts that make you think.
- signa11 13y ago
  hmm, i like 'Excession'and 'Use Of Weapons' the best among culture series....
- Angostura 13y ago
  Interesting, I thought The Alebrist was one of his weaker efforts and really needed a strong editor to come along and say "Now then Iain, we need to lose about 100 pages."
  - keenerd 13y ago
    A lot happens in the book and it explores a large number of interesting ideas. Sure it is long, but every part fits well together. As a result the universe feels more fleshed out and cohesive than the Culture books, and this is something I look for in sci-fi. I've read every Culture book twice, and don't really have any desire to read them again, at least not for quite a while. The Algebrist I've read four times now and each re-reading finds something new. What would you cut?
wtracy 13y ago
What book(s) would you recommend starting with?
- codeulike 13y ago
  Use of Weapons, Player of Games or Excession. The fairly recent Surface Detail was also pretty good, although somewhat horrific in that it deals with the idea of virtual reality hells.
  - Angostura 13y ago
    My Wife just read SD on holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it, liking the characters. I'm pretty sure that it's her first Culture Novel.
- GFischer 13y ago
  I started with "Consider Phlebas" after a suggestion here on HN (that I read Iain Banks), and I don't recommend it as the starting book, it was bit of a letdown (though it's an ok book). I'm now reading "Player of Games" and it's far better, though maybe the introduction to the "Culture" universe was worth reading the first book. It seems "Use of Weapons" is the best one, I haven't read it yet.
- Bishizel 13y ago
  I would highly recommend the first three books he wrote in the Culture Series. Consider Phlebas, A Player of Games, and Use of Weapons. I enjoyed all of the series, but these three really made me realize how amazing the author and the concept of his universe really was. Consider Phlebas is told from the point of view of someone who despises the Culture, which, as an introduction to the series, provides a really unique viewpoint both within the book, and is also generally an interesting literary tool. A Player of Games is my absolute favorite. I've given copies of this to several friends. It addresses the human problem of what does one do with themselves in a post scarcity existence, especially when advanced AI can just run and do everything. Outside of the Culture series, I also highly recommend the Algebraist and Feersum Endjinn (sp?). edit: I forgot to include "Against a Dark Background" in the outside Culture series recommendations. I've read that one a few times, it's quite good. At one point there was talk about making it into a movie, but I haven't heard anything about that in awhile.
Tloewald 13y ago
I think the Culture really only needed one more book, but he'd failed to write it twice: how does the Culture resolve a conflict with a roughly equivalent civilization (two of his last three Culture books tried to address this and kind of lost the plot)? We see the Culture dealing with much weaker civilizations in many stories, notably Use of Weapons. Consider Phlebas, Player of Games, and others are about the Culture dealing with significantly weaker civilizations. Excession is about a far superior civilization. Anyway, I'm still very sad he's gone.

stormbrew 13y ago

What I love most about his work is that I think he really managed to nail down one of the original concepts of Star Trek in a way that actually worked without neutering the element of conflict entirely (a problem Roddenberry ran into head long): The post-scarcity space-faring society.

wildwood 13y ago
Agreed. One of the things I liked best about Matter was how it took all of Star Trek's hand-wringing about "first contact" and turned it on its head - there were right and wrong ways to initiate contact with a primitive culture, but it wasn't a big deal, all in all.

keenerd 13y ago

Though if you prefer hard sci-fi to space opera, skip Culture and start with The Algebrist. I can't pin down why, but it was a much more enjoyable read and has a higher density of parts that make you think.

signa11 13y ago
hmm, i like 'Excession'and 'Use Of Weapons' the best among culture series....
Angostura 13y ago
Interesting, I thought The Alebrist was one of his weaker efforts and really needed a strong editor to come along and say "Now then Iain, we need to lose about 100 pages."
- keenerd 13y ago
  A lot happens in the book and it explores a large number of interesting ideas. Sure it is long, but every part fits well together. As a result the universe feels more fleshed out and cohesive than the Culture books, and this is something I look for in sci-fi. I've read every Culture book twice, and don't really have any desire to read them again, at least not for quite a while. The Algebrist I've read four times now and each re-reading finds something new. What would you cut?

wtracy 13y ago

What book(s) would you recommend starting with?

codeulike 13y ago
Use of Weapons, Player of Games or Excession. The fairly recent Surface Detail was also pretty good, although somewhat horrific in that it deals with the idea of virtual reality hells.
- Angostura 13y ago
  My Wife just read SD on holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it, liking the characters. I'm pretty sure that it's her first Culture Novel.
GFischer 13y ago
I started with "Consider Phlebas" after a suggestion here on HN (that I read Iain Banks), and I don't recommend it as the starting book, it was bit of a letdown (though it's an ok book). I'm now reading "Player of Games" and it's far better, though maybe the introduction to the "Culture" universe was worth reading the first book. It seems "Use of Weapons" is the best one, I haven't read it yet.
Bishizel 13y ago
I would highly recommend the first three books he wrote in the Culture Series. Consider Phlebas, A Player of Games, and Use of Weapons. I enjoyed all of the series, but these three really made me realize how amazing the author and the concept of his universe really was. Consider Phlebas is told from the point of view of someone who despises the Culture, which, as an introduction to the series, provides a really unique viewpoint both within the book, and is also generally an interesting literary tool. A Player of Games is my absolute favorite. I've given copies of this to several friends. It addresses the human problem of what does one do with themselves in a post scarcity existence, especially when advanced AI can just run and do everything. Outside of the Culture series, I also highly recommend the Algebraist and Feersum Endjinn (sp?). edit: I forgot to include "Against a Dark Background" in the outside Culture series recommendations. I've read that one a few times, it's quite good. At one point there was talk about making it into a movie, but I haven't heard anything about that in awhile.

Tloewald 13y ago

I think the Culture really only needed one more book, but he'd failed to write it twice: how does the Culture resolve a conflict with a roughly equivalent civilization (two of his last three Culture books tried to address this and kind of lost the plot)? We see the Culture dealing with much weaker civilizations in many stories, notably Use of Weapons. Consider Phlebas, Player of Games, and others are about the Culture dealing with significantly weaker civilizations. Excession is about a far superior civilization. Anyway, I'm still very sad he's gone.