Consider Phlebas

Culture Series, Book 1

By: Iain M. Banks

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.

'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson

War rages across the galaxy. Billions have died, billions more are doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, face cold-blooded, brutal destruction. The Idirans ­fight for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles are at stake. There can be no surrender.

Within this cosmic conflict, a crucial battle of wits is waged. Deep within a fabled labyrinth, on a Planet of the Dead forbidden to mortals, lies a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans desperately seek it. It is the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, to actually ­find it - and with it their own destruction.

The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art

Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist

©1987 Iain M. Banks (P)2010 Hachette Digital

Critic reviews

'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson

Fantastic narrative but shallow plot

He has a fantastic way of paining the environment in vivid ways and with surprising detail. The plot however feels shallow in the big picture and leaves you feeling less than satisfied.

A brilliant book if ever there was one.

Breathtaking story set in an expansive, incredibly diverse and well-designed universe. Strong, well fleshed-out characters one really begins to care about. An intelligent, beautifully written story that reads more like poetry than prose. Wonderfully narrated, with each character having a consistent, distinct voice and the right intonation for every situation. What's not to love about this performance! Downloaded the second book in the series before the first one was even finished.

Geekie sci fi war story

I liked the Uniqueness and the diversity of species as well as the odd snippet of a war storyline.

Boring start but picked up pace

Didn't care much for how the book started but it got better. Main characters motivation felt really strange and some decisions were weird but cool world building

Worth Reading, but not much more

All in all the world was rich and interesting and the book touched on topics both philosophical, political, esoteric and very human. Absolutely worth a read, but not much more. Hence I rate it 3/5.

The book was a bit indulgent with the worldbuilding/exposition at the cost of character and plot. Some parts were a bit too much spectacle for the sake of spectacle (or just a thought experiment the author really wanted to put in somewhere) and did only marginally contribute to the overall narrative/theme.

The narrator was great and absolutely enhanced the experience.