A book of two halves - but not cliché, 14 Nov 2008
For the first time in the Iain M. Banks Culture canon, I found myself more interested in the non-Culture, low-tech society existing within a high-tech, alien-built and controlled world. The Sursamen serf and turf-wars, power grabbing and palace intrigue is splendidly, richly and vividly written.
The various journeys, both metaphorically and literally of the main characters, with their speeches and inner thoughts are beautifully realised and realistically human-type-like.
It is almost with regret I found the Culture intervention approximately halfway through to be the start of a slight decline in the story-telling and imagination of the book. With such high-tech, invincibility (however close to final jeopardy they come in the end) it is almost, I repeat almost, a too rapid deus ex machina conclusion wrung from what seems to have been Banks' final threadbare cloth of boredom.
However, to give an example of the wonderful writing in the first half of Matter, how about this from the 2nd page :
'What sullen application these humans devoted to destruction' - Turminder Xuss.
Despite the criticism this is still wonderful stuff. Good science fiction and future imaginings rarely ever matched in the genre.
Just not quite as wonderful all the way through as previous favourites in the series. A pity for this reader and fan.


I'd give it 3.5 if I could, 13 Nov 2008
Not his best but a book that gradually improved with a better than average ending for Banks - something I feel he can struggle with.

I don't generally like it when he uses the fiction of old technologies cheek by jowl with The Culture for example but the characters were good and the action increasingly urgent......and I just like the whole concept of the Culture

Had to skip pages - too long, too slow. cf Lord of the Rings, 10 Nov 2008
For the record; I love Consider Fleabag (sic) and the other Culture novels (more or less), this one was far too long, for too little content of interest. The same story could have been told in, say, 200 pages. The other 360ish pages could have been used to carry the hanging threads forward (Djan, purpose of shellworlds etc).

While I often re-read books, and have shelves and shelves of books that I won't get rid of...I had to skip pages of waffle to finish it once. The story really got going at around page 490! There were FAR too many speeches and descriptions. For that, and for another common theme; too many silly names, I also failed to read the lord of the rings.

Not one I intend to re-read!


another one to make people argue. me - I loved it., 26 Oct 2008
Long, reasonably complex, various levels and themes, as I find with his books-all of which I have read- you cannot pre guess the outcome, the writing is intelligent and provokes thought. Bear in mind, most other decent writers in this genre owe a lot in my humble opinion to Banks.
Whether this is your favourite or not just remember that he sets the benchmark.

Good, great from any other author, but not quite as good as algebraist, 18 Oct 2008
After the fantastic Algebraist I had very high hopes for this Culture novel. It so nearly hit the spot, but as others have pointed out, it seemed very rushed and incomplete in the final section. After a long, slow and detailed buildup, it all went out with a satisfying bang, but somewhat prematurely. Ends were left hanging and loose. Now Banks is by no means an inexperienced lover (I mean, writer), so I can only imagine that he felt pressured to get finished. Perhaps the editor was knocking on the door, saying "keep it down in there!". Perhaps Banks just wanted to get it over and done with. It's well worth the read, but maddeningly just a little bit imperfect.

A book of two halves - but not cliché, 14 Nov 2008
For the first time in the Iain M. Banks Culture canon, I found myself more interested in the non-Culture, low-tech society existing within a high-tech, alien-built and controlled world. The Sursamen serf and turf-wars, power grabbing and palace intrigue is splendidly, richly and vividly written.
The various journeys, both metaphorically and literally of the main characters, with their speeches and inner thoughts are beautifully realised and realistically human-type-like.
It is almost with regret I found the Culture intervention approximately halfway through to be the start of a slight decline in the story-telling and imagination of the book. With such high-tech, invincibility (however close to final jeopardy they come in the end) it is almost, I repeat almost, a too rapid deus ex machina conclusion wrung from what seems to have been Banks' final threadbare cloth of boredom.
However, to give an example of the wonderful writing in the first half of Matter, how about this from the 2nd page :
'What sullen application these humans devoted to destruction' - Turminder Xuss.
Despite the criticism this is still wonderful stuff. Good science fiction and future imaginings rarely ever matched in the genre.
Just not quite as wonderful all the way through as previous favourites in the series. A pity for this reader and fan.


I'd give it 3.5 if I could, 13 Nov 2008
Not his best but a book that gradually improved with a better than average ending for Banks - something I feel he can struggle with.

I don't generally like it when he uses the fiction of old technologies cheek by jowl with The Culture for example but the characters were good and the action increasingly urgent......and I just like the whole concept of the Culture

Had to skip pages - too long, too slow. cf Lord of the Rings, 10 Nov 2008
For the record; I love Consider Fleabag (sic) and the other Culture novels (more or less), this one was far too long, for too little content of interest. The same story could have been told in, say, 200 pages. The other 360ish pages could have been used to carry the hanging threads forward (Djan, purpose of shellworlds etc).

While I often re-read books, and have shelves and shelves of books that I won't get rid of...I had to skip pages of waffle to finish it once. The story really got going at around page 490! There were FAR too many speeches and descriptions. For that, and for another common theme; too many silly names, I also failed to read the lord of the rings.

Not one I intend to re-read!


another one to make people argue. me - I loved it., 26 Oct 2008
Long, reasonably complex, various levels and themes, as I find with his books-all of which I have read- you cannot pre guess the outcome, the writing is intelligent and provokes thought. Bear in mind, most other decent writers in this genre owe a lot in my humble opinion to Banks.
Whether this is your favourite or not just remember that he sets the benchmark.

Good, great from any other author, but not quite as good as algebraist, 18 Oct 2008
After the fantastic Algebraist I had very high hopes for this Culture novel. It so nearly hit the spot, but as others have pointed out, it seemed very rushed and incomplete in the final section. After a long, slow and detailed buildup, it all went out with a satisfying bang, but somewhat prematurely. Ends were left hanging and loose. Now Banks is by no means an inexperienced lover (I mean, writer), so I can only imagine that he felt pressured to get finished. Perhaps the editor was knocking on the door, saying "keep it down in there!". Perhaps Banks just wanted to get it over and done with. It's well worth the read, but maddeningly just a little bit imperfect.

sometimes it's better not to revisit old friends, 07 Nov 2008
I loved this book, loved it, it was fantastic, the best thing I had ever read, Iain Banks was the greatest living writer........but..............

that was 16 years ago and I was but still a teenager.

Now safely in my thirties and having had my eyes opened to the big, wild, cruel world, I decided to read it again.

Was it as good as I remembered? - Well, sadly no.

Was it as shocking as I remembered? - no.

To be honest, the plot struck me as paper thin, the graphic violence a little dull and the shock ending simply not that shocking (obviously I knew the ending, but my wife read it for the first time before I re read it and she didnt find it particularly shocking either, nor did she flinch at the violence), and why didnt I notice that Banks writing style is....well, a little boring? lacking in a little bit of flair?

It probably says a lot more about the state of the world and society that this book is no longer as shocking and violent as it was once considered, than it does about the book itself.

The fact is that books like Silence of the Lambs and TV programmes like Messiah are a hell of a lot more graphic and shocking than this and have numbed society to such an extent that this book no longer stands out from the crowd of crime/thriller/horror books.

I wish I hadnt re read it, then I would still hold it dear to my heart.

Still a decent book (and probably still a great book if youre a teenager), but now, sadly, a middle of the road horror book rather than the groundbreaking gothic debut it once was.

Bug Sprayed, 19 Oct 2008
This novel apparently caused controversy when first published in 1984. Either reviewers couldn't handle its sadism and gore (because they clearly were not aware of a genre called "horror" until this book landed on their desks) or they thought Banks was a brand new Scottish voice that needed to be heard.

A teenage boy lives on a deserted island with his father, disconnected from the Scottish mainland and civil society. The boy, Frank, has an older brother locked away in a mad house, and a history of mysterious deaths in his family's past. As a narrator, he's a typical teenage boy, with obsessions of all kinds: weapons, violence, punk music and sex (or the lack of it). But can he be believed? None of the reviews I've read seem to have picked up on the general absurdities in Frank's narrative, to the point where it makes it hard to separate what is real and what is exageration, bravado. It's a shame, too, that the main plot twist in the end (and the book's original selling point) is so obvious for any modern reader used to western life. It doesn't help that Frank feels the need to explain the plot twist either, taking away the surprise's intended punch and deflating what could have been a neat slice of horror.

Black comedy at its best , 26 Sep 2008
To enjoy this book you need an appreciation of black comedy. Well written in a tongue in cheek manner and very easy to read. The 'wasp factory' of the title is a very creative invention. Worryingly though, one can easily imagine that somewhere a character like the anti-hero of the story really exists! I can see that this is a book that you either like or loathe, but those who don't like it probably didn't get the joke!



Graphically gory, but good writing, 12 Jul 2008
Full of graphically described and inventive unpleasantness, the Wasp Factory is not a pleasant read and requires a strong stomach. I couldn't bring myself to read all of it as I'm not a fan of pointless gore. However, it is well written and I've given it three stars as it would be a good read for someone who likes this sort of thing.

If you like horror films or the type of shows that feature lots of explicit gore, then you'll probably enjoy this. A reviewer describes it as the 'literary equivalent of a video nasty', which is quite an apt description. I would think it would appeal more to men than women, on the whole, and younger men in particular.

Banks is a good writer and I would read another of his books, but only if it had less of a focus on torturing small animals than this one does.

Drivel. Don't believe the hype., 20 Jun 2008
Since this book was first published I deliberately ignored the hype and didn't buy the book. Having read some of his science fiction books I thought it time to give it a go and on the strength of all the 5 star reviews finally bought it. What a disappointment. A book full of caricatures and stereotypes who meander through a "plot" that is clearly a collection of idle thoughts and drink or drug fuelled "great ideas" supposedly aimed at producing a feeling of horror in us all. From the ridiculous and improbable murders (particularly the one with the kite)to the poor renditions of OCD, autism and Asbergers Syndrome I am amazed the publishers even took it up. It might appeal to a ten year old but even they would feel let down by the pathetic attempt at a twist at the end. Awful. Avoid it unless you enjoy feeling short changed.

A book of two halves - but not cliché, 14 Nov 2008
For the first time in the Iain M. Banks Culture canon, I found myself more interested in the non-Culture, low-tech society existing within a high-tech, alien-built and controlled world. The Sursamen serf and turf-wars, power grabbing and palace intrigue is splendidly, richly and vividly written.
The various journeys, both metaphorically and literally of the main characters, with their speeches and inner thoughts are beautifully realised and realistically human-type-like.
It is almost with regret I found the Culture intervention approximately halfway through to be the start of a slight decline in the story-telling and imagination of the book. With such high-tech, invincibility (however close to final jeopardy they come in the end) it is almost, I repeat almost, a too rapid deus ex machina conclusion wrung from what seems to have been Banks' final threadbare cloth of boredom.
However, to give an example of the wonderful writing in the first half of Matter, how about this from the 2nd page :
'What sullen application these humans devoted to destruction' - Turminder Xuss.
Despite the criticism this is still wonderful stuff. Good science fiction and future imaginings rarely ever matched in the genre.
Just not quite as wonderful all the way through as previous favourites in the series. A pity for this reader and fan.


I'd give it 3.5 if I could, 13 Nov 2008
Not his best but a book that gradually improved with a better than average ending for Banks - something I feel he can struggle with.

I don't generally like it when he uses the fiction of old technologies cheek by jowl with The Culture for example but the characters were good and the action increasingly urgent......and I just like the whole concept of the Culture

Had to skip pages - too long, too slow. cf Lord of the Rings, 10 Nov 2008
For the record; I love Consider Fleabag (sic) and the other Culture novels (more or less), this one was far too long, for too little content of interest. The same story could have been told in, say, 200 pages. The other 360ish pages could have been used to carry the hanging threads forward (Djan, purpose of shellworlds etc).

While I often re-read books, and have shelves and shelves of books that I won't get rid of...I had to skip pages of waffle to finish it once. The story really got going at around page 490! There were FAR too many speeches and descriptions. For that, and for another common theme; too many silly names, I also failed to read the lord of the rings.

Not one I intend to re-read!


another one to make people argue. me - I loved it., 26 Oct 2008
Long, reasonably complex, various levels and themes, as I find with his books-all of which I have read- you cannot pre guess the outcome, the writing is intelligent and provokes thought. Bear in mind, most other decent writers in this genre owe a lot in my humble opinion to Banks.
Whether this is your favourite or not just remember that he sets the benchmark.

Good, great from any other author, but not quite as good as algebraist, 18 Oct 2008
After the fantastic Algebraist I had very high hopes for this Culture novel. It so nearly hit the spot, but as others have pointed out, it seemed very rushed and incomplete in the final section. After a long, slow and detailed buildup, it all went out with a satisfying bang, but somewhat prematurely. Ends were left hanging and loose. Now Banks is by no means an inexperienced lover (I mean, writer), so I can only imagine that he felt pressured to get finished. Perhaps the editor was knocking on the door, saying "keep it down in there!". Perhaps Banks just wanted to get it over and done with. It's well worth the read, but maddeningly just a little bit imperfect.

sometimes it's better not to revisit old friends, 07 Nov 2008
I loved this book, loved it, it was fantastic, the best thing I had ever read, Iain Banks was the greatest living writer........but..............

that was 16 years ago and I was but still a teenager.

Now safely in my thirties and having had my eyes opened to the big, wild, cruel world, I decided to read it again.

Was it as good as I remembered? - Well, sadly no.

Was it as shocking as I remembered? - no.

To be honest, the plot struck me as paper thin, the graphic violence a little dull and the shock ending simply not that shocking (obviously I knew the ending, but my wife read it for the first time before I re read it and she didnt find it particularly shocking either, nor did she flinch at the violence), and why didnt I notice that Banks writing style is....well, a little boring? lacking in a little bit of flair?

It probably says a lot more about the state of the world and society that this book is no longer as shocking and violent as it was once considered, than it does about the book itself.

The fact is that books like Silence of the Lambs and TV programmes like Messiah are a hell of a lot more graphic and shocking than this and have numbed society to such an extent that this book no longer stands out from the crowd of crime/thriller/horror books.

I wish I hadnt re read it, then I would still hold it dear to my heart.

Still a decent book (and probably still a great book if youre a teenager), but now, sadly, a middle of the road horror book rather than the groundbreaking gothic debut it once was.

Bug Sprayed, 19 Oct 2008
This novel apparently caused controversy when first published in 1984. Either reviewers couldn't handle its sadism and gore (because they clearly were not aware of a genre called "horror" until this book landed on their desks) or they thought Banks was a brand new Scottish voice that needed to be heard.

A teenage boy lives on a deserted island with his father, disconnected from the Scottish mainland and civil society. The boy, Frank, has an older brother locked away in a mad house, and a history of mysterious deaths in his family's past. As a narrator, he's a typical teenage boy, with obsessions of all kinds: weapons, violence, punk music and sex (or the lack of it). But can he be believed? None of the reviews I've read seem to have picked up on the general absurdities in Frank's narrative, to the point where it makes it hard to separate what is real and what is exageration, bravado. It's a shame, too, that the main plot twist in the end (and the book's original selling point) is so obvious for any modern reader used to western life. It doesn't help that Frank feels the need to explain the plot twist either, taking away the surprise's intended punch and deflating what could have been a neat slice of horror.

Black comedy at its best , 26 Sep 2008
To enjoy this book you need an appreciation of black comedy. Well written in a tongue in cheek manner and very easy to read. The 'wasp factory' of the title is a very creative invention. Worryingly though, one can easily imagine that somewhere a character like the anti-hero of the story really exists! I can see that this is a book that you either like or loathe, but those who don't like it probably didn't get the joke!



Graphically gory, but good writing, 12 Jul 2008
Full of graphically described and inventive unpleasantness, the Wasp Factory is not a pleasant read and requires a strong stomach. I couldn't bring myself to read all of it as I'm not a fan of pointless gore. However, it is well written and I've given it three stars as it would be a good read for someone who likes this sort of thing.

If you like horror films or the type of shows that feature lots of explicit gore, then you'll probably enjoy this. A reviewer describes it as the 'literary equivalent of a video nasty', which is quite an apt description. I would think it would appeal more to men than women, on the whole, and younger men in particular.

Banks is a good writer and I would read another of his books, but only if it had less of a focus on torturing small animals than this one does.

Drivel. Don't believe the hype., 20 Jun 2008
Since this book was first published I deliberately ignored the hype and didn't buy the book. Having read some of his science fiction books I thought it time to give it a go and on the strength of all the 5 star reviews finally bought it. What a disappointment. A book full of caricatures and stereotypes who meander through a "plot" that is clearly a collection of idle thoughts and drink or drug fuelled "great ideas" supposedly aimed at producing a feeling of horror in us all. From the ridiculous and improbable murders (particularly the one with the kite)to the poor renditions of OCD, autism and Asbergers Syndrome I am amazed the publishers even took it up. It might appeal to a ten year old but even they would feel let down by the pathetic attempt at a twist at the end. Awful. Avoid it unless you enjoy feeling short changed.

Good start...keeps getting worse and worse , 06 Nov 2008
I started reading this book and was initially very pleased with it. Mr. Banks writes extremely well, and even the fact that the first 100+ pages were quite uneventful didn't really bother me. On the contrary, the first major event - Al and Sophie being caught entertaining each other in the garden - almost bothered me, as it interrupted such uneventful, but enjoyable tranquility. At some point, though, the book takes a sudden new direction. Suddenly we discovered the protagonist has got very strong opinions about a number of issues such as global warming, the Iraqi war, American imperialism, and even corporate governance...The reader finds himself wishing that the protagonist was less outspoken. It is not clear whether the protagonist's opinions on such issues reflect the author's (which would be a bit worrying...mostly in consideration of the foaming virulence with which they are expressed) or just a consequence of some inbreeding defect, as we eventually learn the protagonist's parents were brother and sister. Overall a very disappointing book.

Going Through the Motions, 13 Oct 2008
Like many other reviewers here, I would have to say that this is not one of Banks' best efforts. We've been here before with The Crow Road - and surely there is only so much mileage to be had about tales of eccentric Scottish families with dark secrets - which is what we get again here.

At times, Banks seems to be trying almost too hard - to re-capture the spirit of youth, to make eccentric people seem funny, to make the business shenangins of a family interesting, to make young love work when the people involved are older. Sadly, it's all a bit of mess, and although the writing is always pretty good, the story clunks along and the characters - frankly - grate after a while.

Ignore the hype on the cover about this being one of Banks's best books for ages. It isn't - and a trawl through his back catalogue will reveal just how much of an also-ran this latest effort really is.

Not one of his best - but still very worthwhile, 02 Sep 2008
A British family company, the Wopulds, built its fortune on a board - then later a computer - game called Empire. Now they are considering selling it off to the Americans. This can be seen as Banks building a sort of elaborate metaphor for Britain as the faded former imperial power and the world's policeman, with that role now being taken over by the Americans.

The main character of the novel - Alban Wopuld - seems a typical Banks character, a person getting older but seemingly incapable of growing up, begins in a form of self-imposed exile from the family business, but is bought back into the bosom of his family to help decide whether they will indeed sell out to the Americans.

Alban's obsession with a brief fling with his cousin during his teenage years is another sign of his inability to let go of his idealistically naïve teenage years when it all seemed so simple to him - us against them. Alban's cousin - surely a link to the British/American special relationship where both countries regard each other and even call each other `cousins' - Sophie, eventually moves to and becomes American. Plastic surgery is hinted at as her way of becoming even more American. The more American she becomes, the wider the gap between Alban and Sophie becomes. He loved her and believed that she loved him - a sort of special relationship, indeed.

The British Empire theme is further explored by having Alban wandering the globe and fetching up in various outposts of the former Empire, especially Hong Kong.

Alban is a self-proclaimed lefty. However, one who took business studies and then the corporate shilling - an analogy of `New Labour', perhaps - working for the family firm, before resigning in a fit of moral indignation. Finally working as a lumberjack - maybe as a form of atonement - before damage to his hand forces him out of that and back to confront his family.

Alban is - of course - deeply suspicious of the Americans, the potential buyers of the family firm - and their claim to understand the `culture' of the British company/Empire and to be standing for the same civilising values that the British once claimed for themselves. For example, near the end of the novel his rather trite anti-American ranting that would be embarrassingly skipped over when come across in a Grauniad CiF comment. It is the sort of behaviour typical of the teenage/young adult rant given by middle-class students who want to adopt the pose of the left-wing radical. Alban also spouts some of the left wing always good, right wing always bad, banalities that almost - at times - turn him into the clichéd middle-class lefty.

Many of the other characters seem crudely drawn too. For example, Win, Alban's grandmother as a crude caricature of Margaret Thatcher seen through from a distorting left-wing perspective.

Maybe Alban's failure to prevent the literal `sell-out' to the American's and his empty futile and cliché-ridden diatribes against the American's are Banks' acknowledgement - consciously or unconsciously - that the Left is dead - a complete failure, as philosophically and moral bankrupt as it is politically.

The novel features some brief first person interludes, at the beginning and end, by a character called Tango with whom Alban seems to spend his time, maybe represents the society created by Alban's beloved Left in Scotland, welfare dependents existing in a drug and takeaway fuelled nihilistic squalor.

[Possible spoiler]

By the end of the book, Alban no longer lives in the squalor, sleeping on Tango's floor where we first found him. He lives off in the posh part of the town, alone, but in a vague relationship with his academic girlfriend, which is another sign of the character's inability to mature into something more substantial. The connection with Tango and his pals, has not entirely been severed, though, but Alban only occasionally visits, or is visited by Tango and his cronies (only on their best behaviour), which in the end is quite symbolic of the relationship between the remains of the Left - middle-class and insular - and the people they once purported to represent.

[End possible spoiler]

Not one of Banks' best novels, but, however, that still puts this head and shoulders above a great deal of contemporary fiction and is - I think - well worth a read - recommended.

Cousin, 16 Aug 2008
Pants.
The only thing I kept reading for was the well telegraphed "close familial relationship" between Alban & his cousin. Half way through I guessed they were half brother/sister. Mr Banks came up with a less shocking but similar relationship. Plastic characters throughout. Alban was the only one to (barely) make 3D.
Don't waste your time.

Middle of the Road on the Steep Approach..., 12 Aug 2008
Displays the range of Banks' skills - well-plotted, dialogue heavy, recurrent themes of familial taboo and the odd dose of authorial politics intruding on the fiction. Certainly held my attention and demanded to be finished (in a good way). But, ultimately, there is nothing breath-taking about The Steep Approach to Garbadale, and the analogies, metaphors and revelations all feel fairly shallow.

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

A book of two halves - but not cliché, 14 Nov 2008
For the first time in the Iain M. Banks Culture canon, I found myself more interested in the non-Culture, low-tech society existing within a high-tech, alien-built and controlled world. The Sursamen serf and turf-wars, power grabbing and palace intrigue is splendidly, richly and vividly written.
The various journeys, both metaphorically and literally of the main characters, with their speeches and inner thoughts are beautifully realised and realistically human-type-like.
It is almost with regret I found the Culture intervention approximately halfway through to be the start of a slight decline in the story-telling and imagination of the book. With such high-tech, invincibility (however close to final jeopardy they come in the end) it is almost, I repeat almost, a too rapid deus ex machina conclusion wrung from what seems to have been Banks' final threadbare cloth of boredom.
However, to give an example of the wonderful writing in the first half of Matter, how about this from the 2nd page :
'What sullen application these humans devoted to destruction' - Turminder Xuss.
Despite the criticism this is still wonderful stuff. Good science fiction and future imaginings rarely ever matched in the genre.
Just not quite as wonderful all the way through as previous favourites in the series. A pity for this reader and fan.


I'd give it 3.5 if I could, 13 Nov 2008
Not his best but a book that gradually improved with a better than average ending for Banks - something I feel he can struggle with.

I don't generally like it when he uses the fiction of old technologies cheek by jowl with The Culture for example but the characters were good and the action increasingly urgent......and I just like the whole concept of the Culture

Had to skip pages - too long, too slow. cf Lord of the Rings, 10 Nov 2008
For the record; I love Consider Fleabag (sic) and the other Culture novels (more or less), this one was far too long, for too little content of interest. The same story could have been told in, say, 200 pages. The other 360ish pages could have been used to carry the hanging threads forward (Djan, purpose of shellworlds etc).

While I often re-read books, and have shelves and shelves of books that I won't get rid of...I had to skip pages of waffle to finish it once. The story really got going at around page 490! There were FAR too many speeches and descriptions. For that, and for another common theme; too many silly names, I also failed to read the lord of the rings.

Not one I intend to re-read!


another one to make people argue. me - I loved it., 26 Oct 2008
Long, reasonably complex, various levels and themes, as I find with his books-all of which I have read- you cannot pre guess the outcome, the writing is intelligent and provokes thought. Bear in mind, most other decent writers in this genre owe a lot in my humble opinion to Banks.
Whether this is your favourite or not just remember that he sets the benchmark.

Good, great from any other author, but not quite as good as algebraist, 18 Oct 2008
After the fantastic Algebraist I had very high hopes for this Culture novel. It so nearly hit the spot, but as others have pointed out, it seemed very rushed and incomplete in the final section. After a long, slow and detailed buildup, it all went out with a satisfying bang, but somewhat prematurely. Ends were left hanging and loose. Now Banks is by no means an inexperienced lover (I mean, writer), so I can only imagine that he felt pressured to get finished. Perhaps the editor was knocking on the door, saying "keep it down in there!". Perhaps Banks just wanted to get it over and done with. It's well worth the read, but maddeningly just a little bit imperfect.

sometimes it's better not to revisit old friends, 07 Nov 2008
I loved this book, loved it, it was fantastic, the best thing I had ever read, Iain Banks was the greatest living writer........but..............

that was 16 years ago and I was but still a teenager.

Now safely in my thirties and having had my eyes opened to the big, wild, cruel world, I decided to read it again.

Was it as good as I remembered? - Well, sadly no.

Was it as shocking as I remembered? - no.

To be honest, the plot struck me as paper thin, the graphic violence a little dull and the shock ending simply not that shocking (obviously I knew the ending, but my wife read it for the first time before I re read it and she didnt find it particularly shocking either, nor did she flinch at the violence), and why didnt I notice that Banks writing style is....well, a little boring? lacking in a little bit of flair?

It probably says a lot more about the state of the world and society that this book is no longer as shocking and violent as it was once considered, than it does about the book itself.

The fact is that books like Silence of the Lambs and TV programmes like Messiah are a hell of a lot more graphic and shocking than this and have numbed society to such an extent that this book no longer stands out from the crowd of crime/thriller/horror books.

I wish I hadnt re read it, then I would still hold it dear to my heart.

Still a decent book (and probably still a great book if youre a teenager), but now, sadly, a middle of the road horror book rather than the groundbreaking gothic debut it once was.

Bug Sprayed, 19 Oct 2008
This novel apparently caused controversy when first published in 1984. Either reviewers couldn't handle its sadism and gore (because they clearly were not aware of a genre called "horror" until this book landed on their desks) or they thought Banks was a brand new Scottish voice that needed to be heard.

A teenage boy lives on a deserted island with his father, disconnected from the Scottish mainland and civil society. The boy, Frank, has an older brother locked away in a mad house, and a history of mysterious deaths in his family's past. As a narrator, he's a typical teenage boy, with obsessions of all kinds: weapons, violence, punk music and sex (or the lack of it). But can he be believed? None of the reviews I've read seem to have picked up on the general absurdities in Frank's narrative, to the point where it makes it hard to separate what is real and what is exageration, bravado. It's a shame, too, that the main plot twist in the end (and the book's original selling point) is so obvious for any modern reader used to western life. It doesn't help that Frank feels the need to explain the plot twist either, taking away the surprise's intended punch and deflating what could have been a neat slice of horror.

Black comedy at its best , 26 Sep 2008
To enjoy this book you need an appreciation of black comedy. Well written in a tongue in cheek manner and very easy to read. The 'wasp factory' of the title is a very creative invention. Worryingly though, one can easily imagine that somewhere a character like the anti-hero of the story really exists! I can see that this is a book that you either like or loathe, but those who don't like it probably didn't get the joke!



Graphically gory, but good writing, 12 Jul 2008
Full of graphically described and inventive unpleasantness, the Wasp Factory is not a pleasant read and requires a strong stomach. I couldn't bring myself to read all of it as I'm not a fan of pointless gore. However, it is well written and I've given it three stars as it would be a good read for someone who likes this sort of thing.

If you like horror films or the type of shows that feature lots of explicit gore, then you'll probably enjoy this. A reviewer describes it as the 'literary equivalent of a video nasty', which is quite an apt description. I would think it would appeal more to men than women, on the whole, and younger men in particular.

Banks is a good writer and I would read another of his books, but only if it had less of a focus on torturing small animals than this one does.

Drivel. Don't believe the hype., 20 Jun 2008
Since this book was first published I deliberately ignored the hype and didn't buy the book. Having read some of his science fiction books I thought it time to give it a go and on the strength of all the 5 star reviews finally bought it. What a disappointment. A book full of caricatures and stereotypes who meander through a "plot" that is clearly a collection of idle thoughts and drink or drug fuelled "great ideas" supposedly aimed at producing a feeling of horror in us all. From the ridiculous and improbable murders (particularly the one with the kite)to the poor renditions of OCD, autism and Asbergers Syndrome I am amazed the publishers even took it up. It might appeal to a ten year old but even they would feel let down by the pathetic attempt at a twist at the end. Awful. Avoid it unless you enjoy feeling short changed.

Good start...keeps getting worse and worse , 06 Nov 2008
I started reading this book and was initially very pleased with it. Mr. Banks writes extremely well, and even the fact that the first 100+ pages were quite uneventful didn't really bother me. On the contrary, the first major event - Al and Sophie being caught entertaining each other in the garden - almost bothered me, as it interrupted such uneventful, but enjoyable tranquility. At some point, though, the book takes a sudden new direction. Suddenly we discovered the protagonist has got very strong opinions about a number of issues such as global warming, the Iraqi war, American imperialism, and even corporate governance...The reader finds himself wishing that the protagonist was less outspoken. It is not clear whether the protagonist's opinions on such issues reflect the author's (which would be a bit worrying...mostly in consideration of the foaming virulence with which they are expressed) or just a consequence of some inbreeding defect, as we eventually learn the protagonist's parents were brother and sister. Overall a very disappointing book.

Going Through the Motions, 13 Oct 2008
Like many other reviewers here, I would have to say that this is not one of Banks' best efforts. We've been here before with The Crow Road - and surely there is only so much mileage to be had about tales of eccentric Scottish families with dark secrets - which is what we get again here.

At times, Banks seems to be trying almost too hard - to re-capture the spirit of youth, to make eccentric people seem funny, to make the business shenangins of a family interesting, to make young love work when the people involved are older. Sadly, it's all a bit of mess, and although the writing is always pretty good, the story clunks along and the characters - frankly - grate after a while.

Ignore the hype on the cover about this being one of Banks's best books for ages. It isn't - and a trawl through his back catalogue will reveal just how much of an also-ran this latest effort really is.

Not one of his best - but still very worthwhile, 02 Sep 2008
A British family company, the Wopulds, built its fortune on a board - then later a computer - game called Empire. Now they are considering selling it off to the Americans. This can be seen as Banks building a sort of elaborate metaphor for Britain as the faded former imperial power and the world's policeman, with that role now being taken over by the Americans.

The main character of the novel - Alban Wopuld - seems a typical Banks character, a person getting older but seemingly incapable of growing up, begins in a form of self-imposed exile from the family business, but is bought back into the bosom of his family to help decide whether they will indeed sell out to the Americans.

Alban's obsession with a brief fling with his cousin during his teenage years is another sign of his inability to let go of his idealistically naïve teenage years when it all seemed so simple to him - us against them. Alban's cousin - surely a link to the British/American special relationship where both countries regard each other and even call each other `cousins' - Sophie, eventually moves to and becomes American. Plastic surgery is hinted at as her way of becoming even more American. The more American she becomes, the wider the gap between Alban and Sophie becomes. He loved her and believed that she loved him - a sort of special relationship, indeed.

The British Empire theme is further explored by having Alban wandering the globe and fetching up in various outposts of the former Empire, especially Hong Kong.

Alban is a self-proclaimed lefty. However, one who took business studies and then the corporate shilling - an analogy of `New Labour', perhaps - working for the family firm, before resigning in a fit of moral indignation. Finally working as a lumberjack - maybe as a form of atonement - before damage to his hand forces him out of that and back to confront his family.

Alban is - of course - deeply suspicious of the Americans, the potential buyers of the family firm - and their claim to understand the `culture' of the British company/Empire and to be standing for the same civilising values that the British once claimed for themselves. For example, near the end of the novel his rather trite anti-American ranting that would be embarrassingly skipped over when come across in a Grauniad CiF comment. It is the sort of behaviour typical of the teenage/young adult rant given by middle-class students who want to adopt the pose of the left-wing radical. Alban also spouts some of the left wing always good, right wing always bad, banalities that almost - at times - turn him into the clichéd middle-class lefty.

Many of the other characters seem crudely drawn too. For example, Win, Alban's grandmother as a crude caricature of Margaret Thatcher seen through from a distorting left-wing perspective.

Maybe Alban's failure to prevent the literal `sell-out' to the American's and his empty futile and cliché-ridden diatribes against the American's are Banks' acknowledgement - consciously or unconsciously - that the Left is dead - a complete failure, as philosophically and moral bankrupt as it is politically.

The novel features some brief first person interludes, at the beginning and end, by a character called Tango with whom Alban seems to spend his time, maybe represents the society created by Alban's beloved Left in Scotland, welfare dependents existing in a drug and takeaway fuelled nihilistic squalor.

[Possible spoiler]

By the end of the book, Alban no longer lives in the squalor, sleeping on Tango's floor where we first found him. He lives off in the posh part of the town, alone, but in a vague relationship with his academic girlfriend, which is another sign of the character's inability to mature into something more substantial. The connection with Tango and his pals, has not entirely been severed, though, but Alban only occasionally visits, or is visited by Tango and his cronies (only on their best behaviour), which in the end is quite symbolic of the relationship between the remains of the Left - middle-class and insular - and the people they once purported to represent.

[End possible spoiler]

Not one of Banks' best novels, but, however, that still puts this head and shoulders above a great deal of contemporary fiction and is - I think - well worth a read - recommended.

Cousin, 16 Aug 2008
Pants.
The only thing I kept reading for was the well telegraphed "close familial relationship" between Alban & his cousin. Half way through I guessed they were half brother/sister. Mr Banks came up with a less shocking but similar relationship. Plastic characters throughout. Alban was the only one to (barely) make 3D.
Don't waste your time.

Middle of the Road on the Steep Approach..., 12 Aug 2008
Displays the range of Banks' skills - well-plotted, dialogue heavy, recurrent themes of familial taboo and the odd dose of authorial politics intruding on the fiction. Certainly held my attention and demanded to be finished (in a good way). But, ultimately, there is nothing breath-taking about The Steep Approach to Garbadale, and the analogies, metaphors and revelations all feel fairly shallow.

Arguably the best Culture book, 20 Jul 2008
Since Iain M Bank's series of books about 'The Culture' are such wonderful soft sci-fi this necessarily does make it a great sci-fi novel compared to any other sci-fi authors out there but also is very good compared with the author's other sci-fi work and makes (again some people may disagree) a better entry point to the series than 'Consider Phlebas' which is the first.

Living in the Culture, one basically wants for nothing. Iain M Banks has remarked that since everything is so utopian in the Culture, to get stories, things have to be set on the edge of the Culture or told about outsiders. In the Culture everything that people could want is provided for them but for the protagonist and one of the greatest games players in the entire Culture, Jernau Gurgeh - this is stifling him. Always ready to help, Contact (the society's starfleet-like arm) offer him a chance at real danger and excitement and at playing the most complex game he has ever come across. He journeys to the Kingdom of Azad to play a game so like life itself that the ultimate winner of it becomes emperor.

Exactly who though is manipulating Gurgeh? The aliens he has come to play, unwilling to let an alien beat them at their own game? Or his own people? That is a big question and is answered quite beautifully with different layers of complexity as you read through the book. Its very unlikely you'll see the final twist coming.

The game has plenty of excitement and raises questions relevant to our own culture. Superb science fiction.

Games of life and death, 20 Jul 2008
Gurgeh is The Player of Games in The Culture, a player who has won every game but who allows himself to be blackmailed and forced to travel to a distant Empire to participate in the Game of Azad, an intricate strategy game which determines the social statues and career development of the participants. As Gurgeh wins through round after round of the Game, he finds himself becoming more and more absorbed by the challenges it poses.

Like all of Banks's fiction, the depth and fertility of his imagination is stunning. His fantasy worlds are rich in texture and detail. Azad is a place where cruelty and violence are commonplace and where the superior members of the dominant classes are able to watch scenes of mutilation and torture. It is a strictly heirarchical autocracy unlike the Culture, one which struggles to accept Gurgeh and his mastery of the game.
The figure of Gurgeh himself is shadowy, an observer of the life forms around him ,concentrating only on the game itself, and on his participation in it.

This is a rich and entertaining novel, one which is beautifully written and leaves the reader with much to reflect on.

Absorbing and imaginative - a novel with many layers, 17 Jul 2008
"The Player of Games" is Iain M. Banks' second novel set in the universe of the Culture, a human-machine symbiotic society spanning most of the Galaxy. Jernau Morat Gurgeh is a master of board games - indeed he is regarded as one of the best human players the Culture has ever seen - but despite his many successes is nevertheless unable to find contentment. However, when the Culture's covert operations branch, Special Circumstances, invites him to travel to a newly-discovered empire to compete in the championships of Azad - thought to be the most intricate and complex strategy game ever devised - Gurgeh soon accepts the challenge. Because to the Empire's citizens, Azad is not just a game; it is everything, determining social and political rank - and ultimately, the man who will become Emperor. But not everyone in the Empire likes the idea of an outsider competing with them - and succeeding - at their own game...

In contrast to other books of his Culture series - such as "Excession" - "The Player of Games" is centred around the story of one character - Gurgeh. Talented and intellectual, he nonetheless remains naive in many ways about the nature both of the Culture and of the Empire and about the exact role he is playing in their relations. The existence of a main character, towards whom it is easy to feel sympathetic, ensures that a strong narrative thread is maintained throughout the book. Likewise the pacing is generally well managed; rarely is the plot allowed to drift, although the climax is unfortunately somewhat rushed.

Banks's informal, almost conversational style of writing may not be to everyone's taste, but he uses this to his advantage in this book, employing a mystery narrator whose identity is not revealed until the end. Indeed this is one of several games being played in this book: a game played by the author with his readers, which mirrors that between Gurgeh and his opponents and also that between Culture and Empire. This latter struggle is an underlying theme of the book, and one which becomes more prominent as the Empire's dark side is revealed. For though at first sight it appears exotic and colourful, it is also a society driven by sadism and violence - a stark contrast to the utopian vision that the Culture purports to be. But what is most fascinating in this book is the way in which the Culture itself comes across (for the first time in this series) as somewhat ambiguous - even lacking - with regard to its own morality.

"The Player of Games" is an absorbing and highly imaginative novel, with rich settings and fascinating characters combining to create a narrative with many layers.

Iain Banks' best 'culture' novel ever, 14 May 2008
This book is rich and immensely satisfying. It's like the perfect cup of coffee. If it was a song, it would be called Norwegian Wood. If it were a stranger it would be the most steamingly erotic person you can imagine seducing you. If it were a drink it would be called a pan-galactic gargle blaster. If it were a drug, it would illegal.

Read it before you die

Buy it!, 16 Apr 2008
Most of the reviews of this are 5 star, and rightly so. Actually I'm surprised it got any bad reviews. I reckon either this one, or Excession are his best. This one is easier to read. The other reviews say it all, so I will just advise you to buy it - I've just read it and I haven't enjoyed a book so much for ages. It really is brilliant!

A book of two halves - but not cliché, 14 Nov 2008
For the first time in the Iain M. Banks Culture canon, I found myself more interested in the non-Culture, low-tech society existing within a high-tech, alien-built and controlled world. The Sursamen serf and turf-wars, power grabbing and palace intrigue is splendidly, richly and vividly written.
The various journeys, both metaphorically and literally of the main characters, with their speeches and inner thoughts are beautifully realised and realistically human-type-like.
It is almost with regret I found the Culture intervention approximately halfway through to be the start of a slight decline in the story-telling and imagination of the book. With such high-tech, invincibility (however close to final jeopardy they come in the end) it is almost, I repeat almost, a too rapid deus ex machina conclusion wrung from what seems to have been Banks' final threadbare cloth of boredom.
However, to give an example of the wonderful writing in the first half of Matter, how about this from the 2nd page :
'What sullen application these humans devoted to destruction' - Turminder Xuss.
Despite the criticism this is still wonderful stuff. Good science fiction and future imaginings rarely ever matched in the genre.
Just not quite as wonderful all the way through as previous favourites in the series. A pity for this reader and fan.


I'd give it 3.5 if I could, 13 Nov 2008
Not his best but a book that gradually improved with a better than average ending for Banks - something I feel he can struggle with.

I don't generally like it when he uses the fiction of old technologies cheek by jowl with The Culture for example but the characters were good and the action increasingly urgent......and I just like the whole concept of the Culture

Had to skip pages - too long, too slow. cf Lord of the Rings, 10 Nov 2008
For the record; I love Consider Fleabag (sic) and the other Culture novels (more or less), this one was far too long, for too little content of interest. The same story could have been told in, say, 200 pages. The other 360ish pages could have been used to carry the hanging threads forward (Djan, purpose of shellworlds etc).

While I often re-read books, and have shelves and shelves of books that I won't get rid of...I had to skip pages of waffle to finish it once. The story really got going at around page 490! There were FAR too many speeches and descriptions. For that, and for another common theme; too many silly names, I also failed to read the lord of the rings.

Not one I intend to re-read!


another one to make people argue. me - I loved it., 26 Oct 2008
Long, reasonably complex, various levels and themes, as I find with his books-all of which I have read- you cannot pre guess the outcome, the writing is intelligent and provokes thought. Bear in mind, most other decent writers in this genre owe a lot in my humble opinion to Banks.
Whether this is your favourite or not just remember that he sets the benchmark.

Good, great from any other author, but not quite as good as algebraist, 18 Oct 2008
After the fantastic Algebraist I had very high hopes for this Culture novel. It so nearly hit the spot, but as others have pointed out, it seemed very rushed and incomplete in the final section. After a long, slow and detailed buildup, it all went out with a satisfying bang, but somewhat prematurely. Ends were left hanging and loose. Now Banks is by no means an inexperienced lover (I mean, writer), so I can only imagine that he felt pressured to get finished. Perhaps the editor was knocking on the door, saying "keep it down in there!". Perhaps Banks just wanted to get it over and done with. It's well worth the read, but maddeningly just a little bit imperfect.

sometimes it's better not to revisit old friends, 07 Nov 2008
I loved this book, loved it, it was fantastic, the best thing I had ever read, Iain Banks was the greatest living writer........but..............

that was 16 years ago and I was but still a teenager.

Now safely in my thirties and having had my eyes opened to the big, wild, cruel world, I decided to read it again.

Was it as good as I remembered? - Well, sadly no.

Was it as shocking as I remembered? - no.

To be honest, the plot struck me as paper thin, the graphic violence a little dull and the shock ending simply not that shocking (obviously I knew the ending, but my wife read it for the first time before I re read it and she didnt find it particularly shocking either, nor did she flinch at the violence), and why didnt I notice that Banks writing style is....well, a little boring? lacking in a little bit of flair?

It probably says a lot more about the state of the world and society that this book is no longer as shocking and violent as it was once considered, than it does about the book itself.

The fact is that books like Silence of the Lambs and TV programmes like Messiah are a hell of a lot more graphic and shocking than this and have numbed society to such an extent that this book no longer stands out from the crowd of crime/thriller/horror books.

I wish I hadnt re read it, then I would still hold it dear to my heart.

Still a decent book (and probably still a great book if youre a teenager), but now, sadly, a middle of the road horror book rather than the groundbreaking gothic debut it once was.

Bug Sprayed, 19 Oct 2008
This novel apparently caused controversy when first published in 1984. Either reviewers couldn't handle its sadism and gore (because they clearly were not aware of a genre called "horror" until this book landed on their desks) or they thought Banks was a brand new Scottish voice that needed to be heard.

A teenage boy lives on a deserted island with his father, disconnected from the Scottish mainland and civil society. The boy, Frank, has an older brother locked away in a mad house, and a history of mysterious deaths in his family's past. As a narrator, he's a typical teenage boy, with obsessions of all kinds: weapons, violence, punk music and sex (or the lack of it). But can he be believed? None of the reviews I've read seem to have picked up on the general absurdities in Frank's narrative, to the point where it makes it hard to separate what is real and what is exageration, bravado. It's a shame, too, that the main plot twist in the end (and the book's original selling point) is so obvious for any modern reader used to western life. It doesn't help that Frank feels the need to explain the plot twist either, taking away the surprise's intended punch and deflating what could have been a neat slice of horror.

Black comedy at its best , 26 Sep 2008
To enjoy this book you need an appreciation of black comedy. Well written in a tongue in cheek manner and very easy to read. The 'wasp factory' of the title is a very creative invention. Worryingly though, one can easily imagine that somewhere a character like the anti-hero of the story really exists! I can see that this is a book that you either like or loathe, but those who don't like it probably didn't get the joke!



Graphically gory, but good writing, 12 Jul 2008
Full of graphically described and inventive unpleasantness, the Wasp Factory is not a pleasant read and requires a strong stomach. I couldn't bring myself to read all of it as I'm not a fan of pointless gore. However, it is well written and I've given it three stars as it would be a good read for someone who likes this sort of thing.

If you like horror films or the type of shows that feature lots of explicit gore, then you'll probably enjoy this. A reviewer describes it as the 'literary equivalent of a video nasty', which is quite an apt description. I would think it would appeal more to men than women, on the whole, and younger men in particular.

Banks is a good writer and I would read another of his books, but only if it had less of a focus on torturing small animals than this one does.

Drivel. Don't believe the hype., 20 Jun 2008
Since this book was first published I deliberately ignored the hype and didn't buy the book. Having read some of his science fiction books I thought it time to give it a go and on the strength of all the 5 star reviews finally bought it. What a disappointment. A book full of caricatures and stereotypes who meander through a "plot" that is clearly a collection of idle thoughts and drink or drug fuelled "great ideas" supposedly aimed at producing a feeling of horror in us all. From the ridiculous and improbable murders (particularly the one with the kite)to the poor renditions of OCD, autism and Asbergers Syndrome I am amazed the publishers even took it up. It might appeal to a ten year old but even they would feel let down by the pathetic attempt at a twist at the end. Awful. Avoid it unless you enjoy feeling short changed.

Good start...keeps getting worse and worse , 06 Nov 2008
I started reading this book and was initially very pleased with it. Mr. Banks writes extremely well, and even the fact that the first 100+ pages were quite uneventful didn't really bother me. On the contrary, the first major event - Al and Sophie being caught entertaining each other in the garden - almost bothered me, as it interrupted such uneventful, but enjoyable tranquility. At some point, though, the book takes a sudden new direction. Suddenly we discovered the protagonist has got very strong opinions about a number of issues such as global warming, the Iraqi war, American imperialism, and even corporate governance...The reader finds himself wishing that the protagonist was less outspoken. It is not clear whether the protagonist's opinions on such issues reflect the author's (which would be a bit worrying...mostly in consideration of the foaming virulence with which they are expressed) or just a consequence of some inbreeding defect, as we eventually learn the protagonist's parents were brother and sister. Overall a very disappointing book.

Going Through the Motions, 13 Oct 2008
Like many other reviewers here, I would have to say that this is not one of Banks' best efforts. We've been here before with The Crow Road - and surely there is only so much mileage to be had about tales of eccentric Scottish families with dark secrets - which is what we get again here.

At times, Banks seems to be trying almost too hard - to re-capture the spirit of youth, to make eccentric people seem funny, to make the business shenangins of a family interesting, to make young love work when the people involved are older. Sadly, it's all a bit of mess, and although the writing is always pretty good, the story clunks along and the characters - frankly - grate after a while.

Ignore the hype on the cover about this being one of Banks's best books for ages. It isn't - and a trawl through his back catalogue will reveal just how much of an also-ran this latest effort really is.

Not one of his best - but still very worthwhile, 02 Sep 2008
A British family company, the Wopulds, built its fortune on a board - then later a computer - game called Empire. Now they are considering selling it off to the Americans. This can be seen as Banks building a sort of elaborate metaphor for Britain as the faded former imperial power and the world's policeman, with that role now being taken over by the Americans.

The main character of the novel - Alban Wopuld - seems a typical Banks character, a person getting older but seemingly incapable of growing up, begins in a form of self-imposed exile from the family business, but is bought back into the bosom of his family to help decide whether they will indeed sell out to the Americans.

Alban's obsession with a brief fling with his cousin during his teenage years is another sign of his inability to let go of his idealistically naïve teenage years when it all seemed so simple to him - us against them. Alban's cousin - surely a link to the British/American special relationship where both countries regard each other and even call each other `cousins' - Sophie, eventually moves to and becomes American. Plastic surgery is hinted at as her way of becoming even more American. The more American she becomes, the wider the gap between Alban and Sophie becomes. He loved her and believed that she loved him - a sort of special relationship, indeed.

The British Empire theme is further explored by having Alban wandering the globe and fetching up in various outposts of the former Empire, especially Hong Kong.

Alban is a self-proclaimed lefty. However, one who took business studies and then the corporate shilling - an analogy of `New Labour', perhaps - working for the family firm, before resigning in a fit of moral indignation. Finally working as a lumberjack - maybe as a form of atonement - before damage to his hand forces him out of that and back to confront his family.

Alban is - of course - deeply suspicious of the Americans, the potential buyers of the family firm - and their claim to understand the `culture' of the British company/Empire and to be standing for the same civilising values that the British once claimed for themselves. For example, near the end of the novel his rather trite anti-American ranting that would be embarrassingly skipped over when come across in a Grauniad CiF comment. It is the sort of behaviour typical of the teenage/young adult rant given by middle-class students who want to adopt the pose of the left-wing radical. Alban also spouts some of the left wing always good, right wing always bad, banalities that almost - at times - turn him into the clichéd middle-class lefty.

Many of the other characters seem crudely drawn too. For example, Win, Alban's grandmother as a crude caricature of Margaret Thatcher seen through from a distorting left-wing perspective.

Maybe Alban's failure to prevent the literal `sell-out' to the American's and his empty futile and cliché-ridden diatribes against the American's are Banks' acknowledgement - consciously or unconsciously - that the Left is dead - a complete failure, as philosophically and moral bankrupt as it is politically.

The novel features some brief first person interludes, at the beginning and end, by a character called Tango with whom Alban seems to spend his time, maybe represents the society created by Alban's beloved Left in Scotland, welfare dependents existing in a drug and takeaway fuelled nihilistic squalor.

[Possible spoiler]

By the end of the book, Alban no longer lives in the squalor, sleeping on Tango's floor where we first found him. He lives off in the posh part of the town, alone, but in a vague relationship with his academic girlfriend, which is another sign of the character's inability to mature into something more substantial. The connection with Tango and his pals, has not entirely been severed, though, but Alban only occasionally visits, or is visited by Tango and his cronies (only on their best behaviour), which in the end is quite symbolic of the relationship between the remains of the Left - middle-class and insular - and the people they once purported to represent.

[End possible spoiler]

Not one of Banks' best novels, but, however, that still puts this head and shoulders above a great deal of contemporary fiction and is - I think - well worth a read - recommended.

Cousin, 16 Aug 2008
Pants.
The only thing I kept reading for was the well telegraphed "close familial relationship" between Alban & his cousin. Half way through I guessed they were half brother/sister. Mr Banks came up with a less shocking but similar relationship. Plastic characters throughout. Alban was the only one to (barely) make 3D.
Don't waste your time.

Middle of the Road on the Steep Approach..., 12 Aug 2008
Displays the range of Banks' skills - well-plotted, dialogue heavy, recurrent themes of familial taboo and the odd dose of authorial politics intruding on the fiction. Certainly held my attention and demanded to be finished (in a good way). But, ultimately, there is nothing breath-taking about The Steep Approach to Garbadale, and the analogies, metaphors and revelations all feel fairly shallow.

Arguably the best Culture book, 20 Jul 2008
Since Iain M Bank's series of books about 'The Culture' are such wonderful soft sci-fi this necessarily does make it a great sci-fi novel compared to any other sci-fi authors out there but also is very good compared with the author's other sci-fi work and makes (again some people may disagree) a better entry point to the series than 'Consider Phlebas' which is the first.

Living in the Culture, one basically wants for nothing. Iain M Banks has remarked that since everything is so utopian in the Culture, to get stories, things have to be set on the edge of the Culture or told about outsiders. In the Culture everything that people could want is provided for them but for the protagonist and one of the greatest games players in the entire Culture, Jernau Gurgeh - this is stifling him. Always ready to help, Contact (the society's starfleet-like arm) offer him a chance at real danger and excitement and at playing the most complex game he has ever come across. He journeys to the Kingdom of Azad to play a game so like life itself that the ultimate winner of it becomes emperor.

Exactly who though is manipulating Gurgeh? The aliens he has come to play, unwilling to let an alien beat them at their own game? Or his own people? That is a big question and is answered quite beautifully with different layers of complexity as you read through the book. Its very unlikely you'll see the final twist coming.

The game has plenty of excitement and raises questions relevant to our own culture. Superb science fiction.

Games of life and death, 20 Jul 2008
Gurgeh is The Player of Games in The Culture, a player who has won every game but who allows himself to be blackmailed and forced to travel to a distant Empire to participate in the Game of Azad, an intricate strategy game which determines the social statues and career development of the participants. As Gurgeh wins through round after round of the Game, he finds himself becoming more and more absorbed by the challenges it poses.

Like all of Banks's fiction, the depth and fertility of his imagination is stunning. His fantasy worlds are rich in texture and detail. Azad is a place where cruelty and violence are commonplace and where the superior members of the dominant classes are able to watch scenes of mutilation and torture. It is a strictly heirarchical autocracy unlike the Culture, one which struggles to accept Gurgeh and his mastery of the game.
The figure of Gurgeh himself is shadowy, an observer of the life forms around him ,concentrating only on the game itself, and on his participation in it.

This is a rich and entertaining novel, one which is beautifully written and leaves the reader with much to reflect on.

Absorbing and imaginative - a novel with many layers, 17 Jul 2008
"The Player of Games" is Iain M. Banks' second novel set in the universe of the Culture, a human-machine symbiotic society spanning most of the Galaxy. Jernau Morat Gurgeh is a master of board games - indeed he is regarded as one of the best human players the Culture has ever seen - but despite his many successes is nevertheless unable to find contentment. However, when the Culture's covert operations branch, Special Circumstances, invites him to travel to a newly-discovered empire to compete in the championships of Azad - thought to be the most intricate and complex strategy game ever devised - Gurgeh soon accepts the challenge. Because to the Empire's citizens, Azad is not just a game; it is everything, determining social and political rank - and ultimately, the man who will become Emperor. But not everyone in the Empire likes the idea of an outsider competing with them - and succeeding - at their own game...

In contrast to other books of his Culture series - such as "Excession" - "The Player of Games" is centred around the story of one character - Gurgeh. Talented and intellectual, he nonetheless remains naive in many ways about the nature both of the Culture and of the Empire and about the exact role he is playing in their relations. The existence of a main character, towards whom it is easy to feel sympathetic, ensures that a strong narrative thread is maintained throughout the book. Likewise the pacing is generally well managed; rarely is the plot allowed to drift, although the climax is unfortunately somewhat rushed.

Banks's informal, almost conversational style of writing may not be to everyone's taste, but he uses this to his advantage in this book, employing a mystery narrator whose identity is not revealed until the end. Indeed this is one of several games being played in this book: a game played by the author with his readers, which mirrors that between Gurgeh and his opponents and also that between Culture and Empire. This latter struggle is an underlying theme of the book, and one which becomes more prominent as the Empire's dark side is revealed. For though at first sight it appears exotic and colourful, it is also a society driven by sadism and violence - a stark contrast to the utopian vision that the Culture purports to be. But what is most fascinating in this book is the way in which the Culture itself comes across (for the first time in this series) as somewhat ambiguous - even lacking - with regard to its own morality.

"The Player of Games" is an absorbing and highly imaginative novel, with rich settings and fascinating characters combining to create a narrative with many layers.

Iain Banks' best 'culture' novel ever, 14 May 2008
This book is rich and immensely satisfying. It's like the perfect cup of coffee. If it was a song, it would be called Norwegian Wood. If it were a stranger it would be the most steamingly erotic person you can imagine seducing you. If it were a drink it would be called a pan-galactic gargle blaster. If it were a drug, it would illegal.

Read it before you die

Buy it!, 16 Apr 2008
Most of the reviews of this are 5 star, and rightly so. Actually I'm surprised it got any bad reviews. I reckon either this one, or Excession are his best. This one is easier to read. The other reviews say it all, so I will just advise you to buy it - I've just read it and I haven't enjoyed a book so much for ages. It really is brilliant!

Entertaining anecdotes, but overly long for the content, 06 Oct 2008
This book details the relationships and interactions of a family living in a remoter area of Argyll, Scotland. In that manner it is similar to The Wasp Factory, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The book skips about throughout time and between characters givings it a very disjointed feel. It is largely a collection of anecdotes, and although it is witty and well written, there isn't really enough happening to sustain the reader's interest over the 500 pages. By page 200 I was hoping that something resembling a story line would emerge, but unfortunately still felt this way on page 400! The main theme concerning a family intrigue around a missing uncle is alluded to throughout, but this takes a while to go anywhere. There are a lot of scenes which don't really lead anywhere, and could easily be edited out. The book is overly long for the subject matter, leaving me wondering whether the author was being paid by the word and stringing it out as long as possible. 'Less is more' definitely applies here. Some jokes also seemed a little predictable after a while. In summary, some enjoyable moments, witty and insightful in places, well written, but far too long. If you like a book with a strong plot related in a linear manner you will be unlikely to like this. Not a bad book but could do with some shortening. A disappointment after The Wasp Factory.

Proves Banksy Is The Best, 09 Nov 2007
If haven't read it... then go read it!
Nothing much to say apart from the fact that it's perfection.
I read it when I was at university and I've just read it again... and it was even better than I remembered.

Just perfect.

An easy read, 19 Oct 2007
Complicity was an excellent book, The Business - a holiday novel. This one falls somewhere inbetween.

The novel ambles along smoothly enough, and becomes fairly gripping as it hastens it's way toward revealing the "dark secret" in the Mchoan family. The themes of love, lust, sibling rivraly and class comparision are dealt with in a humorous and readable way. The book does, however, seem rather one-dimensional... to the point that I was convinced there would be a dramatic twist on the last few pages.

I was to be disappointed.

Well worth a read!, 06 Apr 2007
I read this after reading Iain's latest novel 'The Steep Approach to Garbadale' and I have to say that the two bear a number of similarities. Having said that 'The Crow Road' is by far the better book, not brilliant, but a good story line and some great descriptive parts. It's well worth reading.

Having said that, Iain's non sci fi novels are nowhere near as good as his brilliant science fiction novels, which are second to none.

Fantastic and highly enjoyable, 28 Feb 2007
I am not spoiling you anything on this book with my review; it would be a crime; that good I found it.

Let me just say, if you have read any of Bank's works, that this is work is different to The Wasp Factory or Complicity in the nature of the story and the number of characters. But it is equally good. If you have not read anything of Banks, this book is compulsory.

It is brilliantly writen, as usual in the first person (Prentice in this case) a guy in his very early 20s growing up in Scotland, a place I am starting to love thanks to Banks, even if I haven't been there yet (I intend to). On ocassions, it made me laugh. Mainly around Prentice's sexual life.

I cannot go on without spoiling a bit. I read this book knowing nothing abut it and it was highly enjoyable and surprising like that. Do the same; you won't regreat it

A book of two halves - but not cliché, 14 Nov 2008
For the first time in the Iain M. Banks Culture canon, I found myself more interested in the non-Culture, low-tech society existing within a high-tech, alien-built and controlled world. The Sursamen serf and turf-wars, power grabbing and palace intrigue is splendidly, richly and vividly written.
The various journeys, both metaphorically and literally of the main characters, with their speeches and inner thoughts are beautifully realised and realistically human-type-like.
It is almost with regret I found the Culture intervention approximately halfway through to be the start of a slight decline in the story-telling and imagination of the book. With such high-tech, invincibility (however close to final jeopardy they come in the end) it is almost, I repeat almost, a too rapid deus ex machina conclusion wrung from what seems to have been Banks' final threadbare cloth of boredom.
However, to give an example of the wonderful writing in the first half of Matter, how about this from the 2nd page :
'What sullen application these humans devoted to destruction' - Turminder Xuss.
Despite the criticism this is still wonderful stuff. Good science fiction and future imaginings rarely ever matched in the genre.
Just not quite as wonderful all the way through as previous favourites in the series. A pity for this reader and fan.


I'd give it 3.5 if I could, 13 Nov 2008
Not his best but a book that gradually improved with a better than average ending for Banks - something I feel he can struggle with.

I don't generally like it when he uses the fiction of old technologies cheek by jowl with The Culture for example but the characters were good and the action increasingly urgent......and I just like the whole concept of the Culture

Had to skip pages - too long, too slow. cf Lord of the Rings, 10 Nov 2008
For the record; I love Consider Fleabag (sic) and the other Culture novels (more or less), this one was far too long, for too little content of interest. The same story could have been told in, say, 200 pages. The other 360ish pages could have been used to carry the hanging threads forward (Djan, purpose of shellworlds etc).

While I often re-read books, and have shelves and shelves of books that I won't get rid of...I had to skip pages of waffle to finish it once. The story really got going at around page 490! There were FAR too many speeches and descriptions. For that, and for another common theme; too many silly names, I also failed to read the lord of the rings.

Not one I intend to re-read!


another one to make people argue. me - I loved it., 26 Oct 2008
Long, reasonably complex, various levels and themes, as I find with his books-all of which I have read- you cannot pre guess the outcome, the writing is intelligent and provokes thought. Bear in mind, most other decent writers in this genre owe a lot in my humble opinion to Banks.
Whether this is your favourite or not just remember that he sets the benchmark.

Good, great from any other author, but not quite as good as algebraist, 18 Oct 2008
After the fantastic Algebraist I had very high hopes for this Culture novel. It so nearly hit the spot, but as others have pointed out, it seemed very rushed and incomplete in the final section. After a long, slow and detailed buildup, it all went out with a satisfying bang, but somewhat prematurely. Ends were left hanging and loose. Now Banks is by no means an inexperienced lover (I mean, writer), so I can only imagine that he felt pressured to get finished. Perhaps the editor was knocking on the door, saying "keep it down in there!". Perhaps Banks just wanted to get it over and done with. It's well worth the read, but maddeningly just a little bit imperfect.

sometimes it's better not to revisit old friends, 07 Nov 2008
I loved this book, loved it, it was fantastic, the best thing I had ever read, Iain Banks was the greatest living writer........but..............

that was 16 years ago and I was but still a teenager.

Now safely in my thirties and having had my eyes opened to the big, wild, cruel world, I decided to read it again.

Was it as good as I remembered? - Well, sadly no.

Was it as shocking as I remembered? - no.

To be honest, the plot struck me as paper thin, the graphic violence a little dull and the shock ending simply not that shocking (obviously I knew the ending, but my wife read it for the first time before I re read it and she didnt find it particularly shocking either, nor did she flinch at the violence), and why didnt I notice that Banks writing style is....well, a little boring? lacking in a little bit of flair?

It probably says a lot more about the state of the world and society that this book is no longer as shocking and violent as it was once considered, than it does about the book itself.

The fact is that books like Silence of the Lambs and TV programmes like Messiah are a hell of a lot more graphic and shocking than this and have numbed society to such an extent that this book no longer stands out from the crowd of crime/thriller/horror books.

I wish I hadnt re read it, then I would still hold it dear to my heart.

Still a decent book (and probably still a great book if youre a teenager), but now, sadly, a middle of the road horror book rather than the groundbreaking gothic debut it once was.

Bug Sprayed, 19 Oct 2008
This novel apparently caused controversy when first published in 1984. Either reviewers couldn't handle its sadism and gore (because they clearly were not aware of a genre called "horror" until this book landed on their desks) or they thought Banks was a brand new Scottish voice that needed to be heard.

A teenage boy lives on a deserted island with his father, disconnected from the Scottish mainland and civil society. The boy, Frank, has an older brother locked away in a mad house, and a history of mysterious deaths in his family's past. As a narrator, he's a typical teenage boy, with obsessions of all kinds: weapons, violence, punk music and sex (or the lack of it). But can he be believed? None of the reviews I've read seem to have picked up on the general absurdities in Frank's narrative, to the point where it makes it hard to separate what is real and what is exageration, bravado. It's a shame, too, that the main plot twist in the end (and the book's original selling point) is so obvious for any modern reader used to western life. It doesn't help that Frank feels the need to explain the plot twist either, taking away the surprise's intended punch and deflating what could have been a neat slice of horror.

Black comedy at its best , 26 Sep 2008
To enjoy this book you need an appreciation of black comedy. Well written in a tongue in cheek manner and very easy to read. The 'wasp factory' of the title is a very creative invention. Worryingly though, one can easily imagine that somewhere a character like the anti-hero of the story really exists! I can see that this is a book that you either like or loathe, but those who don't like it probably didn't get the joke!



Graphically gory, but good writing, 12 Jul 2008
Full of graphically described and inventive unpleasantness, the Wasp Factory is not a pleasant read and requires a strong stomach. I couldn't bring myself to read all of it as I'm not a fan of pointless gore. However, it is well written and I've given it three stars as it would be a good read for someone who likes this sort of thing.

If you like horror films or the type of shows that feature lots of explicit gore, then you'll probably enjoy this. A reviewer describes it as the 'literary equivalent of a video nasty', which is quite an apt description. I would think it would appeal more to men than women, on the whole, and younger men in particular.

Banks is a good writer and I would read another of his books, but only if it had less of a focus on torturing small animals than this one does.

Drivel. Don't believe the hype., 20 Jun 2008
Since this book was first published I deliberately ignored the hype and didn't buy the book. Having read some of his science fiction books I thought it time to give it a go and on the strength of all the 5 star reviews finally bought it. What a disappointment. A book full of caricatures and stereotypes who meander through a "plot" that is clearly a collection of idle thoughts and drink or drug fuelled "great ideas" supposedly aimed at producing a feeling of horror in us all. From the ridiculous and improbable murders (particularly the one with the kite)to the poor renditions of OCD, autism and Asbergers Syndrome I am amazed the publishers even took it up. It might appeal to a ten year old but even they would feel let down by the pathetic attempt at a twist at the end. Awful. Avoid it unless you enjoy feeling short changed.

Good start...keeps getting worse and worse , 06 Nov 2008
I started reading this book and was initially very pleased with it. Mr. Banks writes extremely well, and even the fact that the first 100+ pages were quite uneventful didn't really bother me. On the contrary, the first major event - Al and Sophie being caught entertaining each other in the garden - almost bothered me, as it interrupted such uneventful, but enjoyable tranquility. At some point, though, the book takes a sudden new direction. Suddenly we discovered the protagonist has got very strong opinions about a number of issues such as global warming, the Iraqi war, American imperialism, and even corporate governance...The reader finds himself wishing that the protagonist was less outspoken. It is not clear whether the protagonist's opinions on such issues reflect the author's (which would be a bit worrying...mostly in consideration of the foaming virulence with which they are expressed) or just a consequence of some inbreeding defect, as we eventually learn the protagonist's parents were brother and sister. Overall a very disappointing book.

Going Through the Motions, 13 Oct 2008
Like many other reviewers here, I would have to say that this is not one of Banks' best efforts. We've been here before with The Crow Road - and surely there is only so much mileage to be had about tales of eccentric Scottish families with dark secrets - which is what we get again here.

At times, Banks seems to be trying almost too hard - to re-capture the spirit of youth, to make eccentric people seem funny, to make the business shenangins of a family interesting, to make young love work when the people involved are older. Sadly, it's all a bit of mess, and although the writing is always pretty good, the story clunks along and the characters - frankly - grate after a while.

Ignore the hype on the cover about this being one of Banks's best books for ages. It isn't - and a trawl through his back catalogue will reveal just how much of an also-ran this latest effort really is.

Not one of his best - but still very worthwhile, 02 Sep 2008
A British family company, the Wopulds, built its fortune on a board - then later a computer - game called Empire. Now they are considering selling it off to the Americans. This can be seen as Banks building a sort of elaborate metaphor for Britain as the faded former imperial power and the world's policeman, with that role now being taken over by the Americans.

The main character of the novel - Alban Wopuld - seems a typical Banks character, a person getting older but seemingly incapable of growing up, begins in a form of self-imposed exile from the family business, but is bought back into the bosom of his family to help decide whether they will indeed sell out to the Americans.

Alban's obsession with a brief fling with his cousin during his teenage years is another sign of his inability to let go of his idealistically naïve teenage years when it all seemed so simple to him - us against them. Alban's cousin - surely a link to the British/American special relationship where both countries regard each other and even call each other `cousins' - Sophie, eventually moves to and becomes American. Plastic surgery is hinted at as her way of becoming even more American. The more American she becomes, the wider the gap between Alban and Sophie becomes. He loved her and believed that she loved him - a sort of special relationship, indeed.

The British Empire theme is further explored by having Alban wandering the globe and fetching up in various outposts of the former Empire, especially Hong Kong.

Alban is a self-proclaimed lefty. However, one who took business studies and then the corporate shilling - an analogy of `New Labour', perhaps - working for the family firm, before resigning in a fit of moral indignation. Finally working as a lumberjack - maybe as a form of atonement - before damage to his hand forces him out of that and back to confront his family.

Alban is - of course - deeply suspicious of the Americans, the potential buyers of the family firm - and their claim to understand the `culture' of the British company/Empire and to be standing for the same civilising values that the British once claimed for themselves. For example, near the end of the novel his rather trite anti-American ranting that would be embarrassingly skipped over when come across in a Grauniad CiF comment. It is the sort of behaviour typical of the teenage/young adult rant given by middle-class students who want to adopt the pose of the left-wing radical. Alban also spouts some of the left wing always good, right wing always bad, banalities that almost - at times - turn him into the clichéd middle-class lefty.

Many of the other characters seem crudely drawn too. For example, Win, Alban's grandmother as a crude caricature of Margaret Thatcher seen through from a distorting left-wing perspective.

Maybe Alban's failure to prevent the literal `sell-out' to the American's and his empty futile and cliché-ridden diatribes against the American's are Banks' acknowledgement - consciously or unconsciously - that the Left is dead - a complete failure, as philosophically and moral bankrupt as it is politically.

The novel features some brief first person interludes, at the beginning and end, by a character called Tango with whom Alban seems to spend his time, maybe represents the society created by Alban's beloved Left in Scotland, welfare dependents existing in a drug and takeaway fuelled nihilistic squalor.

[Possible spoiler]

By the end of the book, Alban no longer lives in the squalor, sleeping on Tango's floor where we first found him. He lives off in the posh part of the town, alone, but in a vague relationship with his academic girlfriend, which is another sign of the character's inability to mature into something more substantial. The connection with Tango and his pals, has not entirely been severed, though, but Alban only occasionally visits, or is visited by Tango and his cronies (only on their best behaviour), which in the end is quite symbolic of the relationship between the remains of the Left - middle-class and insular - and the people they once purported to represent.

[End possible spoiler]

Not one of Banks' best novels, but, however, that still puts this head and shoulders above a great deal of contemporary fiction and is - I think - well worth a read - recommended.

Cousin, 16 Aug 2008
Pants.
The only thing I kept reading for was the well telegraphed "close familial relationship" between Alban & his cousin. Half way through I guessed they were half brother/sister. Mr Banks came up with a less shocking but similar relationship. Plastic characters throughout. Alban was the only one to (barely) make 3D.
Don't waste your time.

Middle of the Road on the Steep Approach..., 12 Aug 2008
Displays the range of Banks' skills - well-plotted, dialogue heavy, recurrent themes of familial taboo and the odd dose of authorial politics intruding on the fiction. Certainly held my attention and demanded to be finished (in a good way). But, ultimately, there is nothing breath-taking about The Steep Approach to Garbadale, and the analogies, metaphors and revelations all feel fairly shallow.

Arguably the best Culture book, 20 Jul 2008
Since Iain M Bank's series of books about 'The Culture' are such wonderful soft sci-fi this necessarily does make it a great sci-fi novel compared to any other sci-fi authors out there but also is very good compared with the author's other sci-fi work and makes (again some people may disagree) a better entry point to the series than 'Consider Phlebas' which is the first.

Living in the Culture, one basically wants for nothing. Iain M Banks has remarked that since everything is so utopian in the Culture, to get stories, things have to be set on the edge of the Culture or told about outsiders. In the Culture everything that people could want is provided for them but for the protagonist and one of the greatest games players in the entire Culture, Jernau Gurgeh - this is stifling him. Always ready to help, Contact (the society's starfleet-like arm) offer him a chance at real danger and excitement and at playing the most complex game he has ever come across. He journeys to the Kingdom of Azad to play a game so like life itself that the ultimate winner of it becomes emperor.

Exactly who though is manipulating Gurgeh? The aliens he has come to play, unwilling to let an alien beat them at their own game? Or his own people? That is a big question and is answered quite beautifully with different layers of complexity as you read through the book. Its very unlikely you'll see the final twist coming.

The game has plenty of excitement and raises questions relevant to our own culture. Superb science fiction.

Games of life and death, 20 Jul 2008
Gurgeh is The Player of Games in The Culture, a player who has won every game but who allows himself to be blackmailed and forced to travel to a distant Empire to participate in the Game of Azad, an intricate strategy game which determines the social statues and career development of the participants. As Gurgeh wins through round after round of the Game, he finds himself becoming more and more absorbed by the challenges it poses.

Like all of Banks's fiction, the depth and fertility of his imagination is stunning. His fantasy worlds are rich in texture and detail. Azad is a place where cruelty and violence are commonplace and where the superior members of the dominant classes are able to watch scenes of mutilation and torture. It is a strictly heirarchical autocracy unlike the Culture, one which struggles to accept Gurgeh and his mastery of the game.
The figure of Gurgeh himself is shadowy, an observer of the life forms around him ,concentrating only on the game itself, and on his participation in it.

This is a rich and entertaining novel, one which is beautifully written and leaves the reader with much to reflect on.

Absorbing and imaginative - a novel with many layers, 17 Jul 2008
"The Player of Games" is Iain M. Banks' second novel set in the universe of the Culture, a human-machine symbiotic society spanning most of the Galaxy. Jernau Morat Gurgeh is a master of board games - indeed he is regarded as one of the best human players the Culture has ever seen - but despite his many successes is nevertheless unable to find contentment. However, when the Culture's covert operations branch, Special Circumstances, invites him to travel to a newly-discovered empire to compete in the championships of Azad - thought to be the most intricate and complex strategy game ever devised - Gurgeh soon accepts the challenge. Because to the Empire's citizens, Azad is not just a game; it is everything, determining social and political rank - and ultimately, the man who will become Emperor. But not everyone in the Empire likes the idea of an outsider competing with them - and succeeding - at their own game...

In contrast to other books of his Culture series - such as "Excession" - "The Player of Games" is centred around the story of one character - Gurgeh. Talented and intellectual