I’ve read up through Look to Windward, so about 70% of the series, and I like them a lot. Post-scarcity sci fi is my jam, and Iain M. Banks does an excellent job of writing characters for whom physical needs play no role in their motivation.
Any recommendations for other post-scarcity sci-fi?
I’ve read about half of them and really enjoy it overall. It’s definitely varied, and I think the best piece of advice is to not start with Consider Phlebas. Popular opinion is that it is a weaker entry. There’s really no chronology so just jump around as you see fit. Player of Games is a good starting point. Use of Weapons is my personal favorite out of what I’ve read.
Absolutely. My general advice is:
- Start with either A Player Of Games or Use Of Weapons depending on whether you have an interest in Board Games or military/espionage, respectively
- Then read the other one
- Then read Excession
- Then read the rest of the series in any order; because honestly there’s a considerable drop in quality other than those, but by that point you’re already so in love with the setting that “a mediocre Culture book” is still better than “a good book from another series”.
I have heard good things and mixed things - I made it about halfway through the first (Consider Phelbas) and lost interest with the writing style and characters, they just didnt click with me. One of the story lines I did like more than the other, but it wasnt the primary one at the place I was at.
I liked the technology and some of the concepts quite a bit, and the setting seems quite ready to handle all 10 novels worth of material.
Planning to go back to it after awhile and see if that changes, I did enjoy some of the concepts. Hopefully someone else who has read more than I chimes in (spoiler free of course), interested to see what is shared.
I also couldn’t get through it, even though I really wanted to for the world itself. It was just too much like an action movie with the action scenes distracting from the interesting stuff. I don’t know if that’s a fair take–it’s been a while since then–but that’s how I remember it.
sorry for being ignorant, but what is the culture series?..
No, but do y’all recommend it?
