Iain M. Banks “Culture” Novels
Several years ago, my friend Kansu gave me the book Excession by Iain M. Banks. I very much enjoyed the book, and I ended up reading it a second time a while ago. While it was good the second time as well, I realized that the book was part of a larger series of books Banks has written about the Culture, a future human-machine post-scarcity space-faring race.
Since re-reading Excession, I have purchased and read several more Culture books:
- Use of Weapons (Finished in Australia)
- The Player of Games (just finished)
- Consider Phlebas (about to start)
All of the ones I have read I have very much enjoyed. I would suggest the series to anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi. I’m happy to share the books I’ve finished with friends, as long as I eventually get them back.
March 17th, 2010 at 03:03:55 pm
Looks like the fellow has a few other books out, too. Is there a specific order to the series, or are they stand alone books? Have you simply listed the books you’ve been dealing with, or are you aware of more?
March 23rd, 2010 at 09:56:22 pm
There’s 8 novels altogether so far. They don’t need to be read in order. There is a list here.
March 28th, 2010 at 05:30:24 pm
I’ve sampled some Banks, but could never quite get into him. You might try Alastair Reynolds on for size. His Revelation Space series is amongst the best in modern “Space Opera” imo. There are roughly a half dozen novels and quite a few short stories and novellas, so if you like him there is a lot of meat there to keep you occupied for a coupled months. I also quite like some of his new stuff which is unconnected from that universe. His most recent novel, House of Suns, is easily one of my favorite Scifi novels of the last half decade. You might also try on Paul McAuley, Poul Anderson, C.J. Cherryh, etc.