Synopses & Reviews
The Culture a human/machine symbiotic society has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game...a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life and very possibly his death.
Review
"Supple prose and subtle manipulations of plot produce a thought-provoking story." Library Journal
Synopsis
Curgeh is the best, the champion. In the ancient, all-embracing Culture in which there is no disease or disaster, only the endless games, he has beaten them all. But an empire's challenge will teach him what the Game is really all about.
"Striking for its breadth of vision, its ability to suggest the sprawling facets of an old, far-flung culture." -- "Publishers Weekly"
"A genuine and original talent." -- "The Detroit News"
No serious science fiction fan can resist this seminal novel in Banks' renowned series about the universe of the Culture.
About the Author
Iain M. Banks came to public notice with the publication of his first controversial novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984. Consider Phlebas, his first science fiction novel, was published under the name Iain M. Banks in 1987. He is now widely acclaimed as one of the most powerful, innovative, and exciting writers of his generation. Iain Banks lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.