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Player of Games: Culture 2

by Iain M Banks
Player of Games: Culture 2

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  • Synopses & Reviews

ISBN13: 9780316005401
ISBN10: 0316005401



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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

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

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.

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Average customer rating 4.5 (2 comments)

`
Jeffrey Bluhm , November 17, 2013 (view all comments by Jeffrey Bluhm)
This is a clever sci-fi novel with a particularly interesting element of game-playing, initially on a personal level for the somewhat enigmatic main character Jernau Gurgeh, then on a societal level as our hero is sent to represent the Culture in its encounter with a militarily powerful but morally suspect Empire. The science fiction elements are strong and the descriptions of both the games and the game-play are interesting, with good action and a plot that moves along at a steady pace. Throughout, the idea of the Culture and the reader's understanding of what it represents and how it works grows - I anticipate subsequent novels will continue to expand on this understanding.

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`
Levi Goodman , January 01, 2011
The second in the series of "The Culture" novels, Scottish author Iain M. Banks delivers a fantastic and chilling look at a galactic empire held together by the power of a game and the outsider sent to play it. Banks begins to develop the characteristics of The Culture seen in his later books and grapples with the dilemma that will echo through this series as long as they are written - how far are you willing to go in order to change that which you feel is wrong?

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780316005401
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
03/26/2008
Publisher:
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP
Language:
English
Pages:
405
Height:
1.10IN
Width:
5.40IN
Thickness:
1.25
Series:
Culture 02
Series Number:
2
Copyright Year:
2008
UPC Code:
2800316005403
Author:
Iain M Banks
Author:
Iain Banks
Author:
Iain Banks
Author:
Iain M. Banks
Subject:
Science fiction
Subject:
Science Fiction and Fantasy-Adventure

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$16.99
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