The Player of Games (Culture #2) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Apr 12, 2008 Kristen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I have wanted to read one of the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks for quite a while and one that sounded particularly interesting to me was The Player of Games. Unfortunately, that particular title was difficult to find in the U.S. -- until it was reprinted here a couple of months ago. I am very glad it was since this is definitely one of the better novels I have read this year, containing layers and depth without ever becoming too dry or a chore to read.

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Jul 03, 2009 Carl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasysci-fi

A different cover than I read, but oh well. Really this should be slightly less than 5 stars, I think, but I liked it better than any of Banks' other books that I've read so far, and I felt like marking that somehow-- oh, well, now that I think about it, I'll lower it to 4 stars-- a good book, but not an all time favorite. Turned out to be much more interesting than I'd expected when I got a bit over mid-way through and it suddenly became a really interesting take on social justice and the psych ...more

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Mar 07, 2008 Wendy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-fantasy

When I first read it, over a decade ago, Player of Games was not my favorite Culture novel. In fact, it was my second least-favorite, ranking just above Excession. Not that it was a bad book, by any means, but I felt that, in the Empire of Azad, Banks had created a ridiculous caricature of a xenophobic, militaristic, authoritarian, sexist society, and used it as a rather smug way of proving the moral superiority of the Culture.

I don't find the Empire of Azad nearly so ridiculous any longer. I s ...more

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