Consider Phlebas
Culture Series, Book 1
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Consider Phlebas
Buy Now for £15.11
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Narrated by:
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Peter Kenny
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By:
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Iain M. Banks
About this listen
The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.
'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson
War rages across the galaxy. Billions have died, billions more are doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, face cold-blooded, brutal destruction. The Idirans fight for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles are at stake. There can be no surrender.
Within this cosmic conflict, a crucial battle of wits is waged. Deep within a fabled labyrinth, on a Planet of the Dead forbidden to mortals, lies a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans desperately seek it. It is the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, to actually find it - and with it their own destruction.
The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art
Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist
Critic reviews
'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson
I found the story engaging and it held my attention all the way through, helped by the excellent reading of Peter Kenny. I got through listening to it fairly swiftly, I listen just before bed to help relax me, but I found myself staying awake longer, getting swept up with the story.
If I had one criticism that stopped me from rating it with 5 stars, it was that it felt a rather abrupt end as the story had built up steadily throughout the book. I'm not sure if it was just the late night reading but it all came to an end rather suddenly for me but didn't spoil things too much and I moved on to the next book in the series with some anticipation.
An enjoyable listen
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one of the best books ever fore.
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One thing I always find optimizes his books ... it doesn’t go the way you want it to. It goes its own way often unpredictably.
Typical Iain Banks
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1) This is an excellent book
2) Love Peter Kenny's narration (he also narrated Transition)
My one complaint is an ironic one for me. Part of the reason I avoided Sci-fi books in the past, is my worry they are too dense, too detailed and too tough to get into. Perhaps, it's the book's age, or my age but I felt like this was overall quite a simple book. I wasted years avoiding Banks, thinking it would be too much for my taste, but once read, I wished it was a little more complex than it was.
Don't get me wrong, the story was engaging and exciting; and I was compelled throughout. Furthermore Banks' ideas are amazing. This book was published in 1987 and I can see his influence in much more modern sci-fi offerings. Drones, sex changes, sentient machines to name a few.
The only thing keeping me from 5 starring this book, is perhaps it was a little too straight. It was a great space adventure, which starts to build the Culture universe, and I've gone directly on to the second book, The Player of Games. Really enjoyable stuff.
First time Banks reader - impressive!
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amazing space opera
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