Note: Retrospective Review
This review is NOT based on a recent reading of the work. I will have read it sometime before 2022 but still want to express my thoughts and comments, or just record that I have actually read it.
These reviews are included in the list of works by this author but do not count towards any of my reading goals or annual statistics!
Another book that I read in my early 20s, probably soon after the paperback came out. For a culture novel the story is fairly straightforward, once you accept the premise of a star-faring civilization that determines social position and government rank by the result of a vast multi-player, multi-layered game. It is not too much of a stretch to see this as a logical extension of competitive examinations for the civil service.
The other aspect of the story is Gurgeh, a well known citizen of the culture, indeed a celebrity in a limited way within that society.
Gurgeh is an interesting character in that he isn’t entirely happy within the culture, despite the success he personally has as a game player and expert, and all the super-abundance that the post-scarcity Culture has to offer. He has never changed sex and never had children – not something that is actually frowned upon (not much in the culture actually is) but certainly unusual enough to be commented on. Given his dissatisfaction with his life it doesn’t take much for Special Circumstances to manipulate him into a position where he has to do their bidding (based on the only real “currency” that the Culture has: loss of face and status). Hence Gurgeh is dispatched to the game playing civilization as Culture representative and token game player.
And that’s it really, from that point everything revolves around the great game and we don’t hear much more of the culture. There are some great locations, especially the fire planet and the final denouement is clever, revealing Gurgeh to be more than simply a “representative” but to “represent” the whole of the culture (and thereby also revealing just how forward thinking and machiavellian Special Circumstances can be).
Gurgeh is the hero but is far from heroic and is clearly manoeuvered into doing SC’s bidding but does eventually acquit himself well.
The other main character is the “drone” whose layers (again there are layers upon layers of deception there) – sneaky but I liked him.
The supporting cast, almost all from the game players, are not quite as well drawn but this is more a story of situation and the clash of civilizations than a character study.
So, like all Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels this is well worth reading – it is an exciting adventure story but doesn’t really fill out much of the culture background. Read it because all of the Culture books should be read but it should not be your first, and it is not the best – but it is enjoyable.