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Consider Phlebas Audiobook
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(3.00) - 17,983 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The first book in Iain M. Banks's seminal science fiction series, The Culture. Consider Phlebas introduces readers to the utopian conglomeration of human and alien races that explores the nature of war, morality, and the limitless bounds of mankind's imagination.
The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.
Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.
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"Iain M. Banks is the best writer I never heard of, that is until recently. I have read three other books by Banks and except for being set in the same universe, I would not have believed they were written by the same person. They are all incredibly well written, inventive, masterful tales of science fiction that mix good hard science fiction with amazing characters and an interesting future vision that doesn't really even mention Earth at all."
— Scott (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Banks is a phenomenon: the wildly successful, fearlessly creative author of brilliant and disturbing non-genre novels, he’s equally at home writing pure science fiction of a peculiarly gnarly energy and elegance.”
— William Gibson
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
Consider Phlebas Listener Reviews
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DocTuck, 9/5/2021
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my asteroid, 8/27/2019
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" I'm about 1/3 through and I might just have to come back to it some other time. It's a bit dry and sort of drags on. It's a culture/war centered title that is disguised as character forward. A little too epic and hyper-masculine feeling as if it's trying to be some other main stream popular saga. "
— Top Cat, 11/26/2018 -
" 500 pages of beautifully written climax. I definitely look forward to investigating more of Banks's stuff, both literary and sci-fi. "
— Keith, 2/17/2014 -
" This was a three-star book. (And not a four-star book that I'm being stingy with...like some people.) Seriously, though, enjoyable and distracting. "
— Blue, 1/30/2014 -
" I wish I could give this two stars for some of the plot and 4 stars for the rest. The obese cannibal was just silly. The opening scene was meant to shock and gross out but just left me feeling "meh". I didn't really care about some of the characters. With that said, some of the book was so well written it took my breath away and the action and adventure were thrilling. I will try the others in this series and other books by this author. "
— Doreen, 1/10/2014 -
" In general I really enjoyed the book. There was plenty of action, suspense and some mystery thrown in. The characters were interesting, it just took me a while to get going at the beginning. I felt the ending was poorly done - basically it just ends with some epilogue type stuff. I was very invested in the main character and felt the ending just made me feel wanting some sort of closure. Overall, a great read. "
— Heidi, 1/5/2014 -
" Fantastic look into the Culture from yet another angle. "
— Jamie, 12/30/2013 -
" Well written and very entertaining. I've heard that Bank's writing improves in his other books so I'm looking forward to reading the other Culture books in the future. "
— Paul, 11/15/2013 -
" Banks at his best, visionary, inventive, a real treat "
— Andrew, 9/6/2013 -
" This is an excellent "space opera" Culture novel from one of my favorite sci fi authors. It's a bit wordy and overly long in places but the overall writing (including some chapters that are real gems) more than makes up for it. "
— Nathan, 4/1/2013 -
" Very much enjoyed the Audible version. Tried a few years ago to read in print and couldn't get into it. Great characters. I liked Player of Games better though. This one was a bit too "shoot em up" for me. But I recommend to those who like space opera. "
— Kristin, 12/24/2012 -
" A reasonably good book but got a bit tedious in places with some tangents from the plot. I much prefer The Player of Games. However, reading this clarified some things that I didn't understand from book 2 in this series. "
— Cheryl-lee, 8/19/2012 -
" Good writing, engaging. Didn't knock my socks off. I may or may not read more books by Banks. "
— Steven, 7/12/2012 -
" Consider Phlebas is an example of high science fiction at it's finest. "
— Austin, 1/17/2012 -
" This was my introduction to Iain M. Banks and the Culture series. I enjoyed this introduction to the Culture, and I'm curious to learn more. The edition I experienced was the unabridged audiobook narrated exceptionally well by Peter Kenny. "
— Jeff, 9/16/2011 -
" A good book with a completely unenjoyable ending. "
— Damian, 7/1/2011 -
" This is a big, sprawling, complicated book. I really enjoyed it. There's a little bit of everything here: "big" plot, a main character with complicated issues, galaxy-wide destruction, clash of cultures (and religions, and philosophies). Very good and highly recommended. "
— Russ, 5/22/2011 -
" This was good opening to the Culture series, though it left me wanting more knowledge of the culture. I would love to live on one of those huge orbitals. "
— Joshua, 5/17/2011 -
" Good entertaining sci-fi shoot-em-up, but it lags hard in the third act. Would have given it another star if it had been 100 pages shorter. "
— Stuart, 5/14/2011 -
" I hate to admit it, but this book has defeated me. I just couldn't find any interest in the characters or the universe Banks has created. I'll save it for a later day when I have less stress. "
— Paul, 5/9/2011 -
" This was a good introduction to the Culture universe but I felt at times the writing was a little rough around the edges .... an annoying thing I noticed was a paragraph would start and you had to wait a bit to figure out who was speaking or who it was referencing which upset the flow of the book "
— Tracy, 5/7/2011 -
" Started slow, i felt, but i really enjoyed this read. "
— Jmoses, 5/3/2011 -
" This was a very satisfying classic Science Fiction work. Good characters, against an sweeping historical backdrop. I never really understood the politics enough to choose a side in the ongoing war, but boy the science was fascinating and it was fun picturing the aliens involved. "
— Sandy, 4/28/2011 -
" This was a book that I had trouble putting down, literally. I ran the battery down on my NOOKcolor 3 times! "
— Andy, 4/26/2011
About Iain Banks
Iain Banks (1954–2013) was a Scottish author considered one of the most powerful, innovative, and exciting writers of his generation. He wrote mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks. Following the publication and success of The Wasp Factory in 1984, he began to write full time. His first science fiction book, Consider Phlebas, was released in 1987, marking the start of the popular Culture series. His books have been adapted for theater, radio, and television. In honor of his science fiction work, an asteroid was named for him in 2013, and asteroid (5099) Iainbanks now resides in the main asteroid belt of the Sol system.
About Peter Kenny
Peter Kenny, an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator, is a talented and experienced actor, voice-over artist, singer, musician, and designer, with over twenty-five years of experience working in theater, film, television, and audio. He has achieved great critical acclaim for multicharacter recordings of audiobooks by authors such as Iain Banks, Christopher Priest, and Edmund St Aubyn.