The Player of Games Audiobook

" Not my favorite Culture novel, for whatever reason, but still well worth a read. "

" A great book - games within, games, within games make this a witty, intellectual science fiction tour de force. Highly recommended. "

" Because I am a gamer, I am biased to love this book. I will be recommending it to any and all of my gamer friends. "

" The best intro to the Culture novels. "

" Liked the idea of 'the Culture' a futuristic pan-Universal collective. Raises thougts on the future of gender and social norms. The book itself is ok, I wasn't incredibly gripped so I read it quickly and without much care. "

" Hadn't read an 'M' Banks previously, and had some average experiences with his mainstream fare, so thought I'd give a Culture novel a go as one last throw of the dice. Duly rewarded. "

" A story about a board game player in the Culture universe. Hell yes. "

" Really brilliant novel. His depiction of the robots in the novel is often humorous. The alien race, the Azad empire, is also very clever. At times I thought they could have been described in more detail, but otherwise a very interesting story, especially towards the end. "

" This was a fun read with a clever premise, but it felt a bit shallow and wasn't as good as the first Culture novel, Consider Phlebas "

" A brilliant concept and central character. One of my all time favourite books. "

" Very good novel. Features the "fish out of water" technique that Mr. Banks often uses with citizens of the Culture that find themselves in "less civilized" societies. "

" Love all of Banks' sci-fi books. "

" Not one of my favourite Culture novels, but still pretty enjoyable. I didn't much care for any of the characters, but the central concept and story were good. "

" Just remember to stay away from walls of fire when approached. "

" Relentlessly single-minded, occasionally exciting, and packed with indecipherable moral commentary on aggression and dominance. The real triumphs here are the tense blow-by-blow descriptions of a game nobody can understand. "

" My second Culture book and second from Mr Banks. I've thoroughly enjoyed them both (this and Consider Phlebas) I look forward to reading the others and maybe some of Mr Banks other works as well. "

" My favorite book of the Culture series. "

" I Have started reading the culture series in order, and this was a far better book then Consider Phelbas. I kind of saw the plot twist coming just like everyone else, but it was enjoyable none the less. It definitely got me hooked on the series. "

" The best of the Culture novels in my opinion, just a great story with plenty of Banks's brilliant ideas of how a futuristic society might work, and before he decided you needed 700 pages to tell a story. "

" Banks is an incredible SF writer and Culture series is one of a kind set of books. "

" The story itself is a typical Federation v.s. Empire, but the idea of Culture as a post-scarcity, super-liberal utopia is interesting and overall it's an entertaining, humorous story with some nice insights on politics. "

" Good characters including some machines with personalities. Liked the game playing and the creation of the civilization centered on game playing. It also provided some family bonding - I had to keep my son from stealing it while I was still reading it. "

" The first Culture novel I read, and still my favorite, though others are objectively "better." "

" Starts a bit slow, with the main character being a bit unlikeable, but really draws you in. The end 50% of the book is unputdownable, and the whole thing is beautifully wrapped up. I loved it - and so glad to have revisited it. "