Reviews

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

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wauyan's review against another edition

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Too overwhelming. Jumped into the second and from then on loved the Culture. Still need to get back to this one.

trigonomitron's review

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3.0

I eventually gave up on this book, with 200 pages to go. I really enjoyed the setting, but I had a difficult time caring about the characters outside of the main character. The main thing that kept me reading was that I wanted to see if the story was headed towards the cliche "Transcendent AI" at the end (the same ending as Ghost in the Shell, and many other AI-MacGuffin plots). It was my hope that Barks defies my expectations as he drives the entire story in that direction in some form of clever subversion. Maybe one day I'll pick the book back up and see if he does or not.

But for now, the book was just too long for the low interest characters that drove it. Sometimes, when picking up a book gets to feel like a chore, I just have to stop picking it up.

I mean, it's a good story, and I recommend it. I believe my issues with it are purely personal and a matter of taste. The prose is well written and pleasant to read. Like I said, the setting is very cool. It really hooks into my imagination and sparks daydreams of the many adventures that could be had there.

teokajlibroj's review

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2.0

Well that sucked. I'm not sure why, but I felt bored for most of this book. For whatever reason I just couldn't connect with the characters or the plot, I just didn't care. None of them were interesting, all the scenes were described so poorly I couldn't picture them and even the action scenes seemed dull. The world was as bland as the plot, one race are warlike religious savages and the other are soft cosmopolitan and technologically advanced.

Most of the book was a collection of short stories that had little to do with the main plot. The card game was hyped up massively without any payoff. The interludes were pointless mumbo jumbo. The scene with the cannibals was bizarre and completely out of place. Even the ending seemed out of place, pointless and contrived. There was no reason for them to be fighting each other and it was ridiculous the Culture never tried to retrieve the Mind or Belveda was such a willing captive.

agirlandherlibrarian's review

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2.0

I tried, I failed. I read 3/4 of the book and I just couldn't get around all the things this poor man had been put through. I found it dry, hard to connect with and lacking in any kind of attachment to the characters.

I didn't care what happened to anybody, too fantastical, too out there, just no, sorry :(