Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

6 reviews

manuphoto's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

An excellent read. The story is original and better spelled out that many similar ones (sci-fi revolving around games).

Gurgeh is an intriguing character and Banks uses his strengths and flaws in a very smart way. The drones and sentient ships are also very well fleshed out.

There is also some dark humour that I enjoyed.

The plot is relatively simple but interesting and the pacing is very good. Overall, an excellent book and a nice introduction to the Culture series for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence and Slavery

cerebulon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Death, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Slavery, Racism, War, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Body horror, and Forced institutionalization

gilnean's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Torture, Child abuse, and Sexual violence

inferiorwit's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child death, Incest, War, Torture, Suicide, Rape, and Pregnancy

thetarantulalounge's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

The Player of Games is the second in seven “Culture series” novels by Iain M. Banks. However, the novels don’t need to be read in order (or so I’m told). I started here and got along just fine. 

In The Player of Games, Gurgeh is a well-known game player in The Culture – what appears to be a federated community of like-minded humanoid and synthezoid beings dedicated to the finer things in life. Work isn’t necessary, space is free to roam, decadent space islands are created at whim, and things are just like one long Fyre Fest, I guess? 

Our protagonist, the titular Player of Games, is Gurgeh. He is, and I don’t think this has ever been done in a novel before, a kind of sad guy who is good at something and who women are drawn to. And he is looking for more out of life. 

That’s why Gurgeh perks up when someone from The Culture shows up and asks him to commit to a five-year journey to another culture to play a game. But not just any game. An important and confusing game. Gurgeh doesn’t have much going on, so he agrees and boards a sentient spaceship for a two-year trip to the empire of Azad. 

The culture of Azad is more or less based on the game of Azad and vice-versa. It’s a complicated mix of card games and then room-sized board games. Kind of like a 4-d chess experience? Gurgeh, a complete outsider to the culture, must try to learn the game, not commit any social faux pas against the (relatively) barbaric culture, and survive the journey home. It’s a little bit mystery, a little bit social commentary, a little bit of world-building. 

Overall this was an enjoyable and quick-paced read. As you can probably imagine, The Culture and Azad have more and less in common than one would think at first blush. Banks has some interesting things to say about “the game,” language, economics, power, gender, sex (although some of it is dated) and more. I feel no compulsion to go grab another book from the Culture series, but this one left me with plenty of highlights and long nights page turning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

charleyroxy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Drug use, and Alcoholism