Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

7 reviews

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

catsy2022's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Sexism, Torture, Sexual content, Blood, Transphobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

noonjinx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is the first Iain M Banks novel I've read and I really enjoyed it. It's big far future space opera, but the focus is on the characters (some of them AI drones). The pacing is great with peaceful sections interspersed with violence and threat building to a satisfying conclusion. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture and Murder

its_kievan's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.0

My first Culture novel, and an underwhelming one at that. The idea I had going in was of the Culture as a socialist society in space, and where the novels dealt with how such a society would function and how it coped with outsiders. The Player of Games... kind of did that. The problem was that making the main character standoffish and filled with existential ennui meant that the Culture kind of seemed a sucky place to live, and the book never gives it much depth. What does everyday life look like in an advanced, post-scarcity civilization? Well, people play a lot of games and go to parties and sometimes change their sex, and that's about it. Banks does an impressive job of taking an utterly fascinating concept (that also fits my own political views) and turning it into something rather bland and undesirable. There's also the fact that this entire book revolves around Azad - a game whose rules we never learn, and which is described so vaguely I was mostly just waiting for Banks to outright tell me who was winning. This book was disappointing, and all the more so for offering glimpses of the much better book it should have been.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Torture, and Drug use

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

spikespiegel's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

The Player of Games is about the patriarchy. It explores a frighteningly dysfunctional empire of a race with a gender ternary. One gender holds complete power in the society, while also being entirely beholden to the nightmare machine they've created. It's about how patriarchy is violent and unsustainable, and is detrimental to everyone in society (though obviously to a much lesser degree to those in power or privilege).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexism, and Sexual content

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