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spitzig's review against another edition
I've been a little disappointed by the Culture books since Player of Games. It was such a different type of plot.
This was a collection of short stories. Hit or miss.
This was a collection of short stories. Hit or miss.
sonice's review against another edition
3.0
Blended score of 3.0 stars. Overall I enjoyed this a lot and the score might be a little misleading. One short story in particular really dragged it down, however this was only about 5 pages long and so didn't detract from my enjoyment of the collection overall.
Road of Skulls: 3 stars, like a lot of these I found this to be more valuable in terms of the time I spent reflecting on it afterward, as opposed to the actual story itself. Really, a lot of these are thought pieces in that way.
A gift from the Culture: 3 stars as well. Like the above, this one is more about what the story implies about the Culture than it is about the characters or plot.
Odd Attachment: 5 stars, I laughed out loud and thought this one was super clever.
Descendant: 4.5 stars. I didn't see it coming. Very enjoyable.
Piece: 2 stars, not a Culture story at all, more of a rambling anti-religious rant, which (regardless of whether or not I agree with) just seemed off-tone for the rest of the collection.
Scratch: 1 star....I read this over twice and I have no clue what it's supposed to be.
Cleaning Up: 4 stars. Again I found this one funny, and also somewhat accurate in terms of how humanity responded to what was going on.
The State of the Art: 3.5 stars. A lot to think over here. More about the ideas, and the perspectives of the characters, than about the plot itself. I think this one will be popping up in my thoughts for a few days.
Overall, a short read and completely worth it if you're at all an Iain Banks/Culture fan.
Road of Skulls: 3 stars, like a lot of these I found this to be more valuable in terms of the time I spent reflecting on it afterward, as opposed to the actual story itself. Really, a lot of these are thought pieces in that way.
A gift from the Culture: 3 stars as well. Like the above, this one is more about what the story implies about the Culture than it is about the characters or plot.
Odd Attachment: 5 stars, I laughed out loud and thought this one was super clever.
Descendant: 4.5 stars. I didn't see it coming. Very enjoyable.
Piece: 2 stars, not a Culture story at all, more of a rambling anti-religious rant, which (regardless of whether or not I agree with) just seemed off-tone for the rest of the collection.
Scratch: 1 star....I read this over twice and I have no clue what it's supposed to be.
Cleaning Up: 4 stars. Again I found this one funny, and also somewhat accurate in terms of how humanity responded to what was going on.
The State of the Art: 3.5 stars. A lot to think over here. More about the ideas, and the perspectives of the characters, than about the plot itself. I think this one will be popping up in my thoughts for a few days.
Overall, a short read and completely worth it if you're at all an Iain Banks/Culture fan.
library_rift's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
rossborkett's review against another edition
3.0
Collection of short stories which I found mixed, but the actual State of the Art novella was excellent. Has added more to the Culture universe and looking forward to continuing the series
jmoses's review against another edition
3.0
Although this book was indeed about Culture, it wasn't quite what i wanted. Sure, it was a good, entertaining read. It just wasn't what I was hoping for, and it was too short, more a novella. I'm still holding out for a epic about the Culture.
-edit-
Ah, i see it was actually a novella. I still wish it had been longer.
-edit-
Also, for whatever reason, I couldn't get Scalzi's "The Sagan Diary" out of my head. It's not that they're really very similar (although both feature a strong female main character), I think it's just that both are short, semi-memoir style (in theory authored *by* the main character). Am I the only crazy one that feels that way?
-edit-
Ah, i see it was actually a novella. I still wish it had been longer.
-edit-
Also, for whatever reason, I couldn't get Scalzi's "The Sagan Diary" out of my head. It's not that they're really very similar (although both feature a strong female main character), I think it's just that both are short, semi-memoir style (in theory authored *by* the main character). Am I the only crazy one that feels that way?
radbear76's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.0
Fairly entertaining, but not as enjoyable as some of his other works.
iskanderjonesiv's review against another edition
4.0
The first ever collection of Iain Banks' short fiction, this volume includes the acclaimed novella, The State of the Art. This is a striking addition to the growing body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. The other stories in the collection range from science fiction to horror, dark-coated fantasy to morality tale. All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks' staggering talent.
**
grimboj's review against another edition
4.0
The first thing that I struggled with in this book is finding out what it is! After some research I concluded that it’s a collection of short stories set in the culture universe with one story taking up 60% of the book. Most of the short stories are a good read but the main story didn’t half drag and descend into a rant about modern society. Would recommend if entering with no expectations.
greenblack's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5