mobysbooks 's review for:

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

3.5

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This is the first of Iain M. Banks' 'Culture' books, which to my knowledge is not a continuous series but a set of 10 standalone scifi novels. The Culture is a hedonistic, hyper advanced post-scarcity galactic utopia, and a human-machine hybrid society. They are at war with the Idirans, a dogmatic and martial alien race to whom the Culture's vices and their machines are anathema.

This grand-scale stage is only a lavish backdrop for the much smaller story we are following. Our protagonist Horza is a shapeshifter who works for the Idirans despite being human (if genetically engineered), and after a series of unfortunate events he finds himself with a ragtag group of mercenaries who are always on the hunt for 'easy way in, easy way out' heists.

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. The plot is entertaining but not groundbreakingly unique, action-heavy and fast-paced up to a certain point. Banks has created a vibrant world with intriguing concepts. The small story that takes place in the vast space opera feels authentic, but also leaves you longing for more of the epic stuff that the story only occasionally touches on.

The main characters were well developed and stuck with me, while some minor ones were one-dimensional. In the case of one quite peculiar character I asked myself why they were even in the story. It's generally well written and action sequences are exciting.

What pulled this down from 4 to 3.5 stars: the pacing gets excruciatingly slow towards the end, which feels odd because in most stories it picks up towards the climax. This caused my excitement to wane in the last few chapters and made me want to get it over with.

It's a decent, but not great book that still leaves me wanting to learn more about the Culture. The consensus among fans is that book two is a vast improvement, and some even recommend skipping this one altogether. So I have high hopes for the next book, "The Player of Games".