philwells 's review for:

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

4.25

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Iain Banks is one of my favourite authors and this year I’m re-reading all his science fiction novels for the first time in about 30 years. This was my fifth read, the second in the Culture series.

The story revolves around Jernau Morat Gurgeh, an expert game-player. Driven by boredom and the antics of a deliciously psychopathic drone, Mawhrin-Skel, Gurgeh leaves the Culture for the distant Empire of Azad. The Azadians have conceived a fabulously complex game that is entwined with their very way of life, and Gurgeh wants to see how well he can play it. However all is not what it seems, both in Azad itself and in the Culture’s reasons for agreeing to send him there…

The Player of Games is probably the best of the novels I’ve read so far. It’s relatively short, and moves the plot along briskly with none of the filler found in some of Banks’ other novels. It’s also a great insight into the Culture, and especially the meddling that Contact and Special Circumstances like to perform in other cultures.