A review by sci_fi_si
The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks

4.0

A verry mixed bag of short stories.
Some were outstanding, even mind-blowing. The kind of stories that make you feel small in the universe. One or two felt very off topic (they weren’t even sci-fi).
The titular novella was a well-rounded story. The first (and as far as I know, only) culture story set on Earth. It featured two culture members, debating the value of Earth.