A review by neko_cam
The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

2.0

There were small snippets of interesting elements which were sadly diluted by the unignorable agedness of the story. Some of the intricacies of the Cultural norms, logically arising from their post-human origins, piqued my interest, as did Banks' visceral and affecting depiction of the dark underbelly of the non-Culture alien society. Nevertheless, overall the story moved too slow for my tastes and there was a jarring moment of characterisation for the protagonist which didn't feel believable at all for me (I won't be more specific for fear of spoilers). Overall a serviceable classic sci-fi novel but not enjoyable enough to draw me into the rest of the Culture series.