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

3.0

I think I enjoyed a few of the stories in this collection such that I would rate them a 4 or so, but the namesake of the book, which was by far the longest, was definitely only a 3 for me. It had moments that were interesting, and seeing the culture so brazenly clash with the earth of our time (more or less) was fascinating, but overall it was rather dull. I also didn’t agree with the culture’s ultimate decision to watch the earth without interfering. Maybe wishful thinking on my part, but I would like to think a civilization as advanced as the culture would (at least!) try and intervene on behalf of all the oppressed and exploited, destitute and suffering individuals on the planet.