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The Player of Games
The Culture — a human/machine symbiotic society — has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy.
Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game. . . a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life — and very possibly his death.
The Culture Series
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
The State of the Art
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
More Books from Iain M. Banks
Reviews
Slow to start. Builds and ends pretty well. Not what I expected in general. I think I liked it but definitely not a favorite.
By Chris22surf
After moderately enjoying “Consider Phlebas,” I took a chance on this book based on a number of reviews saying this one was much better. Those reviews were 100% correct. I did not think a book about essentially a chess player good be so enjoyable.
By russllj
Utterly Transporting, provocative with a deeply satisfying finish.
By Wurtis1
Terrific and engaging, I didn't love consider phlebas, but player of games hooked me I to the culture series? I recommend it.
By Corey Krosting
Banks creates a challenge: a world without problems and characters without worry, and then asks us to care. Halfway through this novel, I didn’t care. So what if the Gamer might lose some prestige (in a society where there’s little if any). So what if he may not win a high profile political/societal contest. It’s a bit like arguing over a D&D dice roll. Yet … in the end, Banks does a decent job. His story still lacks any real emotional pull, but it’s well written, expertly thought out, and enjoyable. Though that sets the bar low, it’s enough.
By JRubino