Iain
M. Banks Culture novels
represent some the greatest science fiction of the last twenty-five years. The
Player of Games is the second of nine Culture novels released so far and like the
other Culture novels it revels in its ability to go out on a limb and explore
big ideas whilst providing well-developed characters and compelling plots.
Perhaps
the greatest achievement of Banks’ science fiction writing is his ability to
overturn tired clichés of the genre and make them exciting and fresh again.
Banks’ imagination is something to admire – it seems that he is never short of
a great idea. It also helps that Banks’ writing is highly literate, displaying
a level of sophistication not always seen in science fiction.
The
Culture is a representation of human civilization thousands of years into the
future. In The Player of Games one character refers to the benefits of eleven
thousand years of space travel. They travel in style too, with a range of
massive spacecraft that are ‘Minds’ – conscious, sentient, intelligent and with
senses of humour. The Culture also has varied habitats. This time the
protagonist lives on an artificial structure orbiting a sun with ‘plates’ -
massive artificially constructed environments with landmasses and oceans.
Another feature of the Culture are the ‘drones’ – sentient machines that share
equal rights with humans. Basically the Culture is a near utopian society in
which technology is almost boundless and where no needs or wants remain
unfulfilled. Of course it’s not as simple as that and the Culture certainly has
its dark side - represented by the mysterious and sometimes nefarious
organisations ‘Special Circumstances and ‘Contact.’
The
Player of Games is the story of Jernau Morat Gurgeh, one of the greatest game players
the Culture has ever seen. As far as protagonists go Gurgeh is complex, flawed
and grumpy but likeable. In fact I think that Gurgeh is modeled on the author himself.
Gurgeh is described bearded with pointed features, which is how you could
describe Banks
himself.
After
years of winning and luxuriating within the Culture Gurgeh is bored. When he
mentions this to his drone friend Chamlis, some strings are pulled and Gurgeh
finds himself being visited by a rather contrite drone from Contact. Gurgeh
eventually finds himself on the way to the Small Cloud of Magellan
(called the Lesser Cloud by the Culture) to the Empire of Azad - a barbarous
but complex civilization that is dominated by a game that mimics life itself
and helps decide who will rule and who will fall by the wayside.
What
transpires is compelling entertainment and is never predictable. Having said
that I guessed what was really going on at a certain point, but then perhaps
I’ve read too many science fiction novels. Banks doesn’t bog down the narrative
by trying to explain how the game works, instead he focuses on the
psychological intensity of actually playing the game itself for both Gurgeh and
his opponents. Along the way there are plenty of entertaining encounters with
the Azadians, a race of beings that have three sexes and whose society is
intensely hierarchical.
Perhaps
the most entertaining section of the book is when the game players travel to
the planet of Echronedal, a fire planet with a bizarre ecology dominated by the
incandescence – a strip of volcanic fire that travels around the equator. The
planet’s ecology is based around this destructive fire and Banks makes the
effort to explain how it all works. Banks’ imagination is wild but he always
makes the effort to build a cogent world around his sometimes outré ideas. On
Echronedal Banks also indulges in his love of castles, with the final rounds of
the game being played within the halls of a giant and sombre castle. Here the
novel reaches an exciting and terrible climax.
Player
of Games
is one of the best Culture novels I’ve read. As usual Banks delivers well-drawn
characters, including the machines, coupled with a tightly constructed plot
that is littered with excellently executed ideas. You couldn’t ask for more
really and I’m looking forward to finally catching up with the last couple of
Culture novels – Matter (2008) and Surface Detail (2010) before the new one – The
Hydrogen Sonatas is released. If you are curious about modern science fiction or have
never read Banks, then head on down to your favourite bookstore (you do have
one right?) and invest in this great writer’s works, you will not regret it.
