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Culture #1-3
Il ciclo della cultura: Prima trilogia
La Cultura è una società ideale, anarchica e socialista, che grazie alla tecnologia ha sconfitto la scarsità di risorse ed esercita la sua benefica egemonia su gran parte della galassia. Morte, malattia, fame, violenza non esistono più, ognuno è libero e tutti sono uguali. Poi, accade che la Cultura entri in contatto con una specie aliena, difficile da gestire: gli umani che abitano sul pianeta Terra...
960 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 25, 2012
36 people are currently reading
2003 people want to read
About the author
Iain M. Banks
58 books6,557 followersIain M. Banks is a pseudonym of Iain Banks which he used to publish his Science Fiction.
Banks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife.
Banks met his wife Annie in London, before the release of his first book. They married in Hawaii in 1992. However, he announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated. He lived most recently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.
As with his friend Ken MacLeod (another Scottish writer of technical and social science fiction) a strong awareness of left-wing history shows in his writings. The argument that an economy of abundance renders anarchy and adhocracy viable (or even inevitable) attracts many as an interesting potential experiment, were it ever to become testable. He was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence.
In late 2004, Banks was a prominent member of a group of British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In protest he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street. In an interview in Socialist Review he claimed he did this after he "abandoned the idea of crashing my Land Rover through the gates of Fife dockyard, after spotting the guys armed with machine guns." He related his concerns about the invasion of Iraq in his book Raw Spirit, and the principal protagonist (Alban McGill) in the novel The Steep Approach to Garbadale confronts another character with arguments in a similar vein.
Interviewed on Mark Lawson's BBC Four series, first broadcast in the UK on 14 November 2006, Banks explained why his novels are published under two different names. His parents wished to name him Iain Menzies Banks but his father made a mistake when registering the birth and he was officially registered as Iain Banks. Despite this he continued to use his unofficial middle name and it was as Iain M. Banks that he submitted The Wasp Factory for publication. However, his editor asked if he would mind dropping the 'M' as it appeared "too fussy". The editor was also concerned about possible confusion with Rosie M. Banks, a minor character in some of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels who is a romantic novelist. After his first three mainstream novels his publishers agreed to publish his first SF novel, Consider Phlebas. To distinguish between the mainstream and SF novels, Banks suggested the return of the 'M', although at one stage he considered John B. Macallan as his SF pseudonym, the name deriving from his favourite whiskies: Johnnie Walker Black Label and The Macallan single malt.
His latest book was a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called The Hydrogen Sonata, published in 2012.
Author Iain M. Banks revealed in April 2013 that he had late-stage cancer. He died the following June.
The Scottish writer posted a message on his official website saying his next novel The Quarry, due to be published later this year*, would be his last.
*The Quarry was published in June 2013.
Banks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife.
Banks met his wife Annie in London, before the release of his first book. They married in Hawaii in 1992. However, he announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated. He lived most recently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.
As with his friend Ken MacLeod (another Scottish writer of technical and social science fiction) a strong awareness of left-wing history shows in his writings. The argument that an economy of abundance renders anarchy and adhocracy viable (or even inevitable) attracts many as an interesting potential experiment, were it ever to become testable. He was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence.
In late 2004, Banks was a prominent member of a group of British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In protest he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street. In an interview in Socialist Review he claimed he did this after he "abandoned the idea of crashing my Land Rover through the gates of Fife dockyard, after spotting the guys armed with machine guns." He related his concerns about the invasion of Iraq in his book Raw Spirit, and the principal protagonist (Alban McGill) in the novel The Steep Approach to Garbadale confronts another character with arguments in a similar vein.
Interviewed on Mark Lawson's BBC Four series, first broadcast in the UK on 14 November 2006, Banks explained why his novels are published under two different names. His parents wished to name him Iain Menzies Banks but his father made a mistake when registering the birth and he was officially registered as Iain Banks. Despite this he continued to use his unofficial middle name and it was as Iain M. Banks that he submitted The Wasp Factory for publication. However, his editor asked if he would mind dropping the 'M' as it appeared "too fussy". The editor was also concerned about possible confusion with Rosie M. Banks, a minor character in some of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels who is a romantic novelist. After his first three mainstream novels his publishers agreed to publish his first SF novel, Consider Phlebas. To distinguish between the mainstream and SF novels, Banks suggested the return of the 'M', although at one stage he considered John B. Macallan as his SF pseudonym, the name deriving from his favourite whiskies: Johnnie Walker Black Label and The Macallan single malt.
His latest book was a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called The Hydrogen Sonata, published in 2012.
Author Iain M. Banks revealed in April 2013 that he had late-stage cancer. He died the following June.
The Scottish writer posted a message on his official website saying his next novel The Quarry, due to be published later this year*, would be his last.
*The Quarry was published in June 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 18, 2014
I have read all of Iain M Banks books, and this boxset brings together the first three books in The Culture series.
It is interesting to speculate that when Iain M Banks wrote these story he definitely was not thinking about a series or a trilogy,and for us Iain M Bank purists it is entertaining to see them boxed up in this way, because in all honesty, Iain M Banks only ever wrote stand alone novels.
My point being that this is not a trilogy, you don't have to read the books in any particular order, and you can read one and never read the other two or vice versa.
To recap The ten books of the Culture are: Consider Phlebas, 1987; The Player of Games,1988; Use of Weapons, 1990; The State of the Art, 1991; Excession, 1996; Inversions, 1998; Look to Windward,2000; Matter,2008; Surface Detail, 2010; The Hydrogen Sonata, 2012.
To summarise each of these books:
Consider Phlebas is the story of anti-hero Horza who fight against The Culture
The Player of Games is about Gurgeh a bored Culture citizen who is blackmailed into fighting a very unique kind of game war on behalf of the Culture
The State of the Art is about three siblings who from a golden childhood see their lives descend into the murder and cruelty of civil war. The Culture wants to intervene to help them but... Things are never what they seem.
Personally I like the Player of Games the best. To my mind with its echoes in contemporary game culture it is the most accessible of iain M Banks texts, and I love the civilisation of Azad which has so many echoes of our own world.
However once you get started on The Culture novels, once Iain M Banks voice start to speak to you, you will be hooked for life, and eternally grateful that there in fact 10 distinct novels in this series to enjoy.
It is interesting to speculate that when Iain M Banks wrote these story he definitely was not thinking about a series or a trilogy,and for us Iain M Bank purists it is entertaining to see them boxed up in this way, because in all honesty, Iain M Banks only ever wrote stand alone novels.
My point being that this is not a trilogy, you don't have to read the books in any particular order, and you can read one and never read the other two or vice versa.
To recap The ten books of the Culture are: Consider Phlebas, 1987; The Player of Games,1988; Use of Weapons, 1990; The State of the Art, 1991; Excession, 1996; Inversions, 1998; Look to Windward,2000; Matter,2008; Surface Detail, 2010; The Hydrogen Sonata, 2012.
To summarise each of these books:
Consider Phlebas is the story of anti-hero Horza who fight against The Culture
The Player of Games is about Gurgeh a bored Culture citizen who is blackmailed into fighting a very unique kind of game war on behalf of the Culture
The State of the Art is about three siblings who from a golden childhood see their lives descend into the murder and cruelty of civil war. The Culture wants to intervene to help them but... Things are never what they seem.
Personally I like the Player of Games the best. To my mind with its echoes in contemporary game culture it is the most accessible of iain M Banks texts, and I love the civilisation of Azad which has so many echoes of our own world.
However once you get started on The Culture novels, once Iain M Banks voice start to speak to you, you will be hooked for life, and eternally grateful that there in fact 10 distinct novels in this series to enjoy.
June 17, 2024
This is a bundle of the first three novels in Iain Banks' Culture Series (Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games and Use of Weapons), and it starts with quite a few bangs! Space opera at its best and then some, even though I have to admit that I enjoyed the first two book far more than the third.
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Il volume raccoglie i primi tre romanzi della serie della Cultura di Iain Banks (Pensa a Fleba, L'Impero di Azad e La Guerra di Zakalwe) e si inizia con un gran bel botto! Space opera al suo meglio e anche di più, ma devo ammettere che mi sono piaciuti molto di più i primi due libri del terzo.
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Il volume raccoglie i primi tre romanzi della serie della Cultura di Iain Banks (Pensa a Fleba, L'Impero di Azad e La Guerra di Zakalwe) e si inizia con un gran bel botto! Space opera al suo meglio e anche di più, ma devo ammettere che mi sono piaciuti molto di più i primi due libri del terzo.
July 20, 2018
¿Quiere saber más de estos tres libros, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
June 7, 2013
A boring story in a fascinating world
JDN 2456450 EDT 20:40
A review of Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
The bad: The characters are flat and uninteresting, and often die unceremoniously, sometimes before we even get to know them. The plot is linear and centers around a 'mystery' that was never that mysterious, and doesn't even get resolved. The prose is needlessly flowery and often includes long digressions into quasi-poetic forms that are clearly meant to be confusing, often with no good reason to be confusing. The text often refuses to tell us things that the characters would obviously know already, at least until the right dramatic moment. The title makes no sense to me.
The good: The worldbuilding. My goodness, the worldbuilding. Basically the entire book is an excuse to take us through this rich, bizarre, and fascinating world. The Idirans would be a fascinating alien culture unto themselves, and they are unimportant next to the Culture, whose utopian galactic society is an endless source of marvel and wonder. Some of the worldbuilding doesn't make a whole lot of sense logically—I can see no reason to make the Orbitals as big as they are; I don't understand why one would build Megaships or why they'd take years to accelerate; and Damage sounds like a brutal gladiatorial game that no civilized society would tolerate—but this is easily forgiven when the world is so rich and fascinating. The most interesting characters are all AIs; they have far more unique and interesting personalities than any of the humans, and their moral conflicts are richer as well. Of course, nothing about their behavior would actually lead you to believe that they are (as alleged) superintelligent beings with more thinking capacity than our entire planet combined; but, to be fair, that's really hard to write, without being yourself such a superintelligent being.
The weird: I had thought the stories took place in a post-Singularity future, because that would actually make sense. But when you read the appendices, you learn that in fact the stories take place in the past; the events of Consider Phlebas occur sometime around 1350 AD. And yes, it's really AD; it specifically says "English language/Christian calendar". So this galactic war which destroyed 53 planets, 14,000 planet-sized Orbitals, a Ring (which I assume is an AU-radius ringworld) three Spheres (which I assume are AU-radius Dyson Spheres) and six stars... happened sometime in the Late Middle Ages.
Now, you might be thinking: How would we know? Well, obviously people in the Late Middle Ages wouldn't have known. But today, we would, actually. Our astronomy is developed to the point where we would be able to tell, if nothing else, that there are Dyson Spheres. (We might even be able to see Orbitals and Rings.) Our biology is developed to the point where we can say definitively that Homo sapiens evolved indigenously on Earth, meaning that we could not have been some sort of offshoot 'seeded' by the Culture. While the first prokaryotes on Earth might have arrived from outer space (some scientists think so; personally I'm dubious of even that), it is very clear that we and apes came from the same planet. Which means that these other 'humans' are either not really humans or they somehow came from Earth. (There is some textual support for the 'not really humans' hypothesis: There seem to be a number of different kinds of 'humans', including some covered in fur, some much taller, some with green skin, and so on. I had thought these were post-Singularity bodymods, but they could also be read as different species from different planets, with 'human' meaning something like 'sapient biped'.)
Apparently we're due to be Contacted in 2100 AD, though we've already been scouted covertly by a General Contact Unit in 1970. (I haven't read that story, just read about it. 1970 seems a very interesting choice: Did they detect the Apollo missions? Or was that just coincidence?) So in about 90 years we're due to meet this Culture; the General Contact Unit will reveal itself at last and make Contact. Which brings me to...
The problem: There has got to be something else worth doing in your utopian society besides Contact. The whole point of being a utopia is that it's worth living there. Yet Iain Banks seems to struggle with this; he describes Contact as the raison d'être of the Culture, the unifying purpose that is the core of their existence. From the appendices: "The Culture's sole justification for the relatively unworried, hedonistic life its population enjoyed was its good works; the secular evangelism of the Contact Section, not simply finding, cataloguing, investigating and analyzing other, less advanced civilizations but—where the circumstances appeared to Contact to justify so doing—actually interfering (overtly or covertly) in the historical processes of those other cultures. […] Contact could either disengage and admit defeat—so giving the lie not simply to its own reason for existence but to the only justificatory action which allowed the pampered, self-consciously fortunate people of the Culture to enjoy their lives with a clear conscience—or it could fight."
Indeed, Banks could not seem to write a story about utopia; instead, he wrote a story about a war with utopia. The Culture is a backdrop for a massive war that involves hundreds of billions of deaths. Virtually none of the story actually occurs within the bounds of the Culture itself; in fact, what little does is from the point of view of Special Circumstances agents, that is, the Culture's covert operations division. We are told that the universe is full of a quadrillion happy, fulfilled, virtually immortal lives; but the few dozen we actually meet are in a constant state of fear and suffering before their sudden and untimely demise.
I can't really blame Banks for this; actually it's one of the things I've struggled with the most as an author. How do you tell interesting stories about worlds you'd actually want to live in? Is the reason utopian fiction never succeeds that there just aren't an interesting stories to tell about a happy world? But then, how good can the world be if there are no interesting stories to tell about it? Is it a defect in the human brain to thrive upon suffering, to define our reality based upon strife? Is it possible to have a happy story, and not just a happy ending?
JDN 2456450 EDT 20:40
A review of Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
The bad: The characters are flat and uninteresting, and often die unceremoniously, sometimes before we even get to know them. The plot is linear and centers around a 'mystery' that was never that mysterious, and doesn't even get resolved. The prose is needlessly flowery and often includes long digressions into quasi-poetic forms that are clearly meant to be confusing, often with no good reason to be confusing. The text often refuses to tell us things that the characters would obviously know already, at least until the right dramatic moment. The title makes no sense to me.
The good: The worldbuilding. My goodness, the worldbuilding. Basically the entire book is an excuse to take us through this rich, bizarre, and fascinating world. The Idirans would be a fascinating alien culture unto themselves, and they are unimportant next to the Culture, whose utopian galactic society is an endless source of marvel and wonder. Some of the worldbuilding doesn't make a whole lot of sense logically—I can see no reason to make the Orbitals as big as they are; I don't understand why one would build Megaships or why they'd take years to accelerate; and Damage sounds like a brutal gladiatorial game that no civilized society would tolerate—but this is easily forgiven when the world is so rich and fascinating. The most interesting characters are all AIs; they have far more unique and interesting personalities than any of the humans, and their moral conflicts are richer as well. Of course, nothing about their behavior would actually lead you to believe that they are (as alleged) superintelligent beings with more thinking capacity than our entire planet combined; but, to be fair, that's really hard to write, without being yourself such a superintelligent being.
The weird: I had thought the stories took place in a post-Singularity future, because that would actually make sense. But when you read the appendices, you learn that in fact the stories take place in the past; the events of Consider Phlebas occur sometime around 1350 AD. And yes, it's really AD; it specifically says "English language/Christian calendar". So this galactic war which destroyed 53 planets, 14,000 planet-sized Orbitals, a Ring (which I assume is an AU-radius ringworld) three Spheres (which I assume are AU-radius Dyson Spheres) and six stars... happened sometime in the Late Middle Ages.
Now, you might be thinking: How would we know? Well, obviously people in the Late Middle Ages wouldn't have known. But today, we would, actually. Our astronomy is developed to the point where we would be able to tell, if nothing else, that there are Dyson Spheres. (We might even be able to see Orbitals and Rings.) Our biology is developed to the point where we can say definitively that Homo sapiens evolved indigenously on Earth, meaning that we could not have been some sort of offshoot 'seeded' by the Culture. While the first prokaryotes on Earth might have arrived from outer space (some scientists think so; personally I'm dubious of even that), it is very clear that we and apes came from the same planet. Which means that these other 'humans' are either not really humans or they somehow came from Earth. (There is some textual support for the 'not really humans' hypothesis: There seem to be a number of different kinds of 'humans', including some covered in fur, some much taller, some with green skin, and so on. I had thought these were post-Singularity bodymods, but they could also be read as different species from different planets, with 'human' meaning something like 'sapient biped'.)
Apparently we're due to be Contacted in 2100 AD, though we've already been scouted covertly by a General Contact Unit in 1970. (I haven't read that story, just read about it. 1970 seems a very interesting choice: Did they detect the Apollo missions? Or was that just coincidence?) So in about 90 years we're due to meet this Culture; the General Contact Unit will reveal itself at last and make Contact. Which brings me to...
The problem: There has got to be something else worth doing in your utopian society besides Contact. The whole point of being a utopia is that it's worth living there. Yet Iain Banks seems to struggle with this; he describes Contact as the raison d'être of the Culture, the unifying purpose that is the core of their existence. From the appendices: "The Culture's sole justification for the relatively unworried, hedonistic life its population enjoyed was its good works; the secular evangelism of the Contact Section, not simply finding, cataloguing, investigating and analyzing other, less advanced civilizations but—where the circumstances appeared to Contact to justify so doing—actually interfering (overtly or covertly) in the historical processes of those other cultures. […] Contact could either disengage and admit defeat—so giving the lie not simply to its own reason for existence but to the only justificatory action which allowed the pampered, self-consciously fortunate people of the Culture to enjoy their lives with a clear conscience—or it could fight."
Indeed, Banks could not seem to write a story about utopia; instead, he wrote a story about a war with utopia. The Culture is a backdrop for a massive war that involves hundreds of billions of deaths. Virtually none of the story actually occurs within the bounds of the Culture itself; in fact, what little does is from the point of view of Special Circumstances agents, that is, the Culture's covert operations division. We are told that the universe is full of a quadrillion happy, fulfilled, virtually immortal lives; but the few dozen we actually meet are in a constant state of fear and suffering before their sudden and untimely demise.
I can't really blame Banks for this; actually it's one of the things I've struggled with the most as an author. How do you tell interesting stories about worlds you'd actually want to live in? Is the reason utopian fiction never succeeds that there just aren't an interesting stories to tell about a happy world? But then, how good can the world be if there are no interesting stories to tell about it? Is it a defect in the human brain to thrive upon suffering, to define our reality based upon strife? Is it possible to have a happy story, and not just a happy ending?
February 7, 2020
Such a suberb, unrivaled depiction of a fictional sci-fi Universe is made possible by a good balance between the complexity of world-buidling and maintaining accesibility throughout.
Humanities 'Utopian' far-future Type 3 Karadashev society is believable due to present-day developments having been imagined through to their logical conclusions.
An example of this being the depiction of A.I. as autonomous Superintelligences, individualistic, sentient mavericks, bound to humitity not by servitude but by a symbiosis of mutual progression, appreciation and understanding. Another being the nature of the Cultures 'Singularity' as an all-pervasive, godlike internet-of-things, but multiplied a thousand-fold.
Humanities 'Utopian' far-future Type 3 Karadashev society is believable due to present-day developments having been imagined through to their logical conclusions.
An example of this being the depiction of A.I. as autonomous Superintelligences, individualistic, sentient mavericks, bound to humitity not by servitude but by a symbiosis of mutual progression, appreciation and understanding. Another being the nature of the Cultures 'Singularity' as an all-pervasive, godlike internet-of-things, but multiplied a thousand-fold.
Want to read
June 27, 2016* 20 books Mark Zuckerberg thinks everyone should read
"The Player of Games" was first published in 1988 and is the second in the "Culture" series. It explores what a civilization would look like if hyper-advanced technology were created to serve human needs and surpassed human capabilities.
Zuckerberg writes that he went with a sci-fi pick as a "change of pace." The novel is also one of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's favorite books due to its entertaining way of exploring plausible advancements in technology.
"The Player of Games" was first published in 1988 and is the second in the "Culture" series. It explores what a civilization would look like if hyper-advanced technology were created to serve human needs and surpassed human capabilities.
Zuckerberg writes that he went with a sci-fi pick as a "change of pace." The novel is also one of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's favorite books due to its entertaining way of exploring plausible advancements in technology.
November 16, 2023
Un affresco straordinario di un futuro vivido e dettagliato. Lettura notevole
July 26, 2024
This book feels like an excuse for the author to show us how intelligent he feels he is peppered with unnecessary violence and horrible situations that serve no purpose. it seems to want to cause shock and hopelessness as its primary goal.
To be fair the book does contain some exciting ideas, however, the author is so flighty going from one to the other without ever fully exploring them or getting to anything that feels worth the time and "trauma" of the situations you read. The only parts he seems to dwell is the parts of the story that are tragic or grotesque.
I really couldn't finish it and the large Group of people in my book club that did finish it agreed that I shouldn't bother, as another reviewer eloquently stated, it ends in pointlessness like the rest of the book. We get what the author is trying to communicate, but unless you are comfortable with a constant lack of conclusion and total pointlessness and want to read one horrible situation after another, save your money and time and read something else.
To be fair the book does contain some exciting ideas, however, the author is so flighty going from one to the other without ever fully exploring them or getting to anything that feels worth the time and "trauma" of the situations you read. The only parts he seems to dwell is the parts of the story that are tragic or grotesque.
I really couldn't finish it and the large Group of people in my book club that did finish it agreed that I shouldn't bother, as another reviewer eloquently stated, it ends in pointlessness like the rest of the book. We get what the author is trying to communicate, but unless you are comfortable with a constant lack of conclusion and total pointlessness and want to read one horrible situation after another, save your money and time and read something else.
July 6, 2018
Ian M. Banks is an underrated & almost unrecognized SF author - his "Culture" series is a mind-expanding view of what humanity could become. I'm excited to see that Amazon plans to bring this novel to TV soon.
April 4, 2022
This site is dumb. I only read the first (Consider Phlebas) but can't find solo copy listed.
Not as predictable as a lot of Sci-Fi, some interesting ideas but also kind of just like an 80s action movie with tech not completely derivative from Trek/Wars.
Not as predictable as a lot of Sci-Fi, some interesting ideas but also kind of just like an 80s action movie with tech not completely derivative from Trek/Wars.
December 22, 2017
Is Iain M. Banks considered underrated? I know he won two Hugo awards, but still?
This series is looking incredibly promising. This boxed set was released for the 25 anniversary.
This series is looking incredibly promising. This boxed set was released for the 25 anniversary.
January 29, 2018
I re-read them, this time in order, which I recommend doing.
September 20, 2020
Truly outstanding!!!
January 5, 2021
Phlebas ****
The Player of Games ****
Use of weapons ** - Boring. Stopped at p. 216
The Player of Games ****
Use of weapons ** - Boring. Stopped at p. 216
July 28, 2025
Pensa a Fleba 28/4-9/7
Questo primo libro della trilogia mi ha messo MOLTO in difficoltà. Le prime 200 pagine non mi hanno entusiasmato ed ho fatto molta fatica a trovare la voglia di leggere. La storia si inserisce nella guerra tra l’impero della Cultura, popolazione che usa le “menti”, leggi AI, per rendere la vita umana più semplice, che ha eliminato i soldi, il lavoro, etc, contro l’impero Iridano, una razza a 3 gambe e una testa a V, che mira all’espansione della propria influenza economica e religiosa. Il protagonista é Horza, un Mutex (umanoide in grado di cambiare la propria forma), alleato con gli Iridani che deve cercare una Mente della Cultura dispersa. L’avventura lo porterà in diversi equipaggi, diversi pianeti, con diversi amici e nemici.
Come dicevo all’inizio, non mi ha fatto impazzire.
L’Impero di Azad 9/7 - 15/7
Già dai tempi di lettura (6 giorni) si può intuire cosa penso di questo secondo capitolo della saga della Cultura: bellissimo. Questo mi ha preso sin dalle prime pagine. La storia é completamente scollegata dalla prima, i fatti avvengono molti anni dopo e c’é solo un piccolo riferimento su quel periodo.
Gurgeh, il nostro protagonista, di professione fa il Giocatore e vive nella Cultura. Non so come raccontare questa storia senza fare spoiler, perché é tutto in dubbio sin dall’inizio.
Vi basti sapere che a volte i giochi rappresentano le società stesse e ne sono parte integrante … d’altronde, cos’é la vita se non un’immensa e variegata scacchiera composta da diverse regole?
Questo libro ci permette di conoscere molto meglio la Cultura e la pone in modo “positivo”, cosa che nel primo romanzo non avevo sinceramente percepito.
La guerra di Zakalwe 15/7 - 28/7
Un altro racconto che ci permette di conoscere le metodologie della Cultura. In questa storia Zakalwe é una di quelle persone che permette alla Cultura di influenzare in modo segreto le guerre nei mondi in cui non ha ancora ufficialmente influenza. Il libro si snocciola in due filoni: il primo, coi capitoli a numeri crescenti, che racconta la storia principale, il secondo, coi capitoli a numeri decrescenti, che racconta diverse storie della vita di Zakalwe.
Cheradenine Zakalwe può essere visto come un agente segreto. Ingaggiato mentre era in punto di morte dalla Cultura, potenziato e reso per sempre giovane, viene inviato sui mondi dove é necessario far propendere una guerra verso una delle due fazioni. Ormai in “pensione”, viene recuperato per gestire una sua vecchia conoscenza. Ci addentreremo quindi in quest’avventura conoscendo sempre meglio il protagonista grazie ai numerosi flashback che vanno a ritroso nella sua vita.
In questo terzo racconto ci chiediamo quanto sia corretta l’influenza che la Cultura applica nelle Galassie. É giusto? É sbagliato? Non avremo di certo una risposta. In generale questo racconto non mi é dispiaciuto, ma ammetto che non mi abbia entusiasmato (come il secondo).
In generale, l’universo della Cultura l’ho trovato piacevole. É la base per molti racconti. Questi sono solo 3, mi piacerebbe riuscire a trovare e leggere anche gli altri.
Trovi le mie recensioni su IG @paolo_legge_fanta
Questo primo libro della trilogia mi ha messo MOLTO in difficoltà. Le prime 200 pagine non mi hanno entusiasmato ed ho fatto molta fatica a trovare la voglia di leggere. La storia si inserisce nella guerra tra l’impero della Cultura, popolazione che usa le “menti”, leggi AI, per rendere la vita umana più semplice, che ha eliminato i soldi, il lavoro, etc, contro l’impero Iridano, una razza a 3 gambe e una testa a V, che mira all’espansione della propria influenza economica e religiosa. Il protagonista é Horza, un Mutex (umanoide in grado di cambiare la propria forma), alleato con gli Iridani che deve cercare una Mente della Cultura dispersa. L’avventura lo porterà in diversi equipaggi, diversi pianeti, con diversi amici e nemici.
Come dicevo all’inizio, non mi ha fatto impazzire.
L’Impero di Azad 9/7 - 15/7
Già dai tempi di lettura (6 giorni) si può intuire cosa penso di questo secondo capitolo della saga della Cultura: bellissimo. Questo mi ha preso sin dalle prime pagine. La storia é completamente scollegata dalla prima, i fatti avvengono molti anni dopo e c’é solo un piccolo riferimento su quel periodo.
Gurgeh, il nostro protagonista, di professione fa il Giocatore e vive nella Cultura. Non so come raccontare questa storia senza fare spoiler, perché é tutto in dubbio sin dall’inizio.
Vi basti sapere che a volte i giochi rappresentano le società stesse e ne sono parte integrante … d’altronde, cos’é la vita se non un’immensa e variegata scacchiera composta da diverse regole?
Questo libro ci permette di conoscere molto meglio la Cultura e la pone in modo “positivo”, cosa che nel primo romanzo non avevo sinceramente percepito.
La guerra di Zakalwe 15/7 - 28/7
Un altro racconto che ci permette di conoscere le metodologie della Cultura. In questa storia Zakalwe é una di quelle persone che permette alla Cultura di influenzare in modo segreto le guerre nei mondi in cui non ha ancora ufficialmente influenza. Il libro si snocciola in due filoni: il primo, coi capitoli a numeri crescenti, che racconta la storia principale, il secondo, coi capitoli a numeri decrescenti, che racconta diverse storie della vita di Zakalwe.
Cheradenine Zakalwe può essere visto come un agente segreto. Ingaggiato mentre era in punto di morte dalla Cultura, potenziato e reso per sempre giovane, viene inviato sui mondi dove é necessario far propendere una guerra verso una delle due fazioni. Ormai in “pensione”, viene recuperato per gestire una sua vecchia conoscenza. Ci addentreremo quindi in quest’avventura conoscendo sempre meglio il protagonista grazie ai numerosi flashback che vanno a ritroso nella sua vita.
In questo terzo racconto ci chiediamo quanto sia corretta l’influenza che la Cultura applica nelle Galassie. É giusto? É sbagliato? Non avremo di certo una risposta. In generale questo racconto non mi é dispiaciuto, ma ammetto che non mi abbia entusiasmato (come il secondo).
In generale, l’universo della Cultura l’ho trovato piacevole. É la base per molti racconti. Questi sono solo 3, mi piacerebbe riuscire a trovare e leggere anche gli altri.
Trovi le mie recensioni su IG @paolo_legge_fanta
July 13, 2015
1st book solid, 2nd book excellent, 3rd book terrible
May 15, 2023
Un capolavoro mancato. Momenti di stanca (troppi) alternati a intuizioni originali. Pensa a Fleba resta un ottimo primo romanzo. Il resto poco o nulla. Rammarico.
August 31, 2023
Pensa a Fleba ★★★★★
L'impero di Azad ★★
La guerra di Zakalwe ★
L'impero di Azad ★★
La guerra di Zakalwe ★
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