Review: 'The Player of Games' by Iain M. Banks

I've always been a big fan of science fiction: those of you that know me will attest to this. Seeing Star Wars as a kid ignited my passion for the mysterious future: the idea that someday we may able to do things that seem impossible now. Visit life on other worlds, travel across the galaxy within a lifetime, eliminate disease, or ultimately cheat death.

Banks' 'Culture' novels are set in a utopian future society, where humans symbiotically exist with like-minded robots. The society is described as being 'post-scarcity', where the need for fuel and energy is virtually arbitrary: technology has become so advanced that there is no longer a struggle for survival or resources. This brings the Culture, as it it known to its citizens, to a kind of world where expense and value become meaningless: currency does not exist, and people simply live for the purpose of living. Certainly an exciting, or terribly boring, prospect, depending on how you look at it.

The Player of Games is the second book in the Culture series, and often described as the best book to start with if one wants to dip into the series. So I was thrown into the fictional universe head-first with the introduction of the protagonist: Gurgeh Jernau, the best game-player in the Culture. Gurgeh is blackmailed into working for the Culture's secret service, and infiltrates a distant Empire, one which is completely based around a game. This game, Azad, forms the cornerstone of society. It is played so much, and has grown up with the Empire, that it is essentially a condensed form of the Empire's ethos. So much so, that the best players of the game get offered the best jobs.

What I found interesting about the book. besides the fantastic ending (the majority of the book was so-so, up until the climax), was Banks' silent mocking of his own creation, the Culture. The Empire is described by Culture denizens as barbaric, base and abhorrent. It would seem so to us as well: they rape and pillage any other societies they come across; the upper echelons of society enjoy a disgusting hedonism of horrible mixes of sexual and violent entertainment; and they are completely opposed to and offended by any other society that thinks in contrary to them. However horrendous they may seem, however, the Empire of Azad has a lot to compare with our Western civilization on Earth. We pride ourselves in being tolerant and diplomatic, yet deep down, as individuals, we are all terribly primal (think about Lord of the Flies).

The Culture is seen by the Empire as this boring, benign entity that lacks the passions of battle and crimes against nature, and in that respect I think they are right. I, for one, would loathe to be part of a sterile world where death plays no part, and events during life become ultimately useless with a lost sense of time and importance. Part of the excitement of life for a lot of people comes from recognising one's own mortality, and grinning at it, mocking. I definitely subscribe to this, at least in part.

If you don't like sci-fi, don't read this book, and if you think you might like sci-fi, don't read this book. Read 2001 or something equally as immersive. If you like sci-fi, you've probably read this book. If you like sci-fi and haven't read this book, consider it if you want a good yarn and a chance to be disgusted at yourself.