Three stories take place in the universe of Banks' Culture novels; "Descendant" is the best of these (and the one most tenuously linked to the Culture), a harrowing tale of survival type story in which an injured soldier is marooned on an uninhabitable planet and is pushed to forge on by his autonomous artificially intelligent suit.

"The State of the Art" will be best enjoyed by devotees of Banks' novel of the Culture, as it is the one story which depicts the Culture encountering Earth; there follows a debate among the Culture's Contact division about whether it is more imperative to save Earth from nuclear destruction or to spare them the perhaps-corrupting influence of their own society, and the story has a delightfully queasy set piece that will make you think twice on that very question.

At times, it sounded like a squealing monologue from Robert Lindsay in the UK sitcom, Citizen Smith. It deals with the Culture discovering the Earth during 1977, and sends down agents to study and learn from our planet. - Amazon Reviewer, 5 stars, "Mindblowing!

Banks vividly depicts a sense of intense desolation as man and suit embark on a harrowing journey. “The State of the Art” is a brief but striking juxtaposition of Banks’ ultra-progressive Culture civilization and Earth circa 1977. The war-torn, chiaroscuro theory that there can be no hope without failure, no joy without suffering is fascinating as a footnote, as his embryonic attempt to reconcile the vitality of humanity's imperfection with the stasis of the Culture's perfection. What might have been comparable to a theologian stumbling across the Dead Sea Scrolls, sadly, was not to be. Do you feel books have made your 2020 any better? He is now acclaimed as one of the most powerful, innovative, and exciting writers of his generation. Iain Banks is my most adored author; State of the Art, his only work I hadn't read.
). Sort of in the Culture series, sort of not quite. 901 He was one a hell of an author. This is the (first?) I'm glad that this sublime author soon measured such a pallid, earthbound dialectic as far too shallow a premise and soared into the outer reaches of the universe with his later, operatic Culture novels. Anyway. Mass Market Paperback We do our best to get everything listed but the occasional book gets by us. The State of the Art is a collection of short stories, some of which relate to the Culture novels and some of which don’t (or at least, don’t overtly). It discusses policies of non-interference juggled with policies of behind the scenes intervention; "going native" versus so-called "objective" distance; the idea that a natural life and a true engagement with living must incl. Rambling pages upon pages about non interesting things... at times I almost couldn’t believe this was written by Banks. A third Culture story, "A Gift from the Culture" is in my opinion sort of a dud. 214 [ the Culture decides against first contact, and basically agrees to let us destroy ourselves, and the agent who was going to stay is killed in a random mugging. A unique short-story venture from Banks...most of these pieces seemed either a little odd and unfinished or preachy rants. Banks made his debut as a published author with The Wasp Factory in 1984.

For one brother it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one -- maybe two -- people who could clear his name. ), ( ). ), ( In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. The titular novella in this collection is a perfect distillation of the rhetoric and dialectic behind the Culture series, its themes, its very purpose for being. The worst of the lot is "Scratch", a late cold-war-era story that depicts the escalation of human misery as the world's superpowers square off for world destruction, a premise which it tackles originally by giving us only mass-media noise, scraps of television commericals, fragments of radio announcements, etc. The Player of Games. It is ostensibly science fiction. Now, though, his father's dying, and old friends are gathering for one last time. And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever. We will send you one e-mail a month notifying you of any hot new books announced or coming out, as well as any new additions to the site.

), The Hydrogen Sonata (A Culture Novel Book 9), ( Beneath this plot Banks seeks the true meaning of human nature. . .a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Audible Audiobook In recent years, I have been re-reading some of the Culture novels, and I am astonished at how mind-bogglingly great and timeless they are. This collection of stories is a small but significant contribution to Iain M. Banks’ inimitable Culture Series. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks' staggering talent. Lying in bed unconscious after an accident wouldn't be much fun, you'd think. Read this book after a discussion with James and the realisation I had this on my kindle. ), Look to Windward (A Culture Novel Book 6), ( Master of every board, computer and strategy. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder.
This is a striking addition to the growing body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. The first ever collection of Iain Banks' short fiction, this volume includes the acclaimed novella, The State of the Art. 347 ( This is a striking addition to the growing body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. Heady and at times heavy-handed stuff, forcefully articulated, and delivered with the usual Banks panache and wit. The meat of this collection, the Culture novella, trooped along in a heavy-handed, right-on manner. Oh yes? Signed by both the author and Iain M. Banks (who wrote the introduction) directly to limitation page in blue ink without dedication. Iain M. Banks has 51 books on Goodreads with 616390 ratings. It depends who and what you've left behind. It's hard to rate a short story collection because of all the different feelings each story provokes. I didn’t have much of a reaction one way or another to the smattering of Culture-based short stories, so this review will focus entirely on the book’s eponymous novella. 'A Gift from the Culture' and 'The State of the Art' are definite high points in the collection. But at night there are his dreams... Dreams in which desperate men drive sealed carriages across barren mountains to a bizarre rendezvous; an illiterate barbarian storms an enchanted tower under a stream of verbal abuse; and broken men walk forever over bridges without end, taunted by visions of a doomed sexuality. I finished this short story/ novella collection one day before Luke returns from Brazil. He is now acclaimed as one of the most powerful, innovative, and exciting writers of his generation. What might have been comparable to a theologian stumbling across the Dead Sea Scrolls, sadly, was not to be. 378 649 The meat of this collection, the Culture novella, trooped along in a heavy-handed, right-on manner. 534 418 ). April 25th 2007 Why are we so destructive and obsessed with material prosperity? : the story is at least a fascinating failure. 1,022 When a Culture ship and some members of Contact arrive to study humanity’s home planet in the late twentieth century, they set about creating records of all present and past human knowledge, and ultimately must decide whether or not to reveal themselves to the clueless Earthlings. Not all the tales are about the Culture, or set in the Culture Universe, but 'State of the Art' is, and is the most fleshed out and most interesting story in the collection. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. The State of the Art is a collection of short stories, some of which relate to the Culture novels and some of which don’t (or at least, don’t overtly). The Player of Games (A Culture Novel Book 2), ( Be the first to ask a question about The State of the Art. [..] They want to own the light!”, Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Nominee for Nouvelle étrangère (2011), Best SF Books that weren't Nominated for Hugo or Nebula, Meet the Epic and Awesome Authors of Fall's Big Fantasy Novels. Something went wrong. 250 As it's Iain Banks, you probably do not need to be told the wry, quite funny at times, observations made (flawed, odd and unequal economic system, penchant for wars and killing each other and so on), and debates ensue amongst the Ships crew whether to actually intervene, to make the Culture known to the planet.

In 1993 he was acknowledged as one of the Best of Young British Writers. Only a few of these stories are actually part of the Culture world. Exploring the bridge occupies most of his days.


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