Book Review: The Culture Series - Iain M. Banks

The Culture Series

Iain M. Banks

Iain M. Banks’s Culture series is the high-brow space-opera for Science Fiction buffs.

“Culture” refers to the name of the pan-galactic civilization that features as the crux of the entire series. It is impossible to quantify, or even describe accurately, as its citizens span the known universe.  There is no central government, so at best the Culture can be described as a noble-minded interstellar anarchist utopia.

Anarchic government aside, Culture is much like Star Trek’s The Federation, only more so:  it is made up of every conceivable type of sentient life form, from humanoid to cumulous (cloud-based); individuals live for hundreds of years; there is no illness, no old age, and no money. Gender is a choice and changeable at will; even physical form is malleable. Do you want to be a butterfly? A mist? A whale? No problem.

Many of its most powerful and influential citizens are non-organic, incredibly advanced Artificial Intelligences known as Minds, who power and putter and plot around the universe as massive ships. The Minds are individuals and are recognized as “people” with all the quirks and personality that come with self-awareness.  One of my favorite elements of the series is the irreverent names they choose for themselves:  Refreshingly Unconcerned With the Vulgar Exigencies of Veracity,  I Blame the Parents, and so on.

Interestingly, Culture’s culture is just the backdrop of the series, the stage upon which each story plays out.  The majority of the books take place outside of Culture’s core, and some of the main characters are adversaries.  All the books are entirely unique and can stand-alone, and there is no real need to read them in sequence.

Sadly, Iain Banks died this year, with only ten Culture titles completed. Wikipedia offers a decent synopsis of each book here.  

I’ve read only seven at this point; I intend to devour the rest as soon as possible.  So far, each book has been excellent, entertaining and though-provoking.  I can recommend The Player of Games, Inversions, and Matter as particularly good, but do strongly suggest that new readers begin with Consider Phlebas, the first in the series, as a way of testing the water to see if the series appeals to you.