Consider Phlebas

By: Iain M. Banks

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction - cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.

Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.

©1987 Iain M. Banks (P)2011 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Dazzlingly original." (Daily Mail)

"Gripping, touching and funny." (TLS)

cosmic

I was not expecting an action filled, contemporary SciFi adventure but that is what I got. The book will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. You cannot aford to veg out on even one part of one chapter. It is all relevant and all provative. I found the audio sample a little misleading. If I recall correctly, the sample comes from a section about an individual sentenced to prison and subjected to torture. What happens as the story unfolds is something totally different. The prisoner becomes the protaganist and his jailor plays a very unusual but exciting role in his escapade.

a difficult listen

dark, dense, often brutal. the story is good but not great. The performance is slightly better than average. I am not sure if I will continue listening to the series or not. I ended up not really caring about the main characters. in a way that mimicked the main character's behavior itself so perhaps that was a principal theme that the author wanted to convey. But ultimately it has turned me off to the rest of the series.

My Second Culture Book

Consider Phlebas is my second Culture novel. As a science fiction buff, I’m fascinated with the idea of the Culture, a utopian, technologically advanced, far-future civilization, and how in the time frame in this novel it clashed with the less-advanced, more violent, religious-like race of the Idirans. The technology and society of the Culture were amazing. The story is told from the point of view of a shape-shifter Changer who is employed by the Idirans to retrieved a Culture mind (highly advanced AI which controls culture crafts) which is hiding on an abandoned planet after its ship was destroyed in an Idiran attack.

I rather liked this novel, although I thought it dragged in places and there were some overly disgusting parts which seemed way over the top and which put me off. I thought the Changer was a fascinating protagonist. It was interesting following his train of thought as he dealt with the predicaments he always found himself in. I was again impressed with Banks’ world building and the scale and detail in his universe. I’m looking forward to continuing on in his Culture series.

PLEASE Consider Phlebas.

I believe I have read (and PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong) that Banks distinguishes his dark fiction from his science fiction by use of his middle initial. While this is nothing remarkable in and of itself, I personally find it fascinating that he is able to carry over into either genre his brash, unapologetic bleakness when writing his characters and I LOVE this. Consider Phlebas is is just as much of a character study (bear in mind these are imperfect actors in generally untenable situations where they are basically set up to fail but they somehow *try* to do everything they can) as Banks' The Wasp Factory and A Song of Stone (all three of these are now on my favorites list). I believe I can say this last comment without really giving any spoilers: I can not think of a more perfect title for this book (if you've read the book, check out T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land, paying attention to part 4).

good book/reader, that's all but I need 15 words

here is a few more words and always forever and forever one two three four

highly recommended

I crushed my way through this awesome book in a few days and couldn't stop.

wonderful introduction to The Culture

excellent and intricate storyline, amazing narrator: the way he slips from voice to voice really holds your attention and keeps guiding you forward through the tale

There is more.....

Any additional comments?

Please audible, do whatever it takes to close the deal to get the rest of the books in this series. They are out there on competing sites.

Amazing start

It's hard to believe that this book was just the first of the Culture series! Iain Banks was a master storyteller.

Decent read on amazing author.

Iain banks is an amazing Syfy writer who is no longer with us. His books on the Culture are some of the best science fiction I have ever read. I just started using Audible and this was my first book to listen to. I loved it.