The Player of Games

By: Iain M. Banks

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer, and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game... a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.

©2008 Iain M. Banks (P)2011 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Poetic, humorous, baffling, terrifying, sexy - the books of Iain M. Banks are all these things and more." ( NME)

"An exquisitely riotous tour de force of the imagination which writes its own rules simply for the pleasure of breaking them." ( Time Out)

Fantastic story read by wonderful actor

Iain Banks is a hugely creative author, Peter Kenney nailed the reading. One of my top 3 books ever read next to the Hitchhiker's Guide series and Iain Banks' Use of Weapons.

Excellent story, highly recommended

Just fantastic, the world of The Culture is hypnotic and alluring on so many levels. The narrator did a top notch job and I'm looking forward to more tales from The Culture!

Sci-Fi at its Best

The Player of Games is an excellent, engrossing story. The book starts with a fascinating expose of the world, falls flat a bit in the middle, but finishes with brilliance.

The writing, particularly in the final third, is technically excellent and manages to be at once pithy and flowery. The performance of the voice actor is outstanding, with only a slight gripe being the chosen accent for a major group of characters.

Overall, I would highly recommend The Player of Games to any sci-fi fan who enjoys political intrigue, social commentary, and imaginative scenery.

Brilliant.

This is a splendid book. It is highly imaginative and skillfully plotted. The writing, which is graceful and unlabored, is enhanced by a narration that never hits a false note.

Culture at its finest

Great definition by comparison between the Culture v. Despotism rule and life. Actually applicable to today in our divided society. Puts forward an outcome of underestimating a preference for peace and education with the will +ability to back that up vs the stepping off first with force and aggression ruled along rigid artificially created lines of fear, disinformation, and differentiation.

Great culture story

Would you listen to The Player of Games again? Why?

Yes! This is one of my favorite Culture novels. It presents the story of a cuture citizen traveling to a non-Culture world to play a game. The visit, of course, is engineered by Special Circumstances so you KNOW something will happen. When it does, of course, it's marvelous and even better than you are thinking.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Player of Games?

Love the tiny twist at the end of the story... listen to the very very end!

Which character ??? as performed by Peter Kenny ??? was your favorite?

The droids! Of course. :)

An interesting sci-fi listen

This book kept my attention. The narrator is good and the subject matter while not my usual fare was engaging.

Great follow up to CP

What did you love best about The Player of Games?

Great story. took me a while to warm up to the Culture (seemed like a boring place to live and everyone a dilettante).
Once it got going, though, the game playing part of the book is detailed, exciting, and relevant.

What did you like best about this story?

I think the protagonist was great.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scenes involving game play.

Any additional comments?

Nope.

fantastic story!

not usually my style. I like a bit more action however once I was a bit into the story I was hooked. well written for sure. once again glad I started reading The Culture series. on to the next tale!

Progressively better throughout.

Firstly, I loved the narration, especially the different styles between drone, human, and apex.

Player of Games started off a little slow for me, but a few chapters in I was hooked. As always with Ian Banks, I liked the little surprises thrown in at the end, especially given just slightly enough information was given to 'suspect' what had happened for awhile.

Liked it more than Consider Phelebas.