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  • The Player of Games

  • Culture Series, Book 2
  • By: Iain M. Banks
  • Narrated by: Peter Kenny
  • Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (3,012 ratings)
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The Player of Games cover art

The Player of Games

By: Iain M. Banks
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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Summary

The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.

The Culture - a utopian human-machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many expert Game Players, and one of the greatest is Jernau Morat Gurgeh. He is Master of every board, computer and strategy - he is The Player of Games.

Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the cruel and incredibly wealthy Empire of Azad to try their infamous game . . . a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh plays the game, and faces the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.

The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art

Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist

©1988 Iain M. Banks (P)2010 Hachette Digital

Critic reviews

'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson

What listeners say about The Player of Games

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Overall
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Civilisation and the Culture

This is a stunning book, that I had not read, since it first came out when I was a kid. But it was good enough to stick with me over the many intervening years. This reading is fantastic. Great interpretations of the characters. Hope the accents don't upset anybody. Highly,highly recommended. If we are lucky Mr.Kenny will be reading the rest of the series too.( He also did a great job with -Consider Phlebas) ps please hurry with the others, I can't wait until -Excession is given this treatment

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Probably now my favourite novel

Without giving anything away, this is a masterful demonstration of how wonderful science-fiction can be to illustrate real-world issues, as well as providing insights on such issues and how we could deal with them better. But beside that, this novel is funny, thrilling, exciting and there are very few authors who can match Banks' imaginative power. This is a rich and consistent world, detailed and nuanced. In my view, the ideal starter book to Banks' culture universe novels, i.e. don't worry if you haven't read any of his other books.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing audio book

An amazing listen! I’ve read the original book and one of advantages of hear the audio version is that you don’t spend ages trying to guess the pronunciation of the insane names.
A brilliant listen. I highly recommend it.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

WOW! Intrigue On A Galactic Scale!

A bored, disaffected, dilettante game-playing, genius get's twisted by friend who's no friend...

Ian M. Banks' Culture novels are beyond belief in their scope and richness of detail. They are detailed with plots, characters and environments vividly described. That a story of this length can grip you from beginning to end is amazing and I have no hesitation in recommending it.

IMB's Culture stories are a fascinating mix of sociology, solid character development, lavish detail and staggering imagination. The utopian scale of the Culture is beyond anything I have read in 35 years love of sci-fi and each one of IMB's novels adds more and more levels of interest.

If you've heard or read Consider Phelbas, this is different as it's set within the Culture but you'll love it! The action is break-neck and the story is rich!

My only criticism of the audio version is that the character names are so 'out-there' that it can be a problem to remember who's who. It is easier with a hard-copy novel. But that is small criticism and a backhanded compliment to what is a staggeringly good book that is also very, very well read.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Flippin Marvelous !!!

Im really enjoying my long car journeys now with the great collection of books offered by audible. Never having read any of Iain Banks books before, so I didnt know what i was getting into. So two books in to the cutlure series "consider Phelbas and player of games" and im VERY VERY much hooked! So enjoying the culture series. Listened to the first book and loved the settings, GSVs, drones, and the characters !!! Peter Kenny is a fantastic narrator, bringing this amazing sci fi world to life with his clever charactor voices and build up to tense moments !!!

Great stories, great narration !!!!

In short..... Brilliant!!!!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The cunning robots

I was really looking forward to listening to this book as I had read very positive reviews but I didn't enyoy it at all, mainly because I found the main character unlikable and annoying. I know that he's supposed to be that way for the story to unravel, still, it's hard to follow a story if you're not invested in the protagonist's fate.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the worldbuilding. You could really picture the rooms in the Azad palaces, and it was really clever how Banks uses the robot to explain their customs.

To sum up, even though I admit it's a good book, it's not my thing so I won't be reading any more culture books any time soon.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A brilliant book brilliantly read

The Player of Games is the 2nd Culture novel and represents Iain M. Banks' using his wider narrative tools for the first time in his sci-fi works so rates 5 stars. Peter Kenny's reading is excellent - I love his characterision of the Ships and Drones

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The reader pronounces 'were' and 'where' the same

Great story.

Thoroughly recommend.

I mostly enjoyed the story teller, who voiced characters individually, except for the fact that he pronounces 'were' and 'where' exactly the same.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fun philosophically interesting yarn

A lot easier going than a lot of the culture series.

A straight forward single narrative plot driven book.

Has its philosophical questions very much on display

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant, engaging story; incredibly well read.

This is my first Culture story as an audio book. Agreement seems universal that the story is great, but what really made this for me was the reading, especially the voices of the drones, really brought it to life.

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2 people found this helpful