The Player of Games
Culture Series, Book 2
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The Player of Games
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Narrated by:
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Peter Kenny
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By:
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Iain M. Banks
About this listen
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
Critic Reviews
'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson
What listeners say about The Player of Games
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Laurence
- 04-07-2022
Banks at his best, performed competently
If you want a hard-s.f. space opera with some sociological consciousness and a measured smattering of well integrated wit, then Iain M Banks is, was, your man.
Reading is fine.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Thomas
- 02-09-2023
Thought provoking, well thought out plot.
This is the second book I have read from Iain M Banks. His imagination is truly out of this world but his storytelling ability make it believable, thought provoking. Even the ending while anticlimactic fell into the plot and integrity of the culture built into the plot.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Matthew
- 27-08-2019
Great story, suffers from semantic satiation.
Great balance between detail and story, without much in the way of overly-tedious techbabble often seen in Sci-fi, the characters were consistent, clever, and fun to get to know.
It did, however, make me feel like the word "game" was no longer a word within the first two chapters by sheer repetition, and kept that up for the entire book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Christopher
- 09-09-2017
incredible
Banks shows why he's thought so highly of. This books is well worth your time.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 25-03-2024
An easy slip into the future
A pleasant read with plenty of thoughtful prompt for reflection of today's civilisation. Time well spent saturated in this novel.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 31-10-2022
Great
I think I preferred the first book but this one is still great. Narrator still amazes me, he's a gem.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peter Reade
- 21-06-2023
Banks rules
Couldn’t get enough of this one. The story is great and the narrator kept me focused
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Vince
- 12-07-2023
Possibly the best Culture novel
Dark and thought provoking. Difficult to work out who are the aliens. Certainly a mirror held up to our “humanity”
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Aaron Lavack
- 17-09-2017
Too good!
I couldn't stop listening! The narration was great, the plot, enjoyable, and the prose, transporting. If you love boardgames, I'm quite sure you'll love this novel. And if you don't, well - after this you'll probably want to. Right, I'm going to start on the next culture book.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jacob Tannenbaum
- 12-11-2017
fantastic
great reading by Mr Kelly, the subtle information added by accents and inflection really add to the journey.
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