It's always nice to see a reviewers personal thoughts on a series. I also found Player of Games and Excession to be quite compelling reads, especially since I read them both right after Consider Phlebas (quite a step up in how good they were!). Gurgeh was a fascinating protagonist for me as well. I liked seeing the exploration of the ethics and social dynamics of the Culture Minds in Excession, its fascinating to see how they perceive and deal with issues of significance like the excession proper as well as the incursions of other spacefaring peoples.
Good to hear that you liked the video! I think this format of a purely subjective ranking complements the "normal" review videos that I have been uploading, since in the latter I actually try to be as objective as possible.
good summary! i just started the series, loved Consider Phlebas up until the second half where the pacing dramatically slowed down which slightly put me off reading Player of Games for a month there. Your review is making me planning to pick it up!
Ranking the series is certainly a difficult thing. I have recently re-read the series so read most of the books twice. My Ranking is similar to yours with some changes, so .... 1. SURFACE DETAIL 2. HYDROGEN SONATA 3. LOOK TO WINDWARD 4. EXCESSION 5. PLAYER OF GAMES 6. USE OF WEAPONS 7. MATTER 8. CONSIDER PHLEBAS 9. INVERSIONS 10. STATE OF THE ART Player of Games is certainly the easiest to read but it is a "smaller story" compared with some of the later novels. Consider Phlebas was at 10 originally but rose slightly after my re-read. My top 6 are all outstanding SF books.
Yes, these rankings are not set in stone and are after all just a personal list. I guess INVERSIONS on #9 is reasonable as well, since it is very different from the other novels and possibly farthest away from "scifi". And you are right regarding Player of Games as well, it just happens to be also the novel that really made me appreciate the Culture Series, so I am likely biased in favor of it :D
Do any of the books have actual Robots? I know there is the MIND and ai drones and such, but are there any books in the series you would say are featuring full on Robots and not just sentient computers?
As far as I can remember, you either have drones, ships of various classes and then Minds controlling entire habitats. In the book Matter, a ship used a humanoid avatar, though. Not really a robot in the classical sense, but probably the closest thing to a robot in the Culture Series
@@DarkStarReviews thanks. Which of the books would u say is the most space opera? Like time on spaceships and traveling to different planets and multiple planets and politics?
@@dresdenjackshula4940 Honestly, this is not an easy question. Going the other way might be a better approach. You can exclude Inversions for being basically fantasy and The State of the Art for being a collection of short stories. Matter revolves mainly around a shellworld and one of its technologically less advanced societies. Surface Detail certainly fits your point about politics, but its “infernal” narrative threat is more of a horror story. Now if you want to confine your search to novels that have human or humanoid protagonists and not ships or minds, then this would somewhat exclude Excession, leaving The Hydrogen Sonata, Excession, The Player of Games, Look to Windward, and Consider Phlebas as contenders. These fit mostly your description, although some books will focus more on politics, others on travel, others on combat and conflict.
I appreciate that you liked the video. I still need to streamline the processes of making the videos, though. If I have ironed out these things, it might be easier for me to go for a longer format. There is definitely a lot to talk about and maybe I will revisit this particular series in a future video. But stay tuned for more content related to other authors as well.
It's always nice to see a reviewers personal thoughts on a series. I also found Player of Games and Excession to be quite compelling reads, especially since I read them both right after Consider Phlebas (quite a step up in how good they were!). Gurgeh was a fascinating protagonist for me as well. I liked seeing the exploration of the ethics and social dynamics of the Culture Minds in Excession, its fascinating to see how they perceive and deal with issues of significance like the excession proper as well as the incursions of other spacefaring peoples.
Good to hear that you liked the video! I think this format of a purely subjective ranking complements the "normal" review videos that I have been uploading, since in the latter I actually try to be as objective as possible.
good summary! i just started the series, loved Consider Phlebas up until the second half where the pacing dramatically slowed down which slightly put me off reading Player of Games for a month there. Your review is making me planning to pick it up!
I hope you will enjoy The Player of Games!
I strongly agree with your first and last rankings. I would put matter in second then a toss up for me as to the rest- all highly enjoyable.
To be fair, ranking these novels is not that easy, as most of them are of similar quality. Matter definitely has its moments to shine.
Ranking the series is certainly a difficult thing. I have recently re-read the series so read most of the books twice. My Ranking is similar to yours with some changes, so ....
1. SURFACE DETAIL
2. HYDROGEN SONATA
3. LOOK TO WINDWARD
4. EXCESSION
5. PLAYER OF GAMES
6. USE OF WEAPONS
7. MATTER
8. CONSIDER PHLEBAS
9. INVERSIONS
10. STATE OF THE ART
Player of Games is certainly the easiest to read but it is a "smaller story" compared with some of the later novels. Consider Phlebas was at 10 originally but rose slightly after my re-read. My top 6 are all outstanding SF books.
Yes, these rankings are not set in stone and are after all just a personal list. I guess INVERSIONS on #9 is reasonable as well, since it is very different from the other novels and possibly farthest away from "scifi". And you are right regarding Player of Games as well, it just happens to be also the novel that really made me appreciate the Culture Series, so I am likely biased in favor of it :D
Do any of the books have actual Robots? I know there is the MIND and ai drones and such, but are there any books in the series you would say are featuring full on Robots and not just sentient computers?
As far as I can remember, you either have drones, ships of various classes and then Minds controlling entire habitats. In the book Matter, a ship used a humanoid avatar, though. Not really a robot in the classical sense, but probably the closest thing to a robot in the Culture Series
@@DarkStarReviews thanks. Which of the books would u say is the most space opera? Like time on spaceships and traveling to different planets and multiple planets and politics?
@@dresdenjackshula4940 Honestly, this is not an easy question. Going the other way might be a better approach. You can exclude Inversions for being basically fantasy and The State of the Art for being a collection of short stories. Matter revolves mainly around a shellworld and one of its technologically less advanced societies. Surface Detail certainly fits your point about politics, but its “infernal” narrative threat is more of a horror story. Now if you want to confine your search to novels that have human or humanoid protagonists and not ships or minds, then this would somewhat exclude Excession, leaving The Hydrogen Sonata, Excession, The Player of Games, Look to Windward, and Consider Phlebas as contenders. These fit mostly your description, although some books will focus more on politics, others on travel, others on combat and conflict.
This was good, but could easily have been longer. :)
I appreciate that you liked the video. I still need to streamline the processes of making the videos, though. If I have ironed out these things, it might be easier for me to go for a longer format. There is definitely a lot to talk about and maybe I will revisit this particular series in a future video. But stay tuned for more content related to other authors as well.