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.
The Player of Games
by Iain M. BanksTwo books into the series, and I am absolutely loving this universe. As a mystery-thriller-drama, The Player of Games is a completely different book from the action-adventure of Consider Phlebasbut—but still thoroughly enjoyable. Banks expands the universe further with this novel, and thinks through what a post-scarcity society would be like in the far-far future. I've often thought about how the post-scarcity is a socio-economic state to strive for as humankind. Anyway, that thought process is my own, and not what the book is about. It's a great read and I recommend continuing with the series.
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