What did you like about Consider Phlebas? I found it deeply unsatisfying. It just seemed like a lot of stuff happened and there was very little thematic or conceptual cohesion behind what was happening. I couldn’t finish it. (A few friends I’ve talked to about Culture novels recommended Player of Games over it, so I’ll try reading that at some point.)
I have read somewhere that Consider Phlebas tends to get a very bimodal love-it-or-hate-it reaction. Certain parts of it I could have done without (the whole chase-through-the-GSV thing seemed the like the equivalent of summer blockbuster fluff), but overall I still found it more gripping than anything else. Possibly this is because, while I ultimately come down on the Culture’s side, I understand Horza’s objection, so the book strikes me as philosophically deeper than some of the others.
What did you like about Consider Phlebas? I found it deeply unsatisfying. It just seemed like a lot of stuff happened and there was very little thematic or conceptual cohesion behind what was happening. I couldn’t finish it. (A few friends I’ve talked to about Culture novels recommended Player of Games over it, so I’ll try reading that at some point.)
I have read somewhere that Consider Phlebas tends to get a very bimodal love-it-or-hate-it reaction. Certain parts of it I could have done without (the whole chase-through-the-GSV thing seemed the like the equivalent of summer blockbuster fluff), but overall I still found it more gripping than anything else. Possibly this is because, while I ultimately come down on the Culture’s side, I understand Horza’s objection, so the book strikes me as philosophically deeper than some of the others.