The Player of Games

Paperback, 320 pages

English language

Published Aug. 10, 1989 by Orbit.

ISBN:
978-1-85723-146-5
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (200 reviews)

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 - a very possibly his death.

26 editions

The Player of Games (Goodreads)

5 stars

Content warning General spoilers

Great

4 stars

Even though it was a re-read I read this within 3 days. The story is very captivating. The second of the Culture novels we get a deep dive into it and then we get another deep dive into another alien culture which is quite imaginative. At the heart of this novel is the thrill of games. A lot of people can relate to that nowadays and yet, there aren't that many genre books focussed on that. Although this was written at the end of the 80s the use of they as a single pronoun wasn't yet a thing in literature and the view of gender presented in this book is quite binary (and also heteronormative). Even though gender relations and policy play a big role in Azad and are discussed in the novel. Well, you can't have it all, I guess. A must-read for all sci-fi fans.

The Player of Games

5 stars

Le premier roman du cycle nous proposait de découvrir la Culture de loin, à travers le regard d'un de ses ennemis. Cette fois, nous découvrons cette civilisation à travers l'un de ses citoyens, d'abord dans sa vie quotidienne puis par contraste avec une autre civilisation qu'il va découvrir tout au long du roman.

Avant tout, ce roman est le récit d'une rencontre entre deux civilisations, deux cultures que tout oppose. D'un côté, la Culture et son modèle utopique très inspiré des idées anarchistes. De l'autre, l'Empire d'Azad, impérialiste, colonialiste, antisocial et belliqueux. Le protagoniste, issu de la Culture, découvre un Empire autoritaire où les rapports sociaux sont fixés par les règles strictes de ce qui est littéralement un jeu de pouvoir. Il nous offre ainsi un regard sur notre propre société contemporaine et une critique acerbe de celle-ci.

J'ai trouvé ce deuxième roman du cycle encore meilleur que le premier …

Review of 'The Player of Games' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

This is the first Iain M Banks novel I've read and I really enjoyed it. It's big far future space opera, but the focus is on the characters (some of them AI drones). The pacing is great with peaceful sections interspersed with violence and threat building to a satisfying conclusion. 

Review of 'The Player of Games' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Good book. Great for it's length and scope even.

Some comments:

Did he really have to make the Azadians bug eyed baby eating monsters to show the evils of authoritarianism? Did he really have to go so far? I for one thought that was too much but I suppose some people need it spelled out for them.

I'm a fan of the Culture. I've only read Consider Phlebas before but it's one of my favorite Utopias (somewhat disappointed we don't get to see more of it in this one). It aligns with my Anarchist tendencies. And basing it off the Singularity sells it better than most and I like that. And thus I want them to be the good guys. Now, what Marhwin Skel said to the emperor before the last match, that flew right in the face of good guys stuff.
I know that Banks doesn't really intend to …

Review of 'The Player of Games' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Read even if you disliked the first Culture series novel [b:Consider Phlebas|535073|Consider Phlebas (Culture, #1)|Iain M. Banks|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1340803242l/535073.SY75.jpg|14366].

Good:
classic sci-fi premise space emperor elected through an ultimate board-game competition
relatable protagonist
works on both sociological & psychological levels
story is well paced & nicely wrapped up

Bad:
would be more interesting if the empire wasn't sadistically evil
using masculine pronouns for 3rd alien gender feels like a wasted opportunity

Review of 'The Player of Games' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

‘Consider Phlebas’ was great. A real old-timey action science fiction book with a good number of twists. Like being hugged by an alien with eight arms. There are similarities between my experience with ‘Phlebas’ and ‘Dune’, though the two books stand apart from one another. I would argue that ‘Dune’ is, in many places, more finely woven – the politics certainly – but then ‘Player of Games’ happens, and, well, Banks does some magical things to weave in politics, plot and action.

Gurgeh plays board games. He makes them too. He lives on an orbital within the Culture. I thought his life quite ordinary a way – kinda like a space academic, with an edge of play. And yet he appears disaffected, a little absent, almost bored. So he does something out of the ordinary, something which could get him into a bit of trouble. Enough to threaten his reputation …

Review of 'The Player of Games' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The tale of a swashbuckling deep space ... board game?

Gurgeh is a master game player from The Culture who finds himself in a game tournament in an alien empire. But what is really going on? ... Faster paced and a bit shorter than the first novel, there are plenty of classic pulp tropes, the occasion gross-out, and a few Big Ideas here and there. Loads of fun.

Review of 'The Player of Games' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

I like the ambiguity, I think. The series is about The Culture but it's not overly preachy on weather The Culture is a good or a bad thing. This book was a bit weird for me to read. The appearance of a game that's very expressive reminded me of [b:The Glass Bead Game|16634|The Glass Bead Game|Hermann Hesse|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386922806s/16634.jpg|2959456] which I loved immensely. In this book however it all seemed a bit more artificial, less relate-able than in Hesses' book. And it seemed all a bit sad in tone right up to the end. Still, I like it.

avatar for robphippen

rated it

4 stars
avatar for jimfingal

rated it

5 stars
avatar for meqif

rated it

4 stars
avatar for wilw

rated it

3 stars
avatar for anaulin

rated it

5 stars
avatar for jelmervdl

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Chigaze

rated it

5 stars
avatar for spodonkidonk

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Jaytee

rated it

3 stars
avatar for jkwatson

rated it

5 stars
avatar for TidePoolParty

rated it

5 stars
avatar for teo8192

rated it

4 stars
avatar for mattlehrer

rated it

4 stars
avatar for tgt

rated it

5 stars
avatar for wildsnailreading

rated it

5 stars
avatar for phae

rated it

3 stars
avatar for bondolo

rated it

3 stars
avatar for YoursTrulee

rated it

3 stars
avatar for zkat

rated it

2 stars
avatar for franksting

rated it

4 stars
avatar for CrustyJuggler

rated it

4 stars
avatar for rzlatic

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Jaldert

rated it

4 stars
avatar for EricLawton

rated it

5 stars
avatar for iceman

rated it

5 stars
avatar for grislyeye

rated it

5 stars
avatar for chaos_angel

rated it

3 stars
avatar for skolima

rated it

3 stars
avatar for ospalh

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Danie

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Jezynka

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Lasu

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ckochx

rated it

5 stars
avatar for james

rated it

5 stars
avatar for smoothment

rated it

3 stars
avatar for chris_st

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Lasu

rated it

4 stars
avatar for evanstucker

rated it

3 stars
avatar for agd

rated it

4 stars
avatar for agd

rated it

4 stars
avatar for asmundg

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Trentie

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Yogthos

rated it

4 stars
avatar for mttktz

rated it

4 stars
avatar for wolfwitte

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Tamino

rated it

4 stars
avatar for oisin

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ngs

rated it

3 stars
avatar for jumpinggrendel

rated it

4 stars
avatar for reverse

rated it

3 stars
avatar for LuisVilla

rated it

5 stars
avatar for wakatara

rated it

4 stars
avatar for sansaraf

rated it

5 stars
avatar for dan_oglesby

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Thriveth

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Chaostheorie

rated it

4 stars
avatar for rgibert

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Old_Tim

rated it

5 stars
avatar for ceoln

rated it

5 stars
avatar for sajattack

rated it

5 stars
avatar for lbthomas

rated it

4 stars
avatar for timhutton

rated it

4 stars
avatar for joeyh

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Korenwolf

rated it

5 stars
avatar for fabriek

rated it

2 stars
avatar for Blerkotron

rated it

4 stars
avatar for osiris

rated it

5 stars
avatar for cwhitfield

rated it

5 stars
avatar for stinkingpig

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Ba5ilisk

rated it

5 stars
avatar for yallah110

rated it

4 stars
avatar for suddzzjr

rated it

5 stars
avatar for cara-cara

rated it

4 stars
avatar for bokaltoft

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Doomedrider

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Hirvox

rated it

5 stars
avatar for bondolo

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Wyatt

rated it

5 stars
avatar for niclindh

rated it

5 stars
avatar for proycon

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ieuan

rated it

4 stars
avatar for AndySoc1al

rated it

4 stars
avatar for bombpersons

rated it

4 stars
avatar for timchi

rated it

4 stars
avatar for hammondj

rated it

4 stars
avatar for turmacar

rated it

4 stars
avatar for nightgolfer

rated it

4 stars
avatar for AwkwardTurtle

rated it

5 stars
avatar for roofuskit

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ManyRoads

rated it

1 star
avatar for AudientVoid

rated it

4 stars
avatar for neosloth

rated it

4 stars
avatar for dx

rated it

5 stars
avatar for m4cb3th

rated it

5 stars
avatar for gtco

rated it

4 stars
avatar for rahulgopinath

rated it

5 stars
avatar for jimfl

rated it

4 stars
avatar for mbraagaard

rated it

5 stars
avatar for dmbuchmann

rated it

3 stars
avatar for blackbrokkoli

rated it

4 stars
avatar for cakester

rated it

4 stars
avatar for snm

rated it

5 stars
avatar for trevor

rated it

5 stars
avatar for philiporange

rated it

5 stars
avatar for lacop

rated it

5 stars
avatar for dev_tea

rated it

4 stars
avatar for themoken

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Jorn

rated it

3 stars
avatar for jamesbrooks

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Coornail

rated it

4 stars
avatar for engwalker

rated it

5 stars
avatar for diversario

rated it

5 stars
avatar for olemd

rated it

4 stars
avatar for piotr

rated it

5 stars
avatar for hamish

rated it

5 stars
avatar for pneuma

rated it

4 stars
avatar for princeofspace

rated it

4 stars
avatar for jmc142

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Pablonaj

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Express7686

rated it

3 stars
avatar for alexmorse

rated it

4 stars
avatar for nwale

rated it

5 stars
avatar for peter_hall

rated it

5 stars
avatar for grislyeye

rated it

5 stars
avatar for estranho

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Psvensson

rated it

5 stars
avatar for jhaase

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Shtakser

rated it

4 stars
avatar for BillieCodes

rated it

5 stars
avatar for tronicdude

rated it

5 stars
avatar for StereoSoda

rated it

5 stars
avatar for brzy

rated it

4 stars
avatar for rleyton

rated it

5 stars
avatar for opiea

rated it

4 stars
avatar for naught101

rated it

1 star
avatar for termie

rated it

5 stars
avatar for recri

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ward

rated it

5 stars
avatar for rosssi

rated it

5 stars
avatar for inti

rated it

4 stars
avatar for flancian

rated it

4 stars
avatar for kranzi

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Njdevils95

rated it

4 stars
avatar for MatthiasvW

rated it

5 stars
avatar for lemay

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Tinche

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Anders_S

rated it

5 stars
avatar for barryfujii

rated it

3 stars
avatar for loppear

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Qgel

rated it

3 stars
avatar for unsquare

rated it

4 stars
avatar for cwzp

rated it

4 stars
avatar for HokieGeek

rated it

3 stars
avatar for sonova

rated it

5 stars
avatar for alienbob

rated it

4 stars
avatar for marino

rated it

4 stars

Subjects

  • Science Fiction

Lists