Space opera #1 in a long series. The plot was like a superhero movie; why are they going there one wonders. Some characters, like those in a bad Western, were clearly introduced so that there was someone to die in the next big fight. I felt sorry for the poor bastards as soon as they were described. The underlying premise, the importance of The Mind, never seemed clear to me. I would have to classify it as an unusually transparent McGuffin. The protagonist's feelings about The Culture were unclear to me. I assume that the nature of the Culture would become more clear if I read more of these novels. (See famous quote attributed to Giacomo Rossini re: Wagner's Ring) Also, there were some attempts at stream-of-consciousness that were unsuccessful.