false <![CDATA[Consider Phlebas]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255583115m/535073.jpg 12010 17 The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender. Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction. 14366 14 4 1987 Consider Phlebas total:1589|5:386|4:701|3:391|2:88|1:23| 1589 6106 2270 159 4 6 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Nov 21 05:24:29 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 23 18:13:30 -0700 2009 1 Galactic Patrol when I was at primary school; like innumerabl...more...]]> 1 7 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1993 Thu Dec 06 16:45:16 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 06 16:48:57 -0800 2007
This novel, for example, was recommend as "thinking man's sf adventure." Hey, tha...more...]]> 2 5 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 05 08:14:24 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 05 08:55:10 -0700 2008
It is partly an action novel, with the plot roughly "go to planet X and retrieve an advanced piece of technology." There are a few very exciting action sequences. The major problem is that after setting up th...more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu Jul 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 07 05:06:30 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 17 06:01:22 -0700 2008
Those expectations were too high but it has to be said that Iain M. Banks (aka Iain Banks) w...more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sat Sep 22 17:01:02 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 22 17:19:35 -0700 2007
Good science fiction is V...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Jun 07 00:23:44 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 07 12:14:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1991 Wed Oct 24 19:28:28 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 24 19:52:55 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 3 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 15 22:24:04 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 18:52:34 -0800 2009
The worst thing you could do is read Consider Phlebas back pages first. Once upon a time I used to take the first and last sentences or first and last words as a brief synopsis of every book. It kinda works for the Bible. "In Amen". But to do so for Iain M. Banks celebrated sci...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon May 14 10:05:46 -0700 2007 Mon May 14 10:10:19 -0700 2007
The story follows the travels of a mercenary spy who tags along with another unsuspecting band of mercenaries, this usually turns out bad for all concerned, but place them all in the path of an advancing front line...more...]]> 3 4 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 20 04:56:38 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 01 04:04:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 16:58:33 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 17:00:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Mar 17 07:59:42 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 08:15:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Aug 18 16:04:51 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 13:55:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false true Thu Feb 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 13:22:24 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 09:42:21 -0800 2009 First of all, the obligatory SPOILER WARNING. Are you warned yet? 'Kay. If you want to avoid spoilers, you can skip down to the summary at the end.


I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I love the vast backdrop and the space opera elements. Banks seems to have created a fantas...

more...]]> 4 1 false true Fri Aug 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 12:06:27 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 11:55:09 -0700 2009 Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks is the first book in his science fiction series about the Culture. In this wild adventure, Horza is an agent for the Idiran who are currently fighting a war with the Culture. He has a number of experiences, some stomach-turning, some heart-pounding, as he tries to...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Oct 23 02:51:33 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 02 20:37:25 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Feb 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Sep 20 16:16:29 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 14:31:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Oct 03 11:30:55 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 22:43:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false true Mon Apr 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 10:28:58 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 12:52:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 20:47:09 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 15:20:32 -0700 2009 The reason I read this book turned out not to hold much water, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

One reviewer had said that if we really wanted to understand what was going on between the Muslim and Western worlds today, there could be no better explanation than in the fictional world ...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=535073