Scotsman Iain M. Banks continues to be near or at the top of my list. His obsession with ultra-weird character names is fine by me but I think it hurts him in the long run because part of being a memorable character means allowing others to remember how to pronounce the name! Let's try a vocal exercise:

First warm up your chords with the following: Frodo. E.T. Harry Potter. That was easy.

Now let's try these: Doc Brown. HAL 9000. Buffy. Still ok? Now prepare to hurt!

Jernau Morat Gurgeh. Mawhrin-Skel Say. Flere-Imsaho. Three times!! Let's go!!! And those are some of the shorter names. Anyways, I have no point.

Gurgeh is an expert gamer. The Culture's euphemistically-named Special Circumstances division wants to use his skills to do what they do best: influence the direction of other cultures to their benefit. (Ah c'mon, it's harmless, we're the Culture. Look how civilized we are! Money? Who needs it.) Gurgeh is recruited to play a game that will decide the fate of an entire Empire. Most of the novel has a light-hearted feel, which is appropriate for a story about a game. This is in contrast to the break-neck pace of Consider Phlebas and the dark brooding Use of Weapons.

This book is worth reading just for the puzzle of the game of Azad. The opening scene made me worry I was getting into a Culture-Ender's Game, but the layering of games just got more interesting and interesting. Like the text of Martin Silenus' Cantos in Hyperion, the rules of the game Azad, while at our fingertips, lie ambiguously just beyond. Both are fun fictional devices that keep us engaged. Banks wet our whistle with the game of "Damage" in Consider Phlebas and Player is a great extension of that idea.

The overarching theme of the Culture's philosophy of purposeful interference is perhaps my favourite aspect of Banks' universe. It guides the first three books I've read, especially Player and Use of Weapons. It makes us think about the means justifying the ends and it makes us challenge our views on "good" political structures. Like any good player Azad, the Culture's Minds think many, many steps ahead. Actions that do not seem to make sense are never without purpose and that purpose is often only revealed later. That's a great recipe for a book. There's no better example than when Gurgeh is given an explanation of what the Empire has been told about the Culture and its capabilities. I'm never sure who is telling me the truth! Flere-Imsaho's attempts to play along provide the comic relief. Banks continues to make sentient artificial life central to his stories, if not the stars. In Player of Games, the pre-destined function and autonomy of artificial intelligence and purpose-driven technology is questioned.

You don't have to be an anthropologist to see the parallels between good old now and here on Earth and the Empire of Azad. It allows Banks to poke at our civilization using the Culture's superiority complex. I thought this was well done. It could have gone overboard and had too many quasi-direct references but I felt it was just enough.

Another Culture winner. Use of Weapons was definitely deeper, in my view, but this was excellent.