David Kondo read and liked Scott's review of Consider Phlebas:

"CONSIDER PHLEBAS is the first novel in Banks' "Culture" series, one of the founding and best works of the modern space opera sci-fi genre. Arguably no one since pioneering sci-fi master Robert Heinlein works intellectual ideas into their n...more CONSIDER PHLEBAS is the first novel in Banks' "Culture" series, one of the founding and best works of the modern space opera sci-fi genre. Arguably no one since pioneering sci-fi master Robert Heinlein works intellectual ideas into their novels better than Iain Banks, though stylistically and in tone Banks is completely different than Heinlein. Though almost all "Culture" books are stand-alone stories, they cumulatively form a greater story about the Culture, a futuristic galactic society in which an amazing diversity of human-derived lifeforms are free to pursue their passions and pleasures under the care--or guidance or possibly even control--of AI "Minds" and sentient drones. Almost every complex piece of technology humans use--particularly space vessels--is actually a sentient AI.

This novel is an essential introduction to the Culture, and it definitely should be read before the others. Banks' Culture is more than merely a government: It is an idea or meme that guides the existence and perception of billions of humanoids and that sees itself as the pinacle of the biological and moral evolution of humanity. Much like the neoliberal World System that has evolved since WWII on Earth (and seemingly inspired Banks' creation), the Culture has a self-evident ethical duty to intervene, guide, uplift, or at times even punish civilizations they see as less developed or more savage. Most people in the Culture see their society as a heroic force for good, but Banks seems to want the reader to feel uncertain about this self-justified image. Most other "Culture" books are told from the perspective of Culture agents, so negative reactions to the Culture way of life are not explicit but operate as an unsettling background for the reader. No characters can meaningfully oppose the Culture because it is too vast, too powerful, and too much of an idea ever to be physically destroyed. And this is why CONSIDER PHLEBAS should be read first in the series.

CONSIDER PHLEBAS is the story of the last attempt to resist and defeat the Culture. Its protagonist reviles the hedonism of the Culture people and their dependence on non-living Minds, so much that he chooses to side with a radically alien race in their destructive war against the Culture because, in his view, they at least represent biological life over a technologically dependent evolutionary dead end. The central theme of the novel is insignificance in the face of the vastness of time and the universe. Up close, events and objects in space may seem significant, but with spatial and temporal distance their actual insignificance becomes apparent. The protagonist sees his role in the conflict as central, but ultimately his struggle and even the whole war itself appears murkier in the greater scheme. The Idirans have no signficant chance at winning their war against the Culture, and indeed the protagonist's own race is but an insignificant blip in the history of the conflict. Yet, the whole war and even the Culture itself seem insignificant from the perspective of the Elder races of the universe that transcend physical existence--when they even bother to take note of the universe.

The title comes from the line in T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" mourning how the passage of time erodes beauty and greatness. This theme permeates the novel. As the protagonist single-mindedly pursues his dangerous but increasingly irrelevant mission, he encounters wondrous sites on worlds that are awe-inspiring until one considers their disposability. He and his allies fight a battle on a gigantic ship many kilometers long. This ship is actually part of a mildly famous fleet of oversized ships, which are really only a tourist attraction on an independent Orbital (a spinning wheel-like habitat the size of multiple planets). Yet even this awesome feat of world building is an insignificant castoff from the Culture, which has more and bigger artifically built habitats. This Orbital and everything on it is consigned to destruction (almost casually) by the Culture because they do not wish to risk the chance that the Idirans might conquer it. This monumental construction is winked out of existence in a few moments by what amounts to a miniscule fraction of the Culture battle fleet.

Readers who demand heroic endings shouldn't bother with the "Culture" series. Readers who hunger for sci-fi revolving around big ideas that they will be thinking over months and years later shouldn't miss it. CONSIDER PHLEBAS will leave you wondering who exactly is the "Phlebas" in this story--the protagonist, his tiny race, the Idirans, or possibly even the whole Culture itself?
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