The Player of Games

Description

Author: Iain M. Banks
Genre: Science Fiction / Space Opera
Series: The Culture Series (Book 2)
Publisher: Orbit
Edition: 1
Paperback: 2022
Pages: 309
Language: English
ISBN-13: 9781857231465

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks is a landmark science fiction novel set in the acclaimed Culture universe, blending political intrigue, philosophy, and high-stakes competition.

Jernau Morat Gurgeh is the greatest game player the Culture has ever known—celebrated, brilliant, and bored. When he is invited to compete in a mysterious and brutal empire where social status, power, and survival are determined entirely by a complex game, Gurgeh finds himself drawn into a conflict far larger than he imagined.

As the rules grow darker and the consequences deadlier, the game becomes a mirror of an empire’s cruelty—and a test of morality, identity, and control. Sharp, imaginative, and deeply thought-provoking, The Player of Games is both an exhilarating narrative and a powerful critique of power and authoritarianism.

A must-read for fans of intelligent space opera, classic science fiction, and the Culture series.