Consider Phlebas
by Iain Banks · first published 1987
39% recommend37% neutral24% critical
Why HN recommends it
Space-opera adventure and the first Culture novel, with big set pieces and a universe of AI-run post-scarcity society. Suits sci-fi readers wanting a gateway to the series, though it sits outside the Culture proper.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Consider Phlebas is perhaps one of the lesser-known, but nevertheless the first, of the revelationary late Iain M. Banks' science fiction books. Consider Phlebas introduces us to the complex world of the mind-controlling, ubiquitous utopia of the Culture, which contrasts to their mortal sentient enemies. Iain Banks creates an imaginative and encapsulating premise to keep the reader hooked for more, with hints of science fiction and alien humour to liven a deadly race against an omnipotent foe.
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Consider Phlebas is more of a literary novel that happens to take place in the future. I like all of Banks' work and thinkSwombat's suggested reading order above is spot on, but I also think Consider Phlebas is by far…
on “A Personal Statement from Iain Banks” ↗…Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey (TV show The Expanse is loosely based on this, but IMO doesn't even come close) Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds Three Body Problem (all 3 books) - Liu Cixin Consider Phlebas - Iain M. Banks (your gateway drug into the Culture universe) Genuinely wish I could experience all the above for the first time again. And looking forward to checking out some of the others mentioned…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗By a large margin my favourite author. The Wasp Factory was the first novel of his I read and it was great, but Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games utterly blew my mind.
on “A Personal Statement from Iain Banks” ↗Lots of people dislike Consider Phlebas but I think it's significantly better than most of the others; I like Excession better but it's also hammier. Banks had great vision but he's not that great of a writer; he relies on the few tricks over…
on “The Ambiguous Utopia of Iain M. Banks (2009)” ↗After The Algebraist and Matter I never want to read another word of Iaiaain M Banks. Consider Phlebas was genius, but he's lost it.
on “32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list” ↗Anathem, by Neal Stephenson Consider Phlebas, by Iain M. Banks Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins Business Stripped Bare, by Richard Branson Programming Collective Intelligence, by Toby Segaran Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗Actually, that's pretty much how good sci-fi treats lasers. Try reading "Consider Phlebas" by Iain M. Banks, it has a rather good scene of liberal use of laser weapons. It's a good book in other ways too, at least as long as you can stand the blatant socialism. :) In any case, I rather doubt…
on “U.S. successfully tests airborne laser on missile” ↗What kind of megastructures? I've had a very unhealthy fascination with Orbitals being blown up since reading Consider Phlebas at an impressionable age.
on “Homeworld 2 Backgrounds” ↗…extremely long to capture everything needed for a movie, and I still don't think it would work well. For one thing, how could you capture the confusion that leads to the final twist in film? I think Consider Phlebas would be the one to go for. It has just about everything you could want for a fun action movie, but it's also smart. I recall Banks saying that he saw Star Wars and decided he could do better, and that's…
on “The 'Unfilmable' Ender's Game’s 28 Years in Development Hell” ↗Start with Consider Phlebas. It's the easiest to start with, but also not completely representative of what the series ends up being. I highly recommend Banks.
on “A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing” ↗I've wanted to see a movie of Consider Phlebas ever since I read the book in one sitting (literally) in May 1988... :-) Edit: I remember it vividly as I took one day off between handing in my final year project on the CS degree I was doing and starting…
on “Why the Culture Wins: An Appreciation of Iain M. Banks (2017; by Joseph Heath)” ↗If you are just reading Consider Phlebas then that means you still have the awesome Use of Weapons to go... I'm jealous!
on “The Star Trek Economy” ↗Consider Phlebas and Look to Windward make a great matched pair. The first introduces the Culture and a bunch of crackling ideas around the beautiful fantasy of a post-scarcity, post-mortality, post-stupidity civilization.…
on “Amazon Studios to Adapt Consider Phlebas, First Novel of the Culture Series” ↗Alright to all that, but sometimes all you really want to read is a damn good space adventure. Something well-written of course, like Consider Phlebas [1]. But good literature doesn't necessarily need to have "more self-knowledge than talent". The Odyssey and the Illiad, are not particularly known for their deep philosophical understanding, and yet…
on “Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans (1975)” ↗Iain Banks' "Consider Phlebas" has a great section of the story in such a setting.
on “First photo of HS2 tunnel boring machines” ↗