The Player Of Games

A science fiction written by Iain Banks in 1989
Reviewed edition by Harper Collins from 1997
A trade paperback has 300 pages
ISBN 0-06-105356-2

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An intergalactic Culture. Everything is for free. People live long and do not suffer from diseases. One can get himself drugged using artificial glands or change gender at will. Cybernetic drones think and live together with people. Et cetera - your typical realistic future number 376 model B.

Some people of the Culture spend their time playing games. One of those is Jernau Guregh, an expert at everything that involves moving pieces over a game board (if you were thinking arcade, forget it :-). Guregh is slightly bored with his life, a mixture of socializing for the sake of socializing and socializing for the sake of playing games. At the beginning of the book, events take a quick turn though - the Culture meets an aggressive Empire whose life is governed by a very complex game, something Guregh is supposed to "check out" ...

Review

A neat story. The only thing that spoils the feeling is the naivity of its main character, Gurgeh. Portrayed as a great strategist and one of the best game players ever, Gurgeh falls for too many cheap tricks - starting with the blackmail that gets him to accept his new job, and finishing with his genuine surprise at finding out that the drone who's been accompanying him is more than just a librarian.

Rated as good by Ceres on 1998-12-31

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