Virtually everyone here knows that I’m a huge fan of Iain M Banks’ Culture novels. Indeed, the name “Irreal” comes from an idea in his 1996 novel, Excession. I’ve read all the Culture novels except the last one, which I’m saving to savor at a later time given that Banks died tragically young and the series came to an end.
I just came across these notes on the Culture from Banks. In them, he lays out a mostly complete world view of the Culture and how it operates. Considering that the Culture is, after all, a fictional entity, it’s an amazing complete and coherent description. Even if you’ve haven’t read all the novels—or maybe especially if you have read all the novels—you should take a look at this. It’s long but discusses lots of things that you may have missed when you read the novels.
Banks’ essay is hosted on Trevor Hopkins site, which also lists 3 novels and several short stories that he’s written that take place in the Culture universe. I just found his site so I haven’t had a chance to read any of his stories yet but I’m hopeful that they’ll feed my appetite for Culture stories.
As I’ve said many times before, if you like Science Fiction you should definitely read these novels. They describe a universe in which I, at least, would love to live. In the Culture you can do pretty much whatever you want and the society takes pains to prevent those with a will to power from gaining it. What’s not to like.