\nVirtually 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>. 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.\n<\/p>\n
\nI just came across these notes on the Culture from Banks<\/a>. 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\u2014or maybe especially if you have<\/i> read all the novels\u2014you should take a look at this. It’s long but discusses lots of things that you may have missed when you read the novels.\n<\/p>\n \nBanks’ essay is hosted on Trevor Hopkins site<\/a>, 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.\n<\/p>\n \nAs 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 … Continue reading