The Player of Games
by Iain M. Banks
Rating: 5.0 / 5 · Read · Finished 2020-07-09
In a post-scarcity society, people pass the time playing games. One guy is so good at games he’s bored of them… until he learns about a game so complex a civilization is built around it. He’s sent on a mission to play it.
Azad is opposite of the Culture. Cruel, controlling, repressed rather than generous, free and accepting. Is this some kind of commentary on the war of ideologies in the Cold War? In the end, “freedom” wins out, mainly through sabotage.
Spoilers: “Machina ex Machina” (The machine in the machine) is such a great title for the last section of the book. On one level, a reference to Deus ex Machina saving the day. On the another, a reference to the drone wearing a shell. On another, the drone is secretly another drone. Perhaps one level further: the drone is a pawn in a larger game played by Minds left unnamed.
Good pacing. Beautiful descriptions. I wish we could just get to a post-scarcity society already; it sounds great. Borderline 4 stars but I’m feeling generous, so let’s say 5.
Random thought: I liked the point it made about good people existing in a bad society. No matter what narrative we draw about “how things are”, there are always counterexamples and smaller stories that don’t get told.