The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game...a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.
416 pages
English language
Published Nov. 1, 2008
This was much better than its predecessor "Consider Phlebas", which really suffered from pacing issues. Here, interesting ideas are explored at a leisurely pace without fully losing the element of suspense. It also is about post-singularity civilization, which I always adore.
