'
The Player Of Games' (1988) is the second
Culture novel by
British science fiction author Iain Banks.
Gurgeh, the
protagonist of the
novel, is a '
morat' or 'player of games'. He is one of the most talented players in the
Culture. He is versed in the rules of all known
games and wins many competitions. He even publishes papers about
games - yes, in the luxurious
Culture, gaming has become an
academic field, and Gurgeh is at the top of it.
He is , basically, the ultimate 'grognard'.
Gurgeh’s fair-play is intentionally compromised by a '
drone', one of the
Culture's
artificial intelligences. Because of this, he is forced to leave the
Culture on a
mission to the Empire of Azad. The Azadian Empire is a newly discovered area of the
Galaxy, which hasn’t been incorporated into the Culture yet. What’s so special about this empire is that the
game Azad, an incredibly complex board game, determines people’s careers and lives.
From the moment
Gurgeh enters the Azadian Empire, the
contrast with the Culture gets more and more emphasized. The Culture is the ideal society.
Technology has reached such a high level that everybody has access to everything, money is no longer necessary and crime is non-existent. Azad, by contrast, seems remarkably close to our Western civilization. And into this
Empire, the Player of Games arrives with a mission he himself is not fully aware of.
This
novel shows an amount of
flair worthy of, let’s say,
Jack Vance. Banks creates a believable character that will be loved by everyone who has ever played a
strategy game, and then sends that character through an amazing amount of thrills and excitement. You want
sensawunda? This novel has more
sensawunda than you can shake a stick at.