this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2025
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I think the second Hyperion book rounds out the story nicely. I've never read about what is said online but I listened to both a couple of times, loved them, but never felt the need to read any further than that.
Agreed! The first novel is by far the most unique and the second is a nicely paced sequel. The third and fourth books have a drop off in quality but I still really like them as sf novels in their own right. Much more tame in style and execution. Simmons is an interesting author to say the least.
Consider Phlebas isn’t really characteristic of the Culture series as a whole—don’t hesitate to start somewhere else if you tried Phlebas before and it didn’t hook you. (They all work as stand-alone novels, with just a few tangential recurring characters.)
Yes, I had read that they were all stand alone and I may do, but I will give CP a while longer before I do. I don't dislike it, but following PHM, it is a rather different pacing.
I agree with you, also The player of games is a lot more accesible as a first book in the series. I've never read the last three books though, at some point I decided I had enough SF for a while.
Completely agree with this and the other comments, except I wouldnt really recommend anyone start with Inversions (because you'll miss all the explicitly-unstated context) or Look to Windward (as it is essentially a sequel to Consider Phlebas). Absolutely love the Culture series, you can really see how Banks was just trying stuff out with the various books. Use of Weapons and Player of Games are phenomenal, in particular.