Rating: 
Summary: I must have read a different book...
Review: _Consider Phlebas_ is one of the few books I have thrown against the wall upon finishing. The ending is sort of a grand "f*** you" to the reader and characters. While Banks has a lot of nifty and neat ideas, there are lots of dumb people doing dumb things throughout the novel. (E.g. "I know you're not really the captain, but rather an eerie doppelganger, but that's ok with me.") The motivation of some of the main characters is confusing and/or absent. It was frustrating because while some aspects of the Culture were neato (i.e. interesting but ultimately unrealistic) I could never connect with the characters. I was very disappointed in this book. (Sorry.)
Rating: 
Summary: Very nice book
Review: This was the first book I read by Iain M. Banks and I truly liked it and have tried to read them all since then. I love the Culture concept and would sure like to live there :-)
Rating: 
Summary: 3.5 actually. Well worth reading, but ...
Review: I first read Consider Phelbas about 8 years ago, and I just reread it for the 2nd time. CP is Bank's first "Culture" science fiction novel. It's basically old-fashioned space opera written in a more literary style. The writing style is at times wonderful-even poetic-but I found it too dense most of the time. Banks, like Tim Powers, is at times pretty hard to read vs. say someone like Dean Koontz or Stephen King. This has kept Banks from achieving greater popularity (I think). The ending of the novel, though, is poignant and does make up for some of the excesses of the novel. However, the protagonist, Horza, who dies at the end, is ultimately a fool-he gets himself and a lot of other good people killed for some dumb abstract ideology(analogous to joining the Nazi Party to fight Communism). So personally, I don't like the "hero" of the book-Banks, though, is just creating a character-where his true views lie is hard to tell.
Rating:
Summary: Superb - original thinking, disguised as SciFi
Review: Well - this is a lot like caviar - not a meal that all would enjoy - for those who liked Snow Crash, The Illuminatus Trilogy or Stranger in a Strange Land - read this!
Rating:
Summary: one of the best books ever written
Review: It is extremely unfortunate that Mr. Banks is not better known in the US, as this is indeed a masterpiece of science fiction. The writing is powerful, and the ideas presented in the book are fantastic. The main character is a non-human assassin, and he's fighting with an alien empire against the human empire, which he does until the end. Oh, he's well aware of the "benefits" of the human empire, but these are not as persuasive as is his honor in carrying out the contract he has accepted. Not many books follow that kind of route. This book will give you cause to think, and I'm sure that most people will become avid fans of Mr. Banks.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun Space Opera - Not Hardcore Sci-Fi
Review: Banks made his debut on the sci-fi scene with this competent space opera. This novel follows Horza, a genetically enhanced assassin, as he attempts to recover an enemy "Mind". While not a hardcore hard sci-fi novel, Banks sticks to a reasonable set of technological extrapolations and keeps his story within these confines. It is fun read - there are interesting characters and engaging plot elements - but the overall story is a bit jumbled. But hey, what else would you expect from a space opera?
Rating:
Summary: Culture and The Culture
Review: _Consider Phlebas_ is not out of print, although Amazon apparently doesn't have it. It's been re-published recently by Orbit (ISBN 1-85723-138-4) and it's worth tracking down. Like David Brin, Dan Simmons or Poul Anderson, this is high concept space opera. But unlike them, this book, and the subsequent books about The Culture, are morally ambiguous. Horza, the protagonist, despises the machine intelligences and moral laziness of The Culture. But his embrace of and alliance with The Culture's enemies in this galaxy-wide war reveals them to be intolerant, racist, religious zealots. He is much more comfortable with the agent of The Culture who infiltrates his band of pirates than with his erstwhile allies. Through plot twists, when he fights his allies with the help of his enemy, Banks makes many points on many levels. The book is amazingly compelling. As Horza careens from debacle to disaster, fighting a battle in which he only partially believes, you come to care a about him. Which is surprising, because by any sane standard he an amoral criminal. Banks is a good but not exceptional writer. But he produces very remarkable books. Even the coda to this book, in which Bank reports the war, of which this story is a tiny, tiny part, caused 850 billion casualties; even the coda underscores the ambiguity of the tale. What makes a culture "good" or "bad"? In the course of telling a very good story, Banks makes you wonder if you are asking the right question.
Rating:
Summary: "Consider" Buying this!
Review: Ok the first thing you're thinking is "whats with the title", right? It's ok because it isn't some crazy flippo title dreamed up in Banks' imagination; along side all those ship and character names which come off a little half baked at times (ie, The ship named C.A.T or Clear Air Turbulance), but remain memorable nevertheless. The title is taken from T.S Eliot's 'The Waste Land'iv, where in the same passage he has found the title for his most recent work 'Look to Windward'. The only meaning I can divine behind the books title is perhaps some veiled suggestion by Banks that in his view everything must evolve, die, change and transcend whether we like it or not; in many cases he seems to apply this same pragmatic/philosophically ambivelent logic to the treatment of the characters and their harsh invironments. Simply put Banks' characters are spared nothing, regardless of our emotional investment and what we might hope for them; they are strangers in a strange land lost in a wilderness of pain whose only small comfort comes via their success in superimposing a futuristic Piratical mentality over the top of their softer side. Let me say from the outset that I loved this book once I surrendered myself to Banks' imaginary 'Culture' mentality. There were odd moments here and their in the early chapters where my mind wanted to compare it to 'other' works that I had enjoyed more in certain areas but essentially it's silly to do this. The only way to enjoy this book is to surrender to the concept, go with the flow and invest in the characters. The lead character in this book is a brilliantly drawn fellow named Horza who is known as a 'Changer' or shapeshifter, able to take on the appearance of other people. In the opening sequence (which I found brilliant!) we are given a gritty insight into his world and the quality of life therein, as well as the Politics of the acquiescing, machine oriented Culture; whose 'Minds' do their thinking for them, versus the Idiran mindset, those giant muscular aliens who draw their ideology from a billion year old religion. It is the Idirans with whom Horza has sided and when one of the Cultures 'Minds' is attacked whilst travelling in deep space by an Idiran Star Cruiser, it's only way of evading capture is to use it's power to teleport itself deep into the abandoned, cavernous underground of the death planet called Schars World. Schars world is off limits and considered a nuetral point by both the Idirans and the Culture but the race is now on to recapture the mind and for Horza to perhaps risk death recapturing it before the Culture does. This is Horza's mission as he goes undercover for the Idirans and the ride has many twists and turns along the way, among these some brilliantly paced action sequences whose imagery is breathtaking. I absolutely loved this book and was on a high for a few weeks after having read it. There are not many ocassions when I am dissapointed when a book finishes to the degree that I was over this book and this is the reason I only give it 4 stars, the 'other' star that it doesn't get is for the people who have read the book to know and 'YOU' to find out for yourselves.
Rating:
Summary: Lavishly Detailed - Over The Top - Space Opera - Fast Pace!
Review: Dont read too many of these amazon.com reviews. It seems like everyone mentions a plot spoiler. There are tons of "in your face" events that shape the outcome of this novel that readers should be confronted with "while" they read. The shock value will increase ten-fold. That being said, Consider Phlebas is packed with more unique ideas, locations, and characters than 99% of the space opera I have read. The pacing of the book is fantastic. The reader is pulled along from location to location relentlessly. Dont thumb through this novel expecting a predictable "into-climax-ending" type of story. This is pure adventure....you go where the lead character (Bora Horza Gobuchol) goes. So why only 4 stars and not 5? Banks has set an incredibly high standard with some of his other novels. Against a Dark Background has a 5 star rating (at the time of this reveiw) on amazon.com. Its an exceptional book. And Feersum Endjinn is also quite amazing - Use Of Weapons being Banks finest hour imo. PRO: The epic scope and background of "The Culture" -ruled essentially, by its artificially-intelligent "Minds", and the religiously fanatic alien species, the Idirans. The dark and somewhat "cold" nature of the lead character is a refreshing change vs the "hero" space opera usually throws at us. Consider Phlebas has very aggressive pacing and detailed locations. All of the books action sequences are also well executed. And of course there is the ending - some people hated it.....but it worked for me. CON: The somewhat childish character and ship names. They are unique and grab your attention, but they always seem out of place to me when I read Consider Phlebas. Recomendation: Buy this book asap and read other Iain M. Banks novels set in the "Culture" universe. Then re-read all these books anually. Iain M. Banks isnt the most well known space-opera writer out there, so spread the word!
Rating: 
Summary: Deus ex Machina . . . Culture Style . . .
Review: First, I would like to point out that Banks is my favorite author. I think one of the least enjoyable experiences I have had in reading is when the author resorts to his power to alter the course of events so the good guys can win when normally they would have lost. Banks does this. I was really disappointed. Everything else of his was great, but he literally pulled the cavalry out of his head. I kept thinking toward the end that it was absolutely hopeless for the protagonists. I'm used to getting a good laugh or being handed a well-shrouded bit of philosophy, but I also found that lacking here. Some of the characters are cardboard cut-outs as well. However, he's trying to present an arguement for the Culture here, in a style somewhat similar to the French Romanticists of two centuries ago.
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