Yep, skip Phlebas at first—but do come back to it later, because despite being silly and railroading, it is the clearest depiction of the series’ main theme, which is people’s need for Taylorian strong evaluation, the dissatisfaction of unlimited pleasure and freedom, liberalism as unstoppable, unanswerable assimilator.
I wrote a longtermist critique of the Culture here.
Surface Detail is about desperately trying to prevent an s-risk. Excession is the best on most axes.
Yep, skip Phlebas at first—but do come back to it later, because despite being silly and railroading, it is the clearest depiction of the series’ main theme, which is people’s need for Taylorian strong evaluation, the dissatisfaction of unlimited pleasure and freedom, liberalism as unstoppable, unanswerable assimilator.
I wrote a longtermist critique of the Culture here.
Surface Detail is about desperately trying to prevent an s-risk. Excession is the best on most axes.