"3/5 An average novel- I'm glad I took a chance and continued on after this one since overall I truly enjoyed the Culture series- in particular the intelligent British writing."
"3.5/5 A master player of games competes in an empire's great game- a complex, multi-round, multi-player game. The Culture's terrific AI drones play an important role."
"3/5 Banks likes to try unusual storytelling formats. This novel tells 2 interleaved stories, one chronologically, the other in reverse chronology. Somewhat confusing to follow, as you'd expect."
"4/5 A mysterious object appears at the edge of Culture space. The Culture and other races rush to exploit, as do various AI minds. Banks does a great job with AIs as always. Another excellent novel."
"3/5 A fantasy novel, only part of the Culture series by subtle implication. If you're not into fantasy, you can skip it without missing anything from the Culture narrative."
"4/5 Sequel to Consider Phlebas, I found this one far better. An epic story of the Culture- its incredible AI Minds, their grand projects and operatives."
