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Amazon Studios to Adapt Consider Phlebas, First Novel of the Culture Series
- nategri 9y agoHopefully this means we'll also get Use of Weapons and The Player of Games? Pretty please?
- RobertoG 9y agoHopefully they will respect the spirit of the thing, instead of what happened to altered carbon.
- telchar 9y agoI'm hoping they don't respect the plot too much, and improve it instead. Consider Phlebas was by far the worst of the three Culture books I have read so far. It had elements of a great story but IMHO was badly in need of an editor to polish the narrative.
- hardlianotion 9y agoWhich were the three you read? It was the second I read after Player of Games and it has always been my favourite Banks scifi book.
- telchar 9y agoThe other two were Player of Games and Use of Weapons. Out of the three I'd say Player was my favorite, followed by Weapons.
- duozerk 9y agoIt's especially infuriating what they did to Altered Carbon when you consider how much of the changes do not add anything to the adaptation (although a very few were improvements, like Poe); quite the reverse. They also completely castrated the books' political message - especially when it came to religion, and to a lower extent anti-capitalism/centralization. That being said, I imagine it still makes for a watchable show for someone that knows nothing about the books. In any case, I love both series and I pray dearly they don't fuck up the Culture adaptation.
- BatFastard 9y agoAs someone who has not read the book, I quite enjoy the Netflix series! Give me more! So much good SciFi finally coming in series format!!! Only had to wait 40 years.
- duozerk 9y agoYeah, I suspect I was only disappointed because of the books, and even then not by that much - above all I was happy to see the universe on screen. With that being said, and especially if you liked the show, I heartily recommend the books.
- AdeptusAquinas 9y agoI read the book and really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the Netflix series a lot. Theyre different stories, with one inspiring the other. At least with the Netflix series I am hoping that the next season will stick to the theme and atmosphere, unlike the IMO dissapointing book sequels
- Pica_soO 9y agoImagine a audience finding out it cheered the chair-maker on for 90 minutes?
- WJW 9y agoAudiences love bad guys, right? :)
- Pica_soO 9y agoYeah, but this guy wont weasel out of the bad like vvins the diesel. On the other Hand- its incredible what a good actor can get away with.
- jonathanyc 9y agoMan, I would really like Use of Weapons on TV just to see all the different environments. But I feel like it had probably too challenging of a format to bode well for an adaptation.
- joshstrange 9y agoThis would be amazing if they do the rest of the books as well. I think this ranks up there for me with an Honor Harrington TV series.
- Crespyl 9y agoI'd be so excited for an Honor series. Of my favorite space operas, it's definitely one of the more readily TV-adaptable ones (arguably more easily so than Culture), especially after the success of The Expanse.
- jccalhoun 9y agoThis could be good. I think Consider Phlebas is the least of the series but if it leads to the others being adapted then I am for it.
- kirrent 9y agoIt might not be the strongest, but I think it might be one of the easiest to film. Lots of action and interaction between characters compared to something like Player of Games which has a lot of internal monologue.
- GCU-Empiricist 9y agoThat's the weird thing: If I rember right Consider Phlebas is by far the worst book to adapt to introduce the Culture, because of how prevalent the Idrian religion (an expy for various militant religious groups) is to the plot and action. As you said lets hope we get all of them, especially Excession IMHO.
- walkingolof 9y agoThe merit of Consider Phlebas is the potential of a fantastic scifi/action/adventure series, its easy to make TV off, Excession is the other side of the spectrum, a bunch of Minds talking :) In the end, Im a fan, Im glad that this happens, just a damn shame that Mr. Banks never got to see it.
- walshemj 9y agoI just want Pater Capaldi to voice Skaffen-Amtiskaw (full name Fohristiwhirl Skaffen-Amtiskaw Handrahen Dran Easpyou ) If they do UOW
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Analemma_ 9y agoIt could be interesting though: Phelbas was neat because it introduced the Culture from the POV of an outsider who hated them, and even sometimes admitted that his hate could sometimes be irrational. A utopia (or "utopia") from the perspective of a non-participant who deliberately sides with militant religious groups he doesn't even like would be a fresh change of perspective compared to a lot of television.
- Feniks 9y agoCool, need something scifi that isn't dystopia. We're already living that. Warminds for president 2020.
- walshemj 9y agoThe culture universe is not a 100% happy fluffy one (th empire of azzad for one) . And all the books are all set outside of the culture.
- Pica_soO 9y agoEven the culture interior is certainly PG-18. Remember- its all better in the culture, they all last longer - and they have those drug glands- so to be honest, how can somebody adapt that faithfully and release it in the usa?
- arethuza 9y agoI've waited almost 30 years to see the escape of the Clear Air Turbulence from The Ends of Invention... :-) Edit: I read CP in one go during the single day off I had studying for my final exams in my CS degree in '88.
- walshemj 9y agoAgainst a dark background would work better as a series, Ian evensaid he wouldn't mind if it had a happy ending. Miz survives and rides off into the sunset with Sharow on the Vrossul tank hunter sigh
- zaphod12 9y agoThis is going to be very challenging to film...it's imagined as such a far future world. I'm sure it can be done well, but I feel like it will be a challenge and may ruin my imagined vision.
- asteli 9y agoWhen I think of the Culture series, I immediately think of the descriptions of incredibly vast spacecraft, the General Systems Vehicles and whatnot. Even listening via audiobook, my imagination was able to conjure a fragment of the sensation that one gets when perceiving something with incredible scale. Similar to the sensation I got when I first gazed upon the Rocky Mountains. I'm happy that the series is getting more exposure, but at the risk of seeming curmudgeonly, the series will remain on my "watch only after reading the books" list.
- huslage 9y agoI just hope they don't put hulls around the GSVs...that would make me sad
- jonathanyc 9y agoDamnit... that does seem like something they’d do just to show off special effects. I guess a giant ellipsoid is not super visually appealing.
- atombender 9y agoSyfy's The Expanse shows that a sci-fi adaptation can work if the original vision is fully respected and understood. The Culture novels will certainly not work as a traditional TV space opera after the Star Trek tradition. One problem is that The Culture has tech that is so futuristic that it rarely shows up in science fiction. Banks' spaceships don't have hulls; they are often described as multiple-kilometer-long, oblong, semi-translucent bubbles whose outer perimeter is maintained by "matter fields", the exteriors and interiors of which the ships can rearrange as they desire; there's no bridge, no screens, and human accommodation is also created on demand. Drones are not humanoid robots, but are more like sleek, floating geometric shapes that can manipulate the world around them with "maniple fields". Then there are the Minds, who only occasionally manifest themselves as avatars in the real world. And so on. One aspect that will be hard to get right is to accurately reflect Banks' philosophical attitude (and his books have a lot of attitude), which is cynical to the point of nihilism, even when set in a world that is broadly utopian. The inherent conflict is everywhere: On the one hand, the Culture has genetically modified themselves to be peaceful; on the other hand, it's a civilization that is constantly involved in war. The cynicism is often wryly funny; there's a lot of Douglas Adams to found in Banks' writing, and the description of the Outside Context Problem [1] is like something right out of Hitchhiker's Guide. It's not something that would be easy to portray on film, where it'd be necessary to explain backstory and explain how an AI-dominated post-scarcity society can exist that has no money and no labour force. Consider Phlebas is probably the best book to start with simply because it looks at the Culture from the outside. The show might use this to its advantage by having characters explain aspects of the Culture, such as its post-scarcity society, without being too heavy-handed. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excession#Outside_Context_Problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excession#Outside_Context_Prob...
- Pica_soO 9y agoYes, yes.. this is increddible- i cant wait for the minds duking out. I have it here on my desk right now- re-reading while working on a hobby project.
- geden 9y agoSlightly alarming but also tremendously exciting. Alarming because Amazon have yet to produce anything truely great. Exciting because Denis Kelly’s series Utopia was truely unique and special UK SF viewing with a real edge. Plan B also have excellent track record.
- nategri 9y ago< Alarming because Amazon have yet to produce anything truely great. Apply the correct latin phrase, but I've found The Man in the High Castle to be one of the best shows on TV right now.
- geden 9y agoI couldn’t get past the pilot unfortunately. Vikings S02/S03 is very watchable with great production values but a bit pulpy.
- Jedd 9y agoThis is great news indeed. I've never directed or produced a movie, and I'm impressed at the number of my fellow HN'ers who have great insight into why this isn't the best book to turn into a film. For my own part I'm just thrilled that it may finally happen. If it's not up to scratch, it won't diminish the novel(s) for me. But if it's great, I'm going to be way pleased. Fair to say that anyone who's read and enjoyed a book (or series of books), and subsequently seen a TV or film interpretation of the work, will almost always commend others to read, then watch. (There may be exceptions - never heard of one myself.) Last year there was news of Amazon looking to develop series around Ringworld (maybe re-use some of the sets :) and Snowcrash. I really liked what they did with Man in the High Castle, so I'm feeling optimistic.
- splitrocket 9y agoIan M. Banks: "Money Implies Poverty"
- maxander 9y agoYeah yeah, I’m excited too. But it figures this is being done by Amazon- for years they’ve been out to condition us to like having all our needs met by an inhuman yet weirdly friendly technological regime. Good odds the Minds all sound remarkably like Alexa. :)
- diziet 9y agoI am cautiously optimistic.
- whitingx 9y agoSo we can hopefully look forward to seeing the Superlifter 'Prime Mover' in 'The Player of Games' follow up series ;) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Culture_series#The_Player_of_Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Cult...