7 ms·

I haven't kept up with sci fi for a long time so I had to google Culture Series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture_(series)#Books_in_the_series https:/

I haven't kept up with sci fi for a long time so I had to google Culture Series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture_(series)#Books_in_the_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture_(series)#Books_in_... Sounds like the utopian culture of the protagonists is surrounded by plenty of non-utopian drama. Star Trek - a future where I might die because I chose to put on a red shirt in the morning. ;-)

scotty79 8y ago
Read Iain M. Banks. It might be the best SF I've ever read. And I read a lot of SF.
- chimprich 8y ago
  I agree, but the downside is that you'll be spoilt for most of the rest of the genre, because little else measures up. Perhaps read everything else first. Amazon Prime currently has an adaptation of Consider Phlebas in the pipeline, something I have very mixed feelings about.
  - rsynnott 8y ago
    Not sure why they went for that one, really; even as a novel it's kind of messy and confusing, and I struggle to imagine how an adaptation will work. Player of Games would have been a much more obvious choice.
    - NikolaNovak 8y ago
      I'm torn; it's my least favourite of Culture novels, and I almost consider it an early trial, very different in spirit and nature than the rest; but I can see how it'd be an obvious choice for a movie/series: it has the most action/adventure feel and a simple linear storyline (even if you account for the "twist" of who the good guys / bad guys are). There's a single protagonist, we focus largely on him, and he goes out and has adventures in space. Whereas something like Excession - that can never ever be a movie, really...:-/
      - rsynnott 8y ago
        I'd love to see someone try Excession, just to see what happened.
  - Herodotus38 8y ago
    I started the culture series with the first book that you mentioned but thought it wasn't that great. I hear the others with more of The Culture are much better. I could see how it could be a decent movie though, lots of action.
Bartweiss 8y ago
> Sounds like the utopian culture of the protagonists is surrounded by plenty of non-utopian drama. You're not wrong, but the word 'surrounded' is significant. Star Trek always felt odd to me because the non-utopian elements felt far too embedded in the utopian stuff. Not just the Maquis, where utopia is breaking down, but the constant presence of menacing rival powers and internal hierarchy. What happens if a captain loses their ship? It can't be trivial or the Romulans wouldn't be a threat. What happens if a private citizen asks the fabricator for a submarine instead of a hot dinner? Material/power/something is clearly bounded. And, yes, redshirts - quite a few people in utopia still get killed because no one knows how to keep them safe. What I like so much about the Culture stories is that the drama is around their society. They're not just post-money but largely post-scarcity; one character's hobby is terraforming continents into custom residences, and resource limits don't seem to affect anyone much unless they're dealing with the sorts of energy costs associated with major spacetravel. Even when they go to war, it's from a truly foreign viewpoint. One (no-spoilers) conflict sees the Culture evacuate and destroy a space habitat for several billion people because they don't want to yield it to the enemy, and rebuilding it elsewhere is a minor concern. The other appeal, less obvious from a summary, is seeing what the Culture does worry about. They're not the first post-scarcity civilization, and they're not entirely sure what's happened to the others...
- arethuza 8y ago
  Don't most of them Sublime? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sublimed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sublimed
  - Bartweiss 8y ago
    Yep - "don't know what happened" was a bit overstated, I just wanted to put it simply. "Don't know quite what happens when you Sublime" would be more accurate. I think it might be Excession or even Phlebas that first brings up the idea that the Culture is unusual for reaching such a high level of development without subliming?
    - arethuza 8y ago
rsynnott 8y ago
> Sounds like the utopian culture of the protagonists is surrounded by plenty of non-utopian drama. Yup. In fact, the Culture is in a way just scene setting; the protagonists in most of the novels either aren't Culture, or are very weird Culture people. The only possible exception would be Excession, where the characters are mostly Culture AIs.

scotty79 8y ago

Read Iain M. Banks. It might be the best SF I've ever read. And I read a lot of SF.

chimprich 8y ago
I agree, but the downside is that you'll be spoilt for most of the rest of the genre, because little else measures up. Perhaps read everything else first. Amazon Prime currently has an adaptation of Consider Phlebas in the pipeline, something I have very mixed feelings about.
- rsynnott 8y ago
  Not sure why they went for that one, really; even as a novel it's kind of messy and confusing, and I struggle to imagine how an adaptation will work. Player of Games would have been a much more obvious choice.
  - NikolaNovak 8y ago
    I'm torn; it's my least favourite of Culture novels, and I almost consider it an early trial, very different in spirit and nature than the rest; but I can see how it'd be an obvious choice for a movie/series: it has the most action/adventure feel and a simple linear storyline (even if you account for the "twist" of who the good guys / bad guys are). There's a single protagonist, we focus largely on him, and he goes out and has adventures in space. Whereas something like Excession - that can never ever be a movie, really...:-/
    - rsynnott 8y ago
      I'd love to see someone try Excession, just to see what happened.
- Herodotus38 8y ago
  I started the culture series with the first book that you mentioned but thought it wasn't that great. I hear the others with more of The Culture are much better. I could see how it could be a decent movie though, lots of action.

Bartweiss 8y ago

> Sounds like the utopian culture of the protagonists is surrounded by plenty of non-utopian drama. You're not wrong, but the word 'surrounded' is significant. Star Trek always felt odd to me because the non-utopian elements felt far too embedded in the utopian stuff. Not just the Maquis, where utopia is breaking down, but the constant presence of menacing rival powers and internal hierarchy. What happens if a captain loses their ship? It can't be trivial or the Romulans wouldn't be a threat. What happens if a private citizen asks the fabricator for a submarine instead of a hot dinner? Material/power/something is clearly bounded. And, yes, redshirts - quite a few people in utopia still get killed because no one knows how to keep them safe. What I like so much about the Culture stories is that the drama is around their society. They're not just post-money but largely post-scarcity; one character's hobby is terraforming continents into custom residences, and resource limits don't seem to affect anyone much unless they're dealing with the sorts of energy costs associated with major spacetravel. Even when they go to war, it's from a truly foreign viewpoint. One (no-spoilers) conflict sees the Culture evacuate and destroy a space habitat for several billion people because they don't want to yield it to the enemy, and rebuilding it elsewhere is a minor concern. The other appeal, less obvious from a summary, is seeing what the Culture does worry about. They're not the first post-scarcity civilization, and they're not entirely sure what's happened to the others...

arethuza 8y ago
Don't most of them Sublime? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sublimed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sublimed
- Bartweiss 8y ago
  Yep - "don't know what happened" was a bit overstated, I just wanted to put it simply. "Don't know quite what happens when you Sublime" would be more accurate. I think it might be Excession or even Phlebas that first brings up the idea that the Culture is unusual for reaching such a high level of development without subliming?
  - arethuza 8y ago

rsynnott 8y ago

> Sounds like the utopian culture of the protagonists is surrounded by plenty of non-utopian drama. Yup. In fact, the Culture is in a way just scene setting; the protagonists in most of the novels either aren't Culture, or are very weird Culture people. The only possible exception would be Excession, where the characters are mostly Culture AIs.