It is interesting to tread the culture novels in the order they were written. Use of Weapons (I think written, but not published first) and Consider Phlebus (s

It is interesting to tread the culture novels in the order they were written. Use of Weapons (I think written, but not published first) and Consider Phlebus (sp?) were quite dark and portrayed the Culture in a broader vision than the later novels. I feel they are much better, and far more courageous than the later novels. He came to like his characters too much and could not let them die. The total cluster fuck at the end of Consider Phlebus and the dark and tragic ending of Use of Weapons would not happen in later novels.