I would not recommend Player of Games to someone new to novels set in The Culture. Use of Weapons (or later novels) would be a better choice. (It's not essentia

I would not recommend Player of Games to someone new to novels set in The Culture. Use of Weapons (or later novels) would be a better choice. (It's not essential to read them in publication order.) Possibly my favorite Iain M. Banks sci-fi novel is The Algebraist, which is not set in The Culture. If either of those don't get you going, then maybe Banks is not your cup of tea.