Nearly all of Banks's science fiction works are set in the seemingly utopian society of the far future he calls the Culture, a vast galaxy-wide civilization in which man and machine live in symbiotic harmony and individuals are allowed the time and the opportunity to develop their every talent and indulge their every desire. Nearly all of his plots begin at the point where apparent utopia either begins to break down or encounters less admirable societies. The central character of The Player of Games is Jernau Gurgeh, a man from the Culture whose entire life revolves around the playing of strategy games. In a society where leisure and recreation are so important, Gurgeh's expertise is valued and he is a famous and honored man. He is also a dissatisfied man who feels that there should be more than endless comfort and privilege in his life. When the opportunity arises to take part in perhaps the greatest game in the universe, Gurgeh seizes it. As it expands, the Culture constantly comes into contact with other, less advanced societies. One of these is the Empire. The Empire is a society entirely founded on the playing of an elaborate war game. Success or failure in the game dictates each individual's position in the hierarchy. The greatest of all players becomes Emperor. Gurgeh journeys to the Empire to play as a guest in the game and succeeds beyond everyone's expectations. As he progresses further and further through the Empire's elaborate tournament, the dangers to his well-being grow and he learns more and more about the brutal realities that underpin the Empire's apparent civilization.

Banks is well known as a mainstream novelist (his first book, The Wasp Factory, remains controversial more than twenty years after publication) but his science fiction is also integral to his work as a writer and is clearly important to Banks himself. Within the vast, imaginative universe he has created in the Culture, he is able to tell stories which play wittily with ideas and concepts that he would struggle to incorporate in his non-SF fiction.

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