Culturally speaking

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1634488]

Comments

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

*PlayerofGamesisaninferiorknockoffofEnder'sGamerantrantrant*

...I'll spare you the real rant. *wry gryn* I did like Excession, though I imagine it would've made more sense if I read more Culture novels. I really should.

[andrewducker]

I can't see any way in which Player Of Games is an inferior knock off of Ender's Game. The two plots are entirely different.

[andrewducker]

Oh, and I haven't read any of the Vorkosigan books, but I've heard people rave about them. I'll add them to the list! Where should I start?

[makyo.livejournal.com]

Where should I start?
This is a slightly tricky question: the books were written in a different order to their internal chronology. I've only read three of them so far, but found that reading Komarr and A Civil Campaign in that order made sense; a while later I read Memory, which is set before Komarr, so that's probably also a good place to start. People who've read more of them (something which I intend to do) tell me that they're reasonably self-contained and reading them out of chronological sequence doesn't detract noticeably from the enjoyment.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

With Shards of Honour. Cordelia and Aral are wonderful and if you don't read Shards of Honour you have to skip Barraryar and that would be a tragedy.

Spoilers ahoy for those who mind.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

The main plot twist is the same; main character thinks he's playing a game when in actually he's the focal point of a war.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Ditto this. Barrayar is terrific and contains in my opinion one of the best scenes ever written in any book ever.

so to start, I recommend either Cordelia's Honor (which contains Shards of Honor and Barrayar, and stars Miles' parents), or The Warrior's Apprentice (which starts with Miles himself). Alternately if you just want a taste of the series to see what you think of the writing, there are three excellent short stories put together into a collection called Borders of Infinity. (that was where I started, and I liked the ideas and characters so much I then went back to the start of the series and whipped through them)

I can't recommend the above suggestion to read Memory, Kormarr, and A Civil Campaign without having read earlier books. They might make sense but the emotional impact of those three books when read in chronological (to the series) order is phenomenal. I do recommend reading the whole series in chronological order where possible. Not because prior knowledge is required (though in some cases it is, especially later on) but because following Miles' life as he goes is just so damn awesome.

Re: Spoilers ahoy for those who mind.

[andrewducker]

One of them is taking active part in a war without realising that the simulation he's playing is actually real.

The other is involved in making the current leadership look bad by beating them at a game.

That's certainly a similarity, but it's nowhere near close enough to enter into knockoff territory, especially as the rest of the plot have nothing in common.

[sigmonster.livejournal.com]

There is a fix-up novel of 3 novellas / shorts, Borders Of Infinity, which might make a good introduction to Miles.

For me, slightly weaker books (and therefore bad entry points) would be The Vor Game, Cetaganda, or Diplomatic Immunity.

But start with Shards Of Honor (or Cordelia's Honor, which includes it) and you can't go far wrong...

[andrewducker]

Ok, cheers. I'll take a look at that. Glee - more books!

[burkesworks.livejournal.com]

Much prefer Banksy's literary fiction, though that comes as no surprise to those who know me and my famous indifference towards sf.

Re: Spoilers ahoy for those who mind.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

Aye - Gurgeh is fully aware that he is playing for his team in a real event and that his presence and success are an embarrassment to the Azadians. Given that the premise of Azad is that the winner of the game become Emperor how could he not be aware.

The crucial piece of information that he is missing is what Special Circumstances have told the Azadians about him. He is an unwitting bluff but he knows what he is doing.

Re: Spoilers ahoy for those who mind.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Knockoff was harsh, it's true. And I will admit that the book annoyed me for many reasons; there were some bits I liked, enough to keep me reading, but mostly I was growing more and more annoyed with it, and then when that big plot reveal came at the end I nearly threw it across the room; it did at the time feel quite derivative to me. Just didn't like that book. It took months for my friend to convince me to give Banks another chance.

[andrewducker]

Remind me next week and I'll do a staight-fic one then.

I suspect it'll show that everyone loves The Wasp Factory->Complicity and then it's all downhill. But we'll see!

[naath.livejournal.com]

Playing favourites is TOO HARD :-) I think use of weapons narrowly wins out because I <3 Sma.

Re: Spoilers ahoy for those who mind.

[andrewducker]

Oooh, now I _am_ intrigued to know what you disliked about it.

Re: Spoilers ahoy for those who mind.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Well, 'tis true I read the book long ago during my first year of college, and I have sometimes wondered if I should give it another chance. If I do and I still hate it, I'll let you know why. =)

[the-gardener.livejournal.com]

So I'm now four Culture novels behind. Heigh-ho!

[hano.livejournal.com]

You absolutely should read them in chronological order, it'll be far too confusing otherwise. And as said above, the later stuff would lose a lot of its power otherwise. And not just the dinner party in A Civil Campaign, which remains one of the funniest scenes in any book anywhere.

[andrewducker]

Inversions is fun, but not a strongly Culture-based book (you could read it and not know it's a Culture novel if you weren't paying attention).

I really enjoyed both Look To Windwards and Surface Detail. Matter was good, but never quite grabbed me in the same way.

[andrewducker]

Chronological order of publication?

[hano.livejournal.com]

d'oh, sorry should have clearer. Their internal chronological order, not order of publication. (quickly Googles) ie the list here.

[nmg.livejournal.com]

Oh? Have I just fallen into an alternative universe where Canal Dreams was published after Complicity?

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I've read several, but can never remember which title goes with which book... :)

[andrewducker]

I'll get the poll up next week and you can register your discontent then :->