Another outstanding Culture novel has emerged.

One wouldn't anticipate picking up a book from 1989 and delving into a story about a gay trans man, yet here we are.

It is thoroughly enjoyable and engaging.

Surprisingly, I didn't expect to catch a glimpse of Earth within the Culture universe, but I believe it has been appropriately represented.

The author has managed to bring this aspect to life in a way that feels both familiar and yet unique within the context of the Culture.

The story unfolds with a captivating narrative that keeps the reader hooked from start to finish.

The exploration of different identities and the inclusion of such a diverse character adds depth and richness to the overall plot.

Overall, this is a must-read for fans of the Culture series and those interested in thought-provoking and diverse science fiction.

What a truly sad disappointment it is!

I have come to realize that I don't enjoy Banks's short form in the slightest. The non-Culture tales simply failed to engage me, lacking the depth and charm that his longer works possess.

On the other hand, the Culture tales seemed to suffer from the fact that he had too much of a message to squeeze into his limited word count.

The result is a loss of personality and the glorious scene setting that makes his novels so captivating. There is very little left to enjoy.

Out of all of them, my favorite was Descendant, which does offer some interesting insights into the unlikely symbiosis between man and machine.

However, I can't bring myself to recommend any of the others.

For a full review, please visit this link.

This collection of short stories presents a rather chaotic picture. Many of the stories seem to have little or no connection to the concept of Culture, which is a bit disappointing. Some of them feel like random excerpts from other books or the beginnings of longer works that were never completed. Only a few of the stories have a full and satisfying story arc; instead, they often come across as ideas that were haphazardly scribbled down on the margins of Culture novels.

"Road of Skulls" starts off engagingly, creating a great atmosphere. However, it ends abruptly just as you're getting into it, making it feel more like an exercise in creative writing than a fully realized story. I'd rate it 2.5 out of 5.

"A Gift from the Culture" is again too short and lacks substance. The dialogues and the character's inner struggles are tedious and seem forced. I can only give it a 2 out of 5.

"Odd Attachment" is a very short joke story about a sentient plant. The idea is quite obvious and I felt like I'd seen it before. Honestly, it didn't amuse me at all, so I'd rate it 1 out of 5.

"Descendant" is probably the only story that I really enjoyed. A Culture man in a suit is trying to find his way through a lifeless desert back to the base. It's a simple idea, but it works. It felt like a discarded flashback chapter from "Use Of Weapons". I'd give it a 4 out of 5.

"Cleaning Up" is another humorous story about an alien disposal ship that throws rubbish at Earth instead of the Sun. It has some mildly amusing bits of absurdist humor, but I felt like the story didn't go anywhere beyond the initial idea. I'd rate it 3 out of 5.

"Piece" is a non-sci-fi piece that goes on and on about religious close-mindedness. It was a bit hard to read, as there was nothing deep or new here. The basic idea was spread over not so many pages, but it still felt too long. The twist reminded me of some of O Henry's worst works. I'd rate it 1 out of 5.

"The State Of The Art" takes up the bulk of the space in the collection and is by far the longest story, almost feeling like a short novel. The Culture comes across 70's Earth and starts exploring to decide how to proceed. Sma (from "Use Of Weapons") is the main narrator, but the character didn't feel like her at all and could have been anyone. The writing style is extremely inconsistent, switching from nice dreamy prose that captures the atmosphere of different cities in the 70's to extremely tedious prolonged monologues and dialogues that repeat the same points about Culture and human society morals over and over again and don't really go anywhere. There's a really dragged-out side-story about a bored character who has to stay on-board and tries to annoy everyone, which is just overwhelmingly dull and completely unnecessary. The story does pick up a bit towards the end, and the final is decent, although not unexpected. I'd rate it 2.5 out of 5.

"Scratch" is, I guess, some kind of literary experiment. Maybe I'm not smart enough to understand what it's all about. It's mostly just a jumble of half-sentences and repeating phrases. It's split into little portions, only one of which has a normal sentence structure, but that doesn't really help. I have no idea what this all means, perhaps it's just my lack of intellect. I'd rate it 1 out of 5.

Overall, this collection of short stories is a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the stories have potential, but they often fall short due to their brevity, lack of substance, or inconsistent writing. It's not a terrible collection, but it's also not one that I would highly recommend.

Originally posted on my blog, SpecFic Junkie.

The State of the Art had a rather peculiar effect on me. It left me cold, yet in a good way. Iain M. Banks, with his masterful use of the Culture setting, weaves a diverse range of compelling and often dark tales that are frequently bizarre and haunting.

After thoroughly enjoying Consider Phlebas and falling deeply in love with The Player of Games and Use of Weapons, I had been eager to pick up the next Culture book for quite some time. And lo and behold! When I visited the library, there it was.

Iain M. Banks isn't typically renowned for his short fiction. However, similar to Miéville in Looking for Jake, he seizes this opportunity to explore ideas and themes that might not have worked as effectively in a novel. About half of the collection consists of short stories, while the other half is a novella titled The State of the Art. Most of the stories seem to have some connection to the Cold War, whether directly or metaphorically, which is understandable considering the book was published in 1991.

Determining what Banks is attempting to convey about the Cold War and humanity in general is rather challenging. Almost all of the stories feature an unreliable narrator, the morality is highly questionable, and the trends can be quite disturbing, requiring some time to process. Overall, it appears that while Banks is dissatisfied with materialism and capitalism, he simultaneously questions alternative systems.

Essentially, it feels as though Banks is asking us, "Well, aren't we in a rather糟糕的 situation?"

The stories that seem less tied to Earth politics, whether literally or metaphorically, are equally difficult to process. An Odd Attachment left me staring at the final page for a considerable period. All I could think was, "Did I really just read that?" (The answer, of course, was yes.)

There are also numerous stories with "twist" endings. Normally, I despise such devices, but in these cases, it doesn't seem like Banks is simply laughing and saying "gotcha!" It's more like another layer of confusion added to the already perplexing Mount WTF. Even if you can anticipate the twist from a great distance, you still can't quite believe that Banks would do that.

Initially, I wasn't certain whether to rate this book three or four stars. However, the more I reflect on the impact it has had on me, the more I believe it merits four stars. It takes a truly remarkable book to evoke such visceral feelings in me, and while I'm not entirely sure what specific emotions Banks has inspired, he has definitely left a lasting impression. And I might add that it's not an entirely unpleasant one.

I very much enjoyed the novella "State of the Art". It was truly captivating and I would definitely give it a 4-star rating.

However, when it comes to a couple of the other stories in the collection, I found myself less engaged. Their plots didn't quite draw me in as much as I had hoped.

This lack of full immersion in those particular stories is the reason for the overall 3-star rating.

Despite this, the quality of "State of the Art" alone makes the collection worth considering. It shows the author's talent and ability to create a compelling narrative.

I look forward to seeing what else this author has in store and hope that future works will maintain the high standard set by this novella.

‘The State of the Art’ by Iain M. Banks is an interesting collection of short stories. It was published in 1991 and is apparently Banks’ first. Included within is a novella that is #4 in the Culture series, and the book is named after it. The character Diziet Sma, known from the previous Culture novel ‘Use of Weapons’, is part of a group studying Earth in 1977. A Culture volunteer has gone native while studying our planet, causing distress to his friends. The question arises: should the Culture interfere with Earth or make it a control in the experiment of human evolution?

The other seven stories are a diverse mix of short science-fiction. Some involve a Culture character, like one that is somewhat noir. Others, frankly, are dull. There is ‘Scratch’, which is made up of extracted bits of reading, writing, or heard material. Fortunately, it’s the last story. It’s like a scratch pad of collected words and sentences, sometimes from advertising copy or common parts of business letters or ads. Are they story ideas? However, a grocery list would make more sense. Why is it included? Maybe as filler? I don’t know.

My favorite story is ‘Odd Attachment’. I found it hilarious, despite being gruesome. Of course, many of Banks’ stories are gruesome. It’s a non-Culture story about a sentient plant. I still burst out laughing at it occasionally.

Interested readers might want to start with ‘Consider Phlebas’, the first in the Culture series. So far, it seems to me that the books are more or less standalone. But each one adds to the amazing and attractive (to me) world-building. I think ‘The State of the Art’ can be skipped entirely if readers want to go through the series in order and are having trouble getting this book.

The real focus of these speculative novels so far is on how the Culture, an extremely technologically-advanced society, interferes in or examines planetary societies. There are other species opposing the Culture, leading to bloody warfare as well as proxy skirmishes involving spying, sabotage, and murder. The sentient drone robots are very cute, and the computer ‘Minds’ are coldly, yet logically, paternalistic. Incidentally, the Minds would be insulted by this description, even though it’s true. Science fiction readers will likely notice similarities with the monumental ‘Dune’ series. But the Culture books read more like travelogue and vignette episodes, albeit a bit bloody.

Is advanced tech always a good thing? I find myself a little unsure sometimes after reading this series, although the fun (to me) body modifications and the end of all disease are very appealing.

I did not enjoy the title story of this collection. It consists of two explicitly Culture-related stories, two others that might potentially be set in the Culture universe, and some unrelated and rather forgettable fluff.

(As an aside, I'm reading the Culture novels in publication order, so my comments below are based on my understanding from Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, and Use of Weapons.)

My main gripe is that this story authoritatively establishes that the Culture exists simultaneously with 1970s Earth. I believe this is a misstep that cheapens the Culture novels for several reasons.

In previous Culture novels, and in the grand tradition of Science Fiction with a capital 'S' and a capital 'F', I felt that Iain M Banks had meaningful insights to offer about the West. The Culture is an impossibly advanced society led by paternalistic elites who treat their population with the permissive indulgence of pet owners. They regard every other society as ridiculously backward and are thus extremely patronizing towards them. We are introduced to the outsider's perspective of the Culture in Consider Phlebas, which primes us to think deeply about what this culture represents within the context of the larger universe. And within the Culture itself, they are torn between the desire to uplift others and the recognition that it may not necessarily be their place to do so. There's a reason all the Culture novels focus on Contact or Special Circumstances, the aspects of the Culture that interact with other societies.

The ambiguity regarding the origin of the Culture, at least for me, was a significant factor in maintaining the necessary distance to make the Culture a commentary on our world. But now we know that they are not the far future of our own society and any resemblances are coincidental. We also know explicitly what the Culture thinks of our society: they are disgusted by it and consider it an aberration from what their vast experience has revealed across the universe. This relegates us back to being special snowflakes rather than a society that the novels have anything substantial to say about.

In some respects, past Culture novels have evoked my own complex feelings about my country's interference in other countries' affairs better than works explicitly written about our world. Is there an ethical obligation to assist when possible? What is the appropriate extent of interference that is both responsible and productive? Can it be done without coming across as infinitely condescending? Is even considering the situation in this light already condescending? These types of Prime Directive questions have been an important theme in the previous novels. And indeed, they do surface here - but they are presented as the text rather than the subtext, and I felt this diminished their power.

Additionally, I was constantly pulled out of the story by how "1970s Earth" the aliens seemed. One of Iain's strengths in previous novels was his ability to convincingly create aliens with truly different thought processes from us Earth humans. But this group is nothing like that. They are all making references to earth media and fretting about how being in Norway is too close to the North Pole for comfort. What possible reason would someone who grew up on a GSV or GSU have to have any sort of emotional reaction to a purely planetary concern like that? Maybe the point is that the Contact agents become so deeply immersed in the society they are studying that they lose all objective sense of who they are. If that's the case, this seems like an extremely poor way to conduct a Contact program.

This story gave the impression that Iain wanted to say certain things about 1970s Earth in a rather superficial manner without considering how it affected the rest of his body of work. And I don't think any of the things he's saying about 1970s Earth are particularly profound, especially to a modern audience.

Best Culture story in the world? State of the Art isn't even the best Culture story in this book.

This Audiobook is a wonderful collection that comes with 5 or 6 Culture short stories and the novella length "The State of the Art".

The short stories, for the most part, were rather short and didn't amount to a great deal. However, I did take great pleasure in the whimsical "Clean up", which is about an alien factory ship dumping their garbage across the globe. It was a unique and entertaining concept.

"The State of the Art" was an extremely enjoyable listen. I had always presumed that "The Culture" was what humanity would evolve into. So, it was quite a twist to have Culture agents monitoring humanity in the 1970's, which challenged my assumed knowledge. Although the plot is minimal, Banks has masterfully crafted a fascinating philosophical examination. We get to see the Culture through human eyes and humanity through the Culture's perspective.

This is the first time we encounter a recurring character in the Culture series, Sjar from “Use of Weapons”. I had noted in the first Culture book I read, "Player of Games", that there would be a certain jaded and disaffected mental state that would develop in a post-need society, and I believe this is reflected here.

There were so many great turns of phrase and profound insights into both humanity and the Culture in this audiobook. It is definitely one that I am marking to listen to again after I finish the series. And Peter Kenny, as always, is an absolutely brilliant narrator, bringing the stories to life with his excellent performance.

Like most short story collections, this one is a mixed bag.

I have to say that I truly loved "Odd Attachment". It had a certain charm and uniqueness that really appealed to me.

"Descendant" was also a great story. It had a depth and complexity that made it a joy to read.

"State of the Art" gave me exactly what I've been longing for from a Culture book - a philosophical bent. It made me think about various aspects of life and the world we live in.

However, the rest of the stories were pretty dull for me. They didn't really capture my attention or engage me on an emotional or intellectual level.

Overall, it's a hard one to rate. There are some really good stories in here, but there are also some that fall flat. It really depends on your personal tastes and preferences. If you're a fan of the Culture series and enjoy philosophical and thought-provoking stories, then you might want to give this collection a try. But if you're looking for something more action-packed or exciting, then you might be disappointed.

This was definitely my most underwhelming experience in the Culture universe.

I wholeheartedly agree with others who have said that the short stories in here are a definite mixed bag.

The ones that had to do with the Culture, I found myself enjoying the most.

And the sentient suit story, I'm not entirely sure if that's supposed to be part of the Culture or not.

As for the title novella, well, it's fine.

It's really more of a dialogue piece than anything else, with characters engaging in discussions about the fine points of Earth culture, as compared to THE Culture, long before Earth is incorporated.

By the way, I had no idea about this aspect of the history of the Culture.

I always assumed it originated with Earth.

That bit of information, I truly enjoyed learning and it has significantly changed my perspective on the series as a whole.

If this was something I was supposed to have gleaned from the four or five other Culture books I've read, then clearly I wasn't paying enough attention.

No matter, because I have every intention of reading the whole series again anyway.

When it comes to this book though, I'll probably only be re-reading the novella.

This collection gathers about ten short stories that may or may not be related to the Culture. Part of its interest lies precisely in the fact that the work of Iain M Banks can sometimes be considered as part of the Culture. The novel begins with a nice introduction to the history of the Culture (both editorial and "virtual").

Let's then return to these short stories.

"The Road of Skulls"

It's a funny very short story that just shows us a scene of extraterrestrial life. It's nice and it beautifully opens this journey to other places.

"A Gift from the Culture"

And boom, in one story, the author shows us all the irony of being a citizen of the Culture who has left it to live on a less advanced planet (advanced enough in fact to still use money).

"Strange Junction"

How to land on a planet populated only by intelligent plants? It seems at least difficult in this falling story.

"Descent"

This one is particularly desperate: this story of a citizen of the Culture who finds himself abandoned on the surface of a planet with his intelligent spacesuit is frankly depressing. Especially because of its conclusion, in fact.

"Cleaning"

A scenario quite close to "Aube d'acier" (when the Festival comes to visit a "backward" planet and sends cornucopiae there), but with a rather different angle and conclusion.

"Fragment"

A curious homage to the victims of the Lockerbie crash, which however has its complete place here.

"The Essence of Art"

The heart of the collection, since this novella takes up about half of the pages. We discover here the agents of the Culture in charge, in the late 70s, of coming to observe the Earth. Obviously, one of them will want to stay on Earth. And obviously, since the Culture is anarchist, tolerant, advanced, and everything else, no one will formally oppose it, even if everyone will more or less mark their disagreement. As always when Banks takes his time a little, the characters (especially the narrator) gain an incredible depth in very few pages. And that's good. What's also good is to understand what the Culture thinks of terrestrial humanity... even if it's not globally very positive, I'm afraid. And then, it's perhaps the first time I see a story of the Culture showing so little optimism: the Contact agents consider that the almost inescapable destiny of the Earth is self-destruction! One could think that it comes from the author of the Culture, who doubtless has a certain dose of pessimism, but I believe Banks is intelligent enough to try, even if he expresses a personal opinion, to support it with rather indisputable elements: pollution, nuclear proliferation, all this gives a globally dark future.

"Splinter"

If this one doesn't make you think of the barbarian in "ENtreFER", nothing will. We find the same apparent verbal logorrhea that is seemingly senseless, but yet perfectly constructed.

Conclusion

Clearly, the title story saves all the others that are sometimes much less interesting. It's enough to make it a necessary collection in my opinion, especially to see the evolution of the author's style.

I continue to be intrigued by Banks' Culture series, so I decided to track down this particular volume.

I have no idea why it never seems to be readily available on library or bookstore shelves. However, it wasn't that difficult to find a copy.

Definitely not my favorite in the series, but still worth reading. As short-story and novella collections go, I found it to be rather uneven.

Two of the stories, A Gift From Culture and Descendant, really worked well for me. I was particularly drawn to the latter.

The eponymous novella, The State of the Art, was thought-provoking. But ultimately, it didn't feel as tightly constructed as the full-length Culture books I've read.

Two stories, Odd Attachment and Piece, were based on what I found to be interesting premises. Nevertheless, they left me somewhat cold.

One story, Cleaning Up, was funnier than I expected. But alas, it wasn't that hilarious.

Sadly, one of the shorter offerings, Scratch, did very little for me. Maybe I just didn't give it my full attention.

I fully expect to keep working my way through the Culture series. Although I'm aware that many readers consider Player of Games and Use of Weapons to be the best in the series, and I've already read those. Still, Excession, which is next on my list, and Surface Detail seem to have been quite popular as well. Oh well, only time will tell how the rest of the series unfolds for me.