I'd read a couple of Iain Banks conventional novels before - but hadn't touched his SciFi until now. After reading it, I was not dissapointed. This book covered many themes, especially the types of society we could have in the future. Overall a very engaging book that doesnt get bogged down in jargon like a lot of other scifi.

RELEASE NOTES:

Bookray goes to the following people in order.
1. afraberg
2. Tubereader
3. cally-c
4. Ekranda
5. jellyfish67
6. TQD
7. Cat207

This book appeared in my mailbox today.
Thank you very much for sending davemurray101!
I always love the packages from Australia with the mysterious 'ID recorded' sticker :)

I'll read the book as soon as I can.

I loved the story! Thank you very much davemurray101 for sharing the book.
I hadn't read any ScienceFiction for a while, but I still love it.

The book is on it's way to Tubereader.

The book arrived yesterday after the Bank Holiday. I have a couple of other rings ahead of it but hopefully it will not take to long for me to read it. I will update this JE when I pick the book up for reading.

Thanks a lot davemurray101 for sharing!!

Just a quick update to let you know that I have started reading this book today. I have already made quite a progress (40 pages in just 2 tube rides) so I hope to be done with it by the end of the week.

Sorry for taking so long to start reading it, I received quite a few rings at the same time and it's been a bit though to get through them!

13 JUNE UPDATE: I have read half of the book so far so have PMed Cally-c for their address so I can post the book as soon as I am done with it.

I finally finished this book, really sorry I kept it for so long!

I have LOVED the book. I had never read sci-fi before, thought I wouldn't like it, but I signed up for this ring because the book is on the 1001 list and I have liked it so much!! The story flows well and keeps you wanting for more. I've been very busy lately, so had to put down the book often to do other things, but every time I did it, I came back to read a few more pages a bit later on :-)

Thanks so much davemurray101 for sharing!!

I have cally-c's address already so I will be posting the book to her as soon as I can.

RELEASE NOTES:

Posted this book to cally-c, who is next in line.

Thanks davemurray101 for sharing!!

Arrived yesterday! Have a couple in front of this one, but I will get to it as soon as poss.

I haven't read any Sci-Fi for ages, so I wasn't sure how I'd get on with this, but I have to say I have really enjoyed it. The characters are great, the settings very vivid and the story pulled me in so that towards the end I couldn't put it down!
Thanks to Tubereader for sending it on & davemurray101 for sharing.

I have Ekranda's address so this will be in the post later today.

Apologies - i've had this book since Monday but i've been so busy i didn't get round to journaling it for a while! Will read this as soon as i finish my current book. Thanks for sharing!

I really enjoyed this book!! I haven't read Sci-fi by Banks before but i have always enjoyed his other books such as the Wasp factory, Whit etc, I loved the way the drones changed colour according to their moods and it was very interesting to see some of the creations Banks came up with - ie animals of the future etc. The society issue was indeed the main theme, showing how the 'culture' a peaceful place with no need of money compares with the empire of Azad which is based on wealth, power and of course their society is based within a game itself. It was good to see that the drone took Gurgeh for a tour - enabling him to see the negative side of the empire. I did work out the twist right at the end, well i suspected it, anyway. All in all a very entertaining read, worthy in my opinion to be on the list of 1001 books to read before you die!

Thank you so much for sharing this - i really enjoyed it!

Have requested jellyfish67's address and will post it on as soon as i receive it.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Popped it in the post this afternoon, hope you enjoy it!!!

Arrived safely yesterday.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Hope you enjoy the read and it arrives safely, sorry for the delay.

On its way to tqd later today.

Thanks jellyfish67! The boat took the slow route to Australia, but it has arrived safely back Down Under now, and will be added to the toppling Mt TBR... Er. (I had just taken a vow of No More Bloody Bookrays, but of course this was popped in the post when I thought I could still get on top of the pile of books. If I don't get onto this in a timely fashion, I'll pass it on unread. Not that cat207 has nothing to read herself. ;)

I read Use of Weapons last year, which was an excellent book. I didn't realise this one was another Culture novel! I look forward to revisiting that world.

Oh, I finished reading this weeks ago, and kept on putting off writing a review, because there was so much I wanted to say about it and I couldn't seem to find the time. Then work went chaotic, I got sick, and while work is still chaotic and I am still sick, I realised that I'd better write some comments and send the book along now, otherwise it'll just be gathering dust here forever.

I thought this was a really magnificent book, filled with wonderful ideas and characters. (Like the other Banks Culture novel I've read, the droids often win hands-down in terms of likeability, which I find rather amusing.) I didn't think much of our "hero" at the start (or at the end), he was just so self-centered, but I was still horrified at what immersion in the Empire of Azad did to him, as it slowly stripped him of his humanity. But then again, maybe it just stripped him of the trappings of civilisation and just left the humanity.

And the way he was such a game-player, but seemed oblivious to the manipulations that he was put through by other people and by the Culture. He could play games, but he could never apply that knowledge to the real world.

I remain very impressed by Bank's Culture novels, the depth and the ideas are rarely countered in science fiction (or maybe I've just read too many trashy space operas of late). Now I have to start reading his non-sci-fi novels! Mr TQD also read this in the meantime (while it was gathering dust waiting for me to find time to read it) and enjoyed it as well.

Thanks for the chance to read this, davemurray101! I've got cat207's address already, plus another few books to send her way, so hopefully these will get through to her soon (until work gets even more chaotic, or I get even more sick).

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

So, so sorry this one took so long to get to the Post Office! But it's finally on its way to cat207 along with several other books.

Arrived in today's mail. Thanks Tania. X

I had started to read this one a few times before but other bookrings/rays arrived and I put it aside. Finally, after nearly two years, it is read. And it didn't disappoint. Seemingly unrelated / unnecessary scenes proved essential in the end.

Passing back to davemurray101 at The Dockyard tomorrow.

An old friend returns. Is this book one of the few that passed through the Jellyfish67 - destroyer of bookrings?

I read Player of Games again. Unfortunately a little worse than I remembered it. Bits reminded me of TRON. Still not too sure why it was included in the 1001 list initially.

posted to a bookmoocher in Wollongong.