The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.

'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson

Two and a half millennia ago in a remote corner of space, beside a trillion-year-old dying sun from a different universe, the artifact appeared.

It was a perfect black-body sphere, and it did nothing. Then it disappeared.

Now it is back.

Diplomat Genar-Hofoen of Special Circumstances is sent to investigate but, sidetracked by an old flame and the spoiled-brat operative Ulver Seich, and faced with the systematic depravities of a race who call themselves the A­ffront, it's anyone's guess whether he'll succeed...
Praise for the Culture series:

'Epic in scope, ambitious in its ideas and absorbing in its execution' Independent on Sunday

'Banks has created one of the most enduring and endearing visions of the future' Guardian

'Jam-packed with extraordinary invention' Scotsman

'Compulsive reading' Sunday Telegraph

The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art

Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist

Also now available:
The Culture: The Drawings- an extraordinary collection of original illustrations faithfully reproduced from sketchbooks Banks kept in the 1970s and 80s, depicting the ships, habitats, geography, weapons and language of Banks' Culture series of novels in incredible detail.

• We started tracking this book on September 24, 2011.
• This book was £4.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 61 times in the past 4,919 days.
• The current price of this book is £5.49 last checked 7 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past 90 days.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is £0.99.
• The lowest price to date was £0.99 last reached on November 28, 2024.
• This book has been £0.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was £6.99 last reached on March 25, 2020.
• This book has been £6.99 2 times since we started tracking it.

• Science Fiction & FantasyScience FictionTV, Movie, Video Game Adaptations
• Science Fiction & FantasyScience FictionMilitarySpace Fleet

• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 598 Pages
• File Size: 1,946 KB