The Hydrogen Sonata is the tenth Culture book by Iain M.Banks, joining the ranks of eight other novels and one short story collection. This latest Culture novel was just released this year, which marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of the first Culture novel. This is one of those series that often leaves new readers confused about where to start, but each book is supposed to stand alone very well. The entire list of Culture books in publication order can be found […]

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I talk about books I got over the last week – old or new, bought or received for review. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included. The Hydrogen Sonata (A Culture Novel) […]

It’s Saturday again so it is time to announce giveaway #2 of the month! I’ve decided not to go in order of favorites each week even though I did my very favorite books of the year first (mostly because favorite book #2 is one of the four books I haven’t found time to review yet between work and the holiday season). Last week’s giveaway was fantasy so it’s time to give away a science fiction book. This week’s book is […]

Use of Weaponsby Iain M. Banks512pp (Trade Paperback)My Rating: 8.5/10Amazon Rating: 4.5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.1/5Good Reads Rating: 4.23/5 The Culture novels by Scottish science fiction writer Iain M. Banks are stand alone stories taking place within the titular universe, an egalitarian interplanetary utopia in which capitalism, disease, and (to an extent) even death no longer pose a problem to humanity. Although each book has a different storyline with a separate set of characters, it is often recommended that The Player of […]

The Player of Gamesby Iain M. Banks416pp (Paperback)My Rating: 9/10Amazon Rating: 4.5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.25/5Good Reads Rating: 4.06/5 I have wanted to read one of the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks for quite a while and one that sounded particularly interesting to me was The Player of Games. Unfortunately, that particular title was difficult to find in the U.S. — until it was reprinted here a couple of months ago. I am very glad it was since this is definitely […]