Iain M. Banks

Author: Iain M. Banks
Publisher: Orbit Books
ISBN: 9780356502090
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
CONSIDER PHLEBAS The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender. Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction. USE OF WEAPONS The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks or military action. The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought. The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a burnt-out case. But not even its machine intelligence could see the horrors in his past. THE PLAYER OF GAMES The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game ... a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.

The Culture of 'the Culture'

Author: Joseph S. Norman
Publisher:
ISBN: 1789621747
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
In a career that spanned over thirty years, Iain M. Banks became one of the best-loved and most prolific writers in Britain, with his space opera series concerned with the pan-galactic utopian civilisation known as 'the Culture' widely regarded as his most significant contribution to science fiction. The Culture of 'The Culture' is the first critical monograph to focus solely on this series, providing a comprehensive, thematic analysis of Banks's Culture stories from Consider Phlebas to The Hydrogen Sonata. It explores the development of Banks's political, philosophical and literary thought, arguing that the Culture offers both an image of a harmonious civilisation modelled on an alternative socialist form of globalisation and a critique of our neo-liberal present. As Joseph S. Norman explains, the Culture is the result of an ongoing utopian process, attempting through the application of technoscience to move beyond obstacles to progress such as imperialism, capitalism, the human condition, religious dogma, patriarchy and crises in artistic representation. The Culture of 'The Culture' defines Banks's creation as culture: a utopian way of doing, of being, of seeing: an approach, an attitude and a lifestyle that has enabled, and is evolving alongside, utopia, rather than an image of a static end-state.

Forthcoming Books

Author: Rose Arny
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : American literature
Languages : en
Pages : 2218

Book Description

American Indian Sovereignty and Law

Author: Wade Davies
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810862360
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 649

Book Description
American Indian Sovereignty and Law: An Annotated Bibliography covers a wide variety of topics and includes sources dealing with federal Indian policy, federal and tribal courts, criminal justice, tribal governance, religious freedoms, economic development, and numerous sub-topics related to tribal and individual rights. While primarily focused on the years 1900 to the present, many sources are included that focus on the 19th century or earlier. The annotations included in this reference will help researchers know enough about the arguments and contents of each source to determine its usefulness. Whenever a clear central argument is made in an article or book, it is stated in the entry, unless that argument is made implicit by the title of that entry. Each annotation also provides factual information about the primary topic under discussion. In some cases, annotations list topics that compose a significant portion of an author's discussion but are not obvious from the title of the entry. American Indian Sovereignty and Law will be extremely useful in both studying Native American topics and researching current legal and political actions affecting tribal sovereignty.

TLA Video & DVD Guide 2005

Author: David Bleiler
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0312316909
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 817

Book Description
This 2005 edition of the annual critical guide that focuses on independent and international films as well as the best in the mainstream contains reviews for more than 10,000 films, more than 300 photos, a comprehensive selection of cinema from more than 50 countries, and much more.

100 Greatest Video Game Franchises

Author: Robert Mejia
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442278153
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Book Description
Video games take players on a trip through ancient battlefields, to mythic worlds, and across galaxies. They provide players with a way to try on new identities and acquire vast superpowers. Video games also give people the chance to hit reset – to play again and again until they achieve a desired outcome. Their popularity has enabled them to grow far beyond their humble origins and to permeate other forms of popular culture, from comic books and graphic novels to films and television programs. Video games are universal. In 100 Greatest Video Game Franchises, editors Robert Mejia, Jaime Banks, and Aubrie Adams have assembled essays that identify, assess, and reveal the most important video games of all-time. Each entry makes a case for the game’s cultural significance and why it deserves to be on the list, from its influence on other games to its impact on an international scale. In addition to providing information about the game developer and when the franchise was established, these entries explore the connections between the different video games, examining them across genre, theme, and content. This accessible collection of essays gives readers an opportunity to gauge their favorite video game franchises against the best of all time and argue how they each fit among the 100 greatest ever created. Whether casually looking up information on these games or eager to learn how franchises evolved over the years, readers will enjoy this entertaining and informative volume. Comprehensive and engaging, 100 Greatest Video Game Franchises will appeal to fans and scholars alike.

Masonic Standard

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 600

Book Description

People of Today

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 2326

Book Description

Princeton Alumni Weekly

Author:
Publisher: princeton alumni weekly
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 968

Book Description

Congressional Record

Author: United States. Congress
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 1218

Book Description
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)