Book 1 of the Culture series
Illustrated by Dániel Taylor
The first of Iain M. Banks’ ‘Culture’ novels dives into the heart of an interstellar war. Dániel Taylor provides the spectacular images for Folio’s edition of Consider Phlebas.
‘Banks has created one of the most enduring and endearing visions of the future.’
- Guardian
Iain M. Banks’ first science-fiction novel introduces one of the most iconic creations in speculative literature: the Culture, a far future interstellar civilization populated by humans and sophisticated artificial intelligences. From Horza’s last-minute escape, that starts the book with a literal bang, to the space pirates, orbital stations, deadly games and vast icebergs that populate this epic space opera, Banks barely gives the reader a moment to catch their breath. With an imagination as vast as the Culture itself, Banks was one of the true innovators of the genre, and Consider Phlebas is an electrifying first step into a remarkable universe. For this special illustrated edition, artist Dániel Taylor has created a breath-taking collection of images capturing the exotic thrills of a modern science-fiction classic, including a special hidden illustration printed on the inside of the slipcase. The binding is blocked in blue and orange foils, with a field of burning stars continuing onto the exterior of the slipcase; a spectacular finishing touch on an unmissable collectors’ edition.
Bound in blocked cloth
Set in Garamond with Scene as display
560 pages
Frontispiece and 6 colour illustrations
Blocked slipcase with printed illustration inside
9½˝ x 6¼˝
The Culture was every single individual human and machine in it, not one thing. Just as it could not imprison itself with laws, impoverish itself with money or misguide itself with leaders, so it would not misrepresent itself with signs.
Bora Horza Gobuchul is a Changer, one of a rare group of humanoids able to transform their appearance through a series of precise changes to their body chemistry. It makes him the perfect secret agent, one used skilfully by the Idirans in their war against the Culture. When one of the enemy’s most sophisticated artificial Minds goes to ground inside a Planet of the Dead, Horza is the obvious choice to capture it. First, he must navigate a violent and restless galaxy where the super intelligent machines of the Culture are always a few steps ahead. Catapulted across war-torn space, he throws in his lot with a rag-tag group of mercenaries onboard the Clear Air Turbulence, but Horza’s trials are only just beginning.
The Times named Banks one of the 50 best writers since 1945, and he remains celebrated today for his dry wit and keen-eyed observations of what it is to be human in an often-inhuman galaxy. Dániel Taylor’s illustrations are both intriguing and effortlessly cool, playing with a dizzying sense of scale and the strangeness that is ever present in Consider Phlebas. Using a crisp monochrome palette with deep orange highlights, he transports the reader to the distant corners of the Culture universe, making this exquisitely bound Folio edition an essential volume for devoted fans and newcomers alike.
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