The State of the Art Audiobook By Iain M. Banks cover art

The State of the Art

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The State of the Art

By: Iain M. Banks
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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From New York Times bestselling and modern master of science fiction, Iain M. Banks, The State of the Art is the acclaimed collection of Banks's short fiction.

“Banks is a phenomenon...writing pure science fiction of a peculiarly gnarly energy and elegance.”–William Gibson

This is a striking addition to the body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. The stories in the collection range from science fiction to horror, dark-coated fantasy to morality tale. All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks's staggering talent.

“Few of us have been exposed to a talent so manifest and of such extraordinary breadth.”–New York Review of Science Fiction

“[Banks] can summon up sense-of-wonder Big Concepts you've never seen before and display them with narration as deft as a conjuror's fingers."–scifi.com

The Culture series:

Consider Phlebas

The Player of Games

Use of Weapons

The State of the Art

Excession

Inversions

Look to Windward

Matter

Surface Detail

The Hydrogen Sonata

©2024 Iain M. Banks (P)2024 Orbit Anthologies & Short Stories Science Fiction Short Stories Space Exploration Space Opera

Critic reviews

“Banks writes with a sophistication that will surprise anyone unfamiliar with modern science fiction.”—The New York Times

“Banks never lets up in a dizzying array of characters, mind-bending ideas, and dazzling action.”—Booklist
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read the other ones over this this entry in b the series. ok, but eh.

not the best of the culture novels.

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This style of writing does not seem to be a strength of the author.

Additionally the authors attempt to explore the Culture from the perspective of modern Earth is unfulfilling.

I recommend skipping most of the first half of the book.

I'm only halfway through the book, I am unsure if you should also skip the second half.

most of the first half of the book is lackluster and unrewarding to sit through.

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some stories not very good. probably not my best purchase. other full length books much better

some good. some eh!

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Disappointing to say the least. Narration is great but storyline is all over the place and not in a good way.

Terrible compared to the preceding books

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Great reading of a fantastic collection of short stories.. BUT the final chapter of the book is left out - which is a huge oversight as the final chapter is probably the most important offering in the whole book... it is in fact the whole reason I had pre ordered this when they announced it on Audible, so that is really unfortunate.

Great(but missing final chapter)

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I’ve always enjoyed this book and can’t thank Peter Kenny enough for the spot on narration - the Drone

ps. can’t wait to hear The Algebraist all over again!!

Great read by a great narrator

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I really liked the Culture series, but the short stories in this book were hit and miss. I enjoyed a few stories but quite a few were boring at best. This adds an aspect to the Culture series...but I'm not sure I care about that aspect at this point.

The narration was clear and good overall.

Not high Culture

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For some reason this book seems like it’s half as loud as normal. Even with my volume up all the way it’s hard to hear sometimes and sounds like the reader is practically whispering

Audio is too quiet

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Can we get the rest of the Culture series now? The work itself is great, a short story collection.

Finally

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What can’t the imagination of Mr Banks encompass and expose? Superb narration as always by Mr Kenny.

Brilliant

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