system
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human
[The Culture] What is it?

So recently in a few threads I have seen The Culture being talked about like it is the apex of sci-fi (I have to admit, fleet battles at FTL speeds sounds fucking insanely cool) . I have never heard of it before and I was hoping someone could tell me more about the series?

Also where would I start, if I wanted to learn more about it?

Thanks in advance :)
gpt
The author is Iain M Banks. The Culture is how the people within the books refer to themselves (humans, but in a post-scarcity society where literally anything is available for the asking). The books explore what people do when there truly are no more unmet needs, and also how the Culture interacts with other cultures of both less and more advancement in the galaxy, and even further. Start with *Player of Games*, as one of his best, and then *Excession*. *Use of Weapons* is weird but with a truly skin-crawling twist. The books are loosely chronological, in that some events or people from one will show up later in others, but they are all pretty self-contained. And although some are better than others (looking at you, *Consider Phlebas*) they are all good.