Just really bad...

I love sci-fi and there are many sci-fi books on audible that I have enjoyed. So when I saw this book in my „recommendations“ I was very excited to listen to it.
My tip to anyone reading this: DON‘T!
The story is so boring I have had to „re-listen“ to chunks of it. The voice-over is just boring and the attempt at giving the characters „individual voices“ is just embarrassing.
Worst book on audible so far for me.

7 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Wenn du wissen willst, was Phlebas bedeutet...

...und die Namen zweier Droneships, dann die Reihe weiterhören. Oder googeln ;-) Denn Phlebas wird nicht erklärt und "Just Read the Instructions" sowie "Of Course I Still Love You" kommen in diesem ersten Band nicht vor.

Die Reihe ist eingebettet in ein Universum, aus der kulturellen Geschichte schöpfen die Charaktere, zum Vorteil. Einzelne Ereignisse werden detailliert im kleinen aufgedröselt und so vergegenwärtigt, fulminante großartige Szenen ebenso. Die Sichtweise verschiedener Protagonisten fügt weitere Abwechslung hinzu.

Obacht, aller schöpferischer Kraft der Geschichte zum Trotz sind die anderen Figuren Nebendarsteller und Unterstützer des Protagonisten, unabhängig der Spezies oder des Geschlechtes.

Die Akzente des Sprechers Peter Kenny sind ebenso vielfältig und teilweise schwer für ein non-native-speaker-ear. Wer es mag, wird sich freuen, ich bevorzuge eine Erzählung, welche meiner Vorstellungskraft mehr Raum gibt und nicht Gefahr läuft, stereotype englische Mundarten zu verfestigen.

Fazit: Im Hintergrund ist der Download von "The Player of Games" bereits abgeschlossen.

PS: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-title-of-the-Iain-M-Banks-novel-Consider-Phlebas

6 Leute fanden das hilfreich

The Epilogue saves the book

The story is weird and the motivations are not always clear, especially reasons for loyalties of secondary characters. The last hour or so saves the book.

2 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Fun if a bit gruesome at times

I hated one chapter but loved the very long action sequence involving a spaceship.

Some ... people one-star-ed this book because they didn't realise they can turn down the listening speed in the app.

My own reading pace is also frantic so I appreciate the fast tempo.

1 Person fand das hilfreich

Unbearable reading by the narrator

Dont get this. It is utterly i. Possible to listen to this terribly awful narrator whos going way too fast and with the infliction of an amateur. This audiobook sucks and is a terrible fate for the great story at heart

1 Person fand das hilfreich

Interesting protagonist but lacking everything else

Horza was the bright spot of the story, unfortunately he wasn’t featured enough. Too much culture description. If you like stories that with a detailed description of the culture, I would recommend this book.

Good performance of worst culture novel

The culture series as a whole is well worth a listen, but despite being the first in the series, consider Phlebas is by far the weakest.

I would strongly advise a new listener to begin with Player of Games, and come back to this one later, if the series as a whole hooks them.

Not great

Never before did I experience a story where I so strongly disliked the main character.
It almost feels like the fact that the protagonist does some truly awful things (murder) for a cause that seems objectively bad (fighting for a racist and religiously radical alien race) all while being a manipulative awful person to everyone around him is the main concept behind this book.
Apart from that, the story is very sequential, with most of the book feeling a bit like filler except for the last 90 minutes or so.

creative world with too many battles. great voice

the general world seems intriguing, but a lot of the story centers around action and battles, which were not that interesting.
the speaker does a great job of giving each character a unique voice.
Overall much weaker book than the following titles in the Culture Series

Simply exceptional!

Expressive narrator, inspired story with very few dull moments.
Giving your mind a pause and also fuel to think!