Simone Caroti is the course director of Science Fiction and Fantasy for the Creative Writing BFA at Full Sail University. He is a senior research scientist for the Astrosociology Research Institute (ARI), a nonprofit organization devoted to bringing the arts, humanities and social sciences into the debate on the future of humanity in space.

“Caroti’s smoothly written, thoroughly researched and documented book serves as a monument to Banks and his Culture series. I recommend it both as a resource on Banks and as a model for other [writers] to follow”—SFRA Review

• Table of ContentsPreface: The Early Days of a Better NationIntroduction: The Many Faces of Iain (M.) Banks1. Beginnings2. The Culture Militant: Consider Phlebas3. The Morality of the Rule Set: The Player of Games4. Diziet Sma’s Dilemmas of Intervention: The State of the Art and Use of Weapons5. The Years of Taking Stock: The Culture as a Critical Utopia6. The View from Above, the View from Below: Excession and Inversions7. The Encroachment of Reality: Look to Windward8. The Last Trilogy: Matter, Surface Detail, and The Hydrogen SonataConclusion: The Future of the CultureChapter NotesBibliographyIndex

Simone Caroti is the course director of Science Fiction and Fantasy for the Creative Writing BFA at Full Sail University. He is a senior research scientist for the Astrosociology Research Institute (ARI), a nonprofit organization devoted to bringing the arts, humanities and social sciences into the debate on the future of humanity in space.

“Caroti’s smoothly written, thoroughly researched and documented book serves as a monument to Banks and his Culture series. I recommend it both as a resource on Banks and as a model for other [writers] to follow”—SFRA Review

• Table of ContentsPreface: The Early Days of a Better NationIntroduction: The Many Faces of Iain (M.) Banks1. Beginnings2. The Culture Militant: Consider Phlebas3. The Morality of the Rule Set: The Player of Games4. Diziet Sma’s Dilemmas of Intervention: The State of the Art and Use of Weapons5. The Years of Taking Stock: The Culture as a Critical Utopia6. The View from Above, the View from Below: Excession and Inversions7. The Encroachment of Reality: Look to Windward8. The Last Trilogy: Matter, Surface Detail, and The Hydrogen SonataConclusion: The Future of the CultureChapter NotesBibliographyIndex

Simone Caroti is the course director of Science Fiction and Fantasy for the Creative Writing BFA at Full Sail University. He is a senior research scientist for the Astrosociology Research Institute (ARI), a nonprofit organization devoted to bringing the arts, humanities and social sciences into the debate on the future of humanity in space.

“Caroti’s smoothly written, thoroughly researched and documented book serves as a monument to Banks and his Culture series. I recommend it both as a resource on Banks and as a model for other [writers] to follow”—SFRA Review

• Table of ContentsPreface: The Early Days of a Better NationIntroduction: The Many Faces of Iain (M.) Banks1. Beginnings2. The Culture Militant: Consider Phlebas3. The Morality of the Rule Set: The Player of Games4. Diziet Sma’s Dilemmas of Intervention: The State of the Art and Use of Weapons5. The Years of Taking Stock: The Culture as a Critical Utopia6. The View from Above, the View from Below: Excession and Inversions7. The Encroachment of Reality: Look to Windward8. The Last Trilogy: Matter, Surface Detail, and The Hydrogen SonataConclusion: The Future of the CultureChapter NotesBibliographyIndex