ALL 9 Iain M Banks CULTURE novels - RANKED! Which is your favourite?

I've enjoyed Iain Banks' Culture novels for over 30 years. In the last 18 months I've been re-reading them and appreciating them even more. I take a little look at each Culture novel, share my thoughts, rank them in reverse order and ultimately declare my absolute favourite. Can you guess which one it is? Which one do you love the most?
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Reviews:

[SamNot-so-wise]

Wow! This is one of the best videos I’ve watched for a while. Partially because The Culture is my favourite sci fi series but also because it was done brilliantly. This is the video I would love to make but because my read of the series was so spread out, I couldn’t do it the kind of service you have done here. Because of this spread I find it hard to rank them but Use of Weapons is definitely my favourite (which I happen to be rereading in a buddy read with Whitney and Bart), but Inversions would be near the bottom - although I still loved it.

[thonscoman]

Great reviews, gave me a good refresher without too many spoilers, expertly done! Almost finished Excession and it's looking like it might be my favourite bumping Player of Games, think Hydrogen Sonata was my least favourite just because it was so hard to make sense of followed by Surface Detail which I loved but agree that a lot of the plot lines served no purpose or very little that I could work out. Having said that I too love all the Culture Novels.

[OmnivorousReader]

Whow! I never made it to #9 so this was wild. Look to Windward was my favourite, easily.
My relationship to the Culture novels is rather wobbly so this was a great video.

[SlowDazzle]

I recently watched Damien Walter's long video on the Culture. I was thinking of reading/re-reading the series next year. Some I haven't got, so I might buy "Excession" and "Look to Windward."

[WordsinTime]

I’ve only read 4 Culture books and I’d rank them:

1. The Player of Games
2. Consider Phlebas
3. Use of Weapons
4. Excession

I like the series and will continue at some point but it’s been a bit hit and miss for me. Although I know many people love it and I’m glad you enjoyed the series!

[bartsbookspace]

I’m starting Use of Weapons tomorrow. So far I read Consider Phlebas and Player of games and really enjoyed both.

[AllisonRoadWest]

Interesting to rank MATTER so highly - totally agree 🎉 . Few other book tubers do however. Happy holidays 🎄

[oodaloopc]

Was exposed to Banks and the Culture novels when I was stationed in the UK in the 1990s. Consumed them all and he remains one of my favorites of all time. Great video as always...well researched and engaging. Keep up the great work. Use of Weapons will always be my favorite.

[herzbube]

Thank you for this tour de force through one of my most-beloved book series! Getting these glimpses of and flashbacks to past reading experiences puts me into a great nostalgic mood and I feel the urge to read these stories again. Alas, my TBR list will not allow it for some years to come, but at least the list contains the Banksian non-Culture SF stories shich I recently acquired.

[CasperHulshof]

Thanks - all Banks' books (and that includes some without the M.) are sitting on the shelf next to me. But I lost Matter a few years ago, no idea where it went. I reread Phlebas last year, it has its flaws but it's very entertaining and a gentle introduction to The Culture. Of the non-M. books, I have read The Wasp Factory at least four times, it's a great (and horrific) story, I recommend it (even though it's not SF). It's the one novel I have where all the reviews on the back are negative.

[JeffTobin]

Been meaning to dive into this series, but wasn’t sure how to start. This is very helpful. Thanks! Well done!

[secretsauceofstorycraft]

This a great video!!! Ive been waiting for somehing like this for forever! ❤❤❤

[lauranielsen]

Another great video. I have only read Hydrogen Sonata and Player of Games, both of which I enjoyed. And based on this I’ve got even better ones to look forward to. I was thinking about another topic I would really like to see a video on: SF books with a religious aspect. Canticle for Leibowitz, The Sparrow and (of course) Dune are a few that I’ve read and I’d love some more suggestions along the same lines. Cheers!

[MattMcQueen]

I haven't read all of the Culture books, but I think UOW is incredible. The structure is used quite cleverly, in my opinion. Some day, I must sit down in a favourite chair and read it again.

[lukewinch]

I literally just released my new tbr video and I am diving into The Culture series for the first time with Consider Phlebas. Very much looking forward to it!

[classicsfwithandyjohnson]

The beauty of Culture rankings is that - unlike a lot of rankings - there is a genuine sense of tension because it seems as if any one of them could come out on top. What a testament to Banks' brilliance, and the variety of his work. You argue your case well - I plan to do a ranking of my own at some point. Next up for me is Look to Windward...

[cjx]

I'm largely out of the hobby of collecting physical books, but that hardback of Consider Phoebus is really stunning! I have been wanting to read all of the Culture books--I've read 4 so far and own 2 others I haven't read. I might have to make it a special project for 2025.

[kufujitsu]

Haven't read any of Iain Bank's Culture novels as yet, but I have read his Against a Dark Background, which is a non-culture SF novel, & it was a beauty.
I've also read The Wasp Factory, which was an excellent subtle horror story.
& lastly I've read the interesting Walking on Glass, which was a loosely connected trilogy of novellas, told in discontinuous form - one of which was SF..

[gerardhynes]

I'm saving a reread of these for when I retire. It's important to have someting to look forward to. My favourite was Excession.

[joelstainer]

Only read the first 3 so far. Player of Games and Consider Phlebas were both good for different reasons. I didn't enjoy Use of Weapons but I suspect it was because the twist was a little too obvious and I listened to it on audiobook. Hope to finish the other 6 one day.