Science Fiction

The State of the Art

The State of the Art

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  • Create Date：2021-08-27 09:55:05
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Iain M. Banks
  • ISBN：1857230302
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Summary

The first ever collection of Iain Banks' short fiction， this volume includes the acclaimed novella， The State of the Art。 This is a striking addition to the growing body of Culture lore， and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast。

The other stories in the collection range from science fiction to horror， dark-coated fantasy to morality tale。 All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks' staggering talent。

Road of skulls --
A gift from the culture --
Odd attachment --
Descendant --
Cleaning up --
Piece --
The state of the art --
Scratch

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Reviews

Jakub Capák ，

Even though I doubted that I would continue reading the Culture series after reading the first three books about a year ago， I partially changed my mind mainly because the Culture （as in the society Culture， not the series） is just so attractive to me。 I didn't like two out of the first three books， but I decided to give the series another shot。This book didn't scratch that itch for Culture content for me， however， so I will read the next book， Excession。 This is mainly because out of the eight Even though I doubted that I would continue reading the Culture series after reading the first three books about a year ago， I partially changed my mind mainly because the Culture （as in the society Culture， not the series） is just so attractive to me。 I didn't like two out of the first three books， but I decided to give the series another shot。This book didn't scratch that itch for Culture content for me， however， so I will read the next book， Excession。 This is mainly because out of the eight stories in this book， only two are explicitly set in the Culture universe， and one is heavily implied to be set there。 So， how is this book？ As with any short story collection， it depends on the individual stories。 I liked three: A Gift from the Culture， Odd Attachment， and Cleaning Up。 The other five （Road of Skulls， Descendant， Piece， The State of the Art， and Scratch） I didn't like that much。 The problem here is that the titular novella， The State of the Art， takes up almost half of this book （approximately 100 pages in my 214-page edition）， and this is one of the five stories I didn't like that much。 It focused mainly on philosophical debates which I wasn't in the mood for when I read it。 The other stories are much shorter （the second-longest story is only about 20 pages long）， so there isn't much I can say about them without getting into spoilers。 I can only say that the three that I did like were really good， probably some of the best SF stories I've read。 So， in conclusion I'd say that this collection is a mixed bag。 In the context of the Culture series， it is fairly forgettable， but I am still glad that I've read it， mainly thanks to those three stories I enjoyed。 。。。more

irene ，

No， questo non mi è piaciuto。 Sembra un pamphlet。

Antonis Lamnatos ，

See my reviews here:BookWyrm: https://bookwyrm。social/user/lamnatosStoryGraph: https://app。thestorygraph。com/profile。。。 See my reviews here:BookWyrm: https://bookwyrm。social/user/lamnatosStoryGraph: https://app。thestorygraph。com/profile。。。 。。。more

Ethan Ward ，

state of the art itself 4*， rest was pretty bad

M。 Spencer ，

Iain （M） Banks is two of my favourite authors so I was always going to love this。 An entertaining collection of stories。

Kody Pierce ，

This honestly feels like bad fan fiction compared to all the other Culture novels， I understand many of these short stories were written and published before Banks had a grasp of what the Culture was to come， But this was painful to get through; especially this being one of my favorite Scifi series。 A galactic let down。

Ben G ，

A re-read to re-energise my faith in Sci-Fi。

Benjamin Richards ，

Urgh。。。。。。 the BBC！ Fogive me Hatchett Audio for the BBC dramatisation isn't available to review on Goodreads， I am not slamming your production of TSOTA。I'm going on chronological order so I know what comes before in the Culture series and that is a lot of excellent writing。 Maybe if I had read TSOTA and imagined the characters myself I would have enjoyed it more but the BBC production is awful。 Also， sadly， Iain M Banks' interpretaion of history from his 1980's point of view hasn't aged well。B Urgh。。。。。。 the BBC！ Fogive me Hatchett Audio for the BBC dramatisation isn't available to review on Goodreads， I am not slamming your production of TSOTA。I'm going on chronological order so I know what comes before in the Culture series and that is a lot of excellent writing。 Maybe if I had read TSOTA and imagined the characters myself I would have enjoyed it more but the BBC production is awful。 Also， sadly， Iain M Banks' interpretaion of history from his 1980's point of view hasn't aged well。Better than Use of Weapons though！ 。。。more

Stefan ，

Some neat little stories in here but nothing amazing。

Stacy ，

I enjoy a good short story and absolutely love Iain Banks， so put the two together and what do you get。。？Just didn't work for me， unfortunately！ I really enjoyed one of the stories， Descendant， but the rest were all over the place。 The namesake and longest story， The State of the Art， had a great premise， but kind of got sidetracked with too many philosophical rants for a short-ish story。。。Worth picking up if you are a Banks fan， but even then more out of interest！ I enjoy a good short story and absolutely love Iain Banks， so put the two together and what do you get。。？Just didn't work for me， unfortunately！ I really enjoyed one of the stories， Descendant， but the rest were all over the place。 The namesake and longest story， The State of the Art， had a great premise， but kind of got sidetracked with too many philosophical rants for a short-ish story。。。Worth picking up if you are a Banks fan， but even then more out of interest！ 。。。more

elidemelnibone ，

boff， je n'aime pas beaucoup les nouvelles en général， et n'ai pas apprécié celles ci， y compris le bla bla de "l'essence de l'art" quand la Terre est évaluée par La Culture， comme un long long exposé 。。。。 qui m'a 。。。。 ennuyée ！ boff， je n'aime pas beaucoup les nouvelles en général， et n'ai pas apprécié celles ci， y compris le bla bla de "l'essence de l'art" quand la Terre est évaluée par La Culture， comme un long long exposé 。。。。 qui m'a 。。。。 ennuyée ！ 。。。more

Zach ，

Torn on this one in many ways。 The shorter stories in this collection are， mostly， trash。 The one that takes up half the book and gives us the title "the state of the art" is really just the author's musings on our own planet and it's pros and cons。 My first pass through， some pages I was in love， and others I wanted to talk away from it。 I plan to read this one again， but overall the anthology was far from my favorite。 Torn on this one in many ways。 The shorter stories in this collection are， mostly， trash。 The one that takes up half the book and gives us the title "the state of the art" is really just the author's musings on our own planet and it's pros and cons。 My first pass through， some pages I was in love， and others I wanted to talk away from it。 I plan to read this one again， but overall the anthology was far from my favorite。 。。。more

Andrew ，

He’d never been superstitious before， but love had strange effects on the vegetable heart。-p333。5 STARSShort stories， mostly Culture-related。First real story connection with Earth （unless I missed it elsewhere）， which was both the most interesting and perhaps most over-indulgent of the stories。 Pretty fun。 Although all of the Culture novels are standalone， this one will make little sense or impression without having read at least one other Culture book prior。

MargaretDH ，

I picked this up because I'm slowly making my way through the Culture books。 Really， this is only in the series because of the title novella （novelette？） included here。 There were a couple of 4 star stories in here， but overall， I would say this is skippable。 Banks is an excellent novelist， but， in my opinion， less successful with short fiction。 I picked this up because I'm slowly making my way through the Culture books。 Really， this is only in the series because of the title novella （novelette？） included here。 There were a couple of 4 star stories in here， but overall， I would say this is skippable。 Banks is an excellent novelist， but， in my opinion， less successful with short fiction。 。。。more

Ericdedwar ，

Short stories， only one of which （if I recall） is truly Culture。 But Banks has many stories to tell， and I'll listen to any of them。 I generally don't go in for Short Stories so that kinda diminishes my enjoyment a touch。 But still a great read if you enjoy Banks。 Short stories， only one of which （if I recall） is truly Culture。 But Banks has many stories to tell， and I'll listen to any of them。 I generally don't go in for Short Stories so that kinda diminishes my enjoyment a touch。 But still a great read if you enjoy Banks。 。。。more

Nicholas Scroggins ，

I love Iain M Banks。 I love the Culture novels。 I loved the main novella in this book。 But， I don’t think the short story format shows the setting or the author in their best light and based on the strength of the other books in the series I can’t rate this equally to them。 It’s still worth the read， especially the main story， but it’s not the strongest work of the series。

Gerald De ，

More of the delicious Culture Series。 Technology has come very far and always gives you a lot to think about when it's so outrageously vast。 More of the delicious Culture Series。 Technology has come very far and always gives you a lot to think about when it's so outrageously vast。 。。。more

Mark Nimmer ，

This was really a disappointment。 I liked a couple of the short stories in the beginning but I found ‘State of the Art’ extremely dull and didn’t finish。 This was the 1st Ian Banks book I’ve read that I didn’t really enjoy。 Even so， I’ll keep trying more ‘Culture’ books down the road。

Casemiro Azevedo ，

Olha。。。 Bem experimental e bizarro com a estrutura de contos aleatórios。 Mas ao mesmo tempo tu passa em alta velocidade por todas as coisas ruins do autor。 Bom， pelas ótimas também。 O que torna um espelho interessante da obra， mas ao mesmo tempo bizarramente desgastante。 Mais desgastante que os livros longos da série principal。

Dan ，

Some of the short stories are not up to a 5 star level， but the titular story does well enough I won't dock it。 The Culture has always been a concept that at least subtextually is critical of our present society。 Well here Banks makes that criticism undeniably textual and it's a banger。 Where as usually the criticism can be found in the "why aren't we like that？" here it is more "this is why we suck and don't deserve to live。" It's a great addition to The Culture series。 Some of the short stories are not up to a 5 star level， but the titular story does well enough I won't dock it。 The Culture has always been a concept that at least subtextually is critical of our present society。 Well here Banks makes that criticism undeniably textual and it's a banger。 Where as usually the criticism can be found in the "why aren't we like that？" here it is more "this is why we suck and don't deserve to live。" It's a great addition to The Culture series。 。。。more

Thom ，

The only short story collection I’ve ever really read。 Contains a number of non-Culture sci-fi stories， but the title novella is about the Culture， focusing on them discovering Earth during the Cold War。 All of the stories are fantastic， and the whole book is an excellent read。

Boysen， Leif ，

Probably the weakest culture book。 It still has some nice moments。

Dalibor Perković ，

This book is the crown of the Culture series and should not be read before you've emerged yourself into this universe because， otherwise， the typical Culturian quirky details may draw your attention from The Real Thing。 Other stories more or less， some are good， some are no-so-good， but after I read the State of the Art novella， around 100 pages， the feelig was: this is it。 Game over。 There is nothing else to read。 This is The End Of Literature。 Nothing more can be said。This novella is State Of This book is the crown of the Culture series and should not be read before you've emerged yourself into this universe because， otherwise， the typical Culturian quirky details may draw your attention from The Real Thing。 Other stories more or less， some are good， some are no-so-good， but after I read the State of the Art novella， around 100 pages， the feelig was: this is it。 Game over。 There is nothing else to read。 This is The End Of Literature。 Nothing more can be said。This novella is State Of The Art masterpiece of human existence， describing its essence to the core， leaving nothing behind。 It is not a typical Culture story， there are no villains。 It is about a small exploration expedition that does some exploring and has to make a decision。 And then it makes it。 In the meantime， there will be feeling out the environment， investigating， analysing， questioning， evaluating， re-evaluating。。。 and then it ends and you Understand。This is definitely not for feeble-minded。 This novella is a mirror and your experience of it depends on how much you want or are able to see。Also: http://file770。com/wp-content/uploads。。。 。。。more

Nicholas ，

Good easy fun for Culture fans。 Especially enjoyed the main story “The State of the Art” which gives us the much needed inclusion of earth in the culture universe， plus Road of Skulls， a gift from the culture， and the utterly bizarre final chapter Scratch

Laurie ，

All righty then。 Short stories plus one Culture novella。 Feels kinda like the publisher said "Hey Iain we are doing really good on these Culture books， what else you got？" A couple of the short stories are quite sophomoric， and the Culture novella reminds me of that time Spock and Kirk visited earth - a bit corny， considerably contrived， with no soapbox passed by。。。 unessential except for the Culture completist， and then I would recommend racing through it as quickly as possible， so you can get All righty then。 Short stories plus one Culture novella。 Feels kinda like the publisher said "Hey Iain we are doing really good on these Culture books， what else you got？" A couple of the short stories are quite sophomoric， and the Culture novella reminds me of that time Spock and Kirk visited earth - a bit corny， considerably contrived， with no soapbox passed by。。。 unessential except for the Culture completist， and then I would recommend racing through it as quickly as possible， so you can get onto something good。 。。。more

Simon Ford ，

Enjoyed these little bites of （are they？） The Culture universe。Below were my favourites but there is a couple of other tales that I wasn't all that keen on。"Odd Attachment" was a good tale of a love sick plant like alien and their encounter with an unexpected visitor。"Descendant" also very good about a sentient spacesuit and its passengers trek across a hostile planet to the safety of a hidden base。"Cleaning Up" is a rather humourous tale of misplaced rubbish/faulty goods ending up on Earth inst Enjoyed these little bites of （are they？） The Culture universe。Below were my favourites but there is a couple of other tales that I wasn't all that keen on。"Odd Attachment" was a good tale of a love sick plant like alien and their encounter with an unexpected visitor。"Descendant" also very good about a sentient spacesuit and its passengers trek across a hostile planet to the safety of a hidden base。"Cleaning Up" is a rather humourous tale of misplaced rubbish/faulty goods ending up on Earth instead of a "furnace" and being used。Can you guess where that leads to？"The State of the Art" is a tale of The Cultures study of Earth in 1977。Very good。 。。。more

Andrew Bush ，

Great fun， lovely book， only short but very sweet。 （ also terrifying in places）

Barnaby Haszard ，

Passable Culture fix to tide me over until next year。 I'm almost lazy enough to leave it there， but on reflection， there's a superb balance of cynicism and hope to the title story， which revolves around a Culture agent who's baffled his colleagues by deciding to become a fully human resident of Earth in 1977 -- why would you become human and reside on Earth， in 1977 or in any time？ The agent's acceptance of human bodily and intellectual limitations is a beautiful folly， a self-sabotaging crusade Passable Culture fix to tide me over until next year。 I'm almost lazy enough to leave it there， but on reflection， there's a superb balance of cynicism and hope to the title story， which revolves around a Culture agent who's baffled his colleagues by deciding to become a fully human resident of Earth in 1977 -- why would you become human and reside on Earth， in 1977 or in any time？ The agent's acceptance of human bodily and intellectual limitations is a beautiful folly， a self-sabotaging crusade towards imperfection as an ideal。 His earnestness would grate if it weren't set so effectively against the smirking doubts of his colleagues。。。 and if I weren't so earnest myself。 Can't we all just get along？ Can't we all think the best of one another， in spite of our petty grievances and aching joints？ No？ Never mind， then。 。。。more

Joren ，

Oh， how pages fly when you read sci-fi！Each book I've read of Mr。 Banks these last months was rewarding。 There is a constant stream of new， imaginative ideas， both on the biggests levels of social analysis as in the tiniest high-tech objects in the daily lives of those of the Culture。 There are constant playful jokes， interesting metaphors， good dialogue， etc。 The State of the Art is a collection of short stories。 Most short stories are like a Hobbesian idea; interesting， brutish and short。 In t Oh， how pages fly when you read sci-fi！Each book I've read of Mr。 Banks these last months was rewarding。 There is a constant stream of new， imaginative ideas， both on the biggests levels of social analysis as in the tiniest high-tech objects in the daily lives of those of the Culture。 There are constant playful jokes， interesting metaphors， good dialogue， etc。 The State of the Art is a collection of short stories。 Most short stories are like a Hobbesian idea; interesting， brutish and short。 In the last story of the book （which is a lot longer）， the Culture （a very advanced society） observes earth， and wonders whether they should interfere。 Pro: we help earthlings 'develop' and not kill themselves。 Con: we interfere with societal development by application of our own moral frame of reference - which conflicts with our frame of reference as it is always fundamentally informed by the concept op freedom （however difficult the relation with this concept is within our own society in a context where humans live together with sentient machines， a million times smarter than them）。 As the members of the observation crew discuss amongst themselves and with their sentient spaceship what they should do， a love-story unfolds which sharpens these moral questions about freedom vs determinism， absolute/universal vs relative moral truths， etc。。 These books are definitely worth your time！ 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The State of the Art

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The State of the Art&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The State of the Art&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0