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The State of the Art
- Culture Series, Book 4
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
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Publisher's Summary
The works of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. With breathtaking imagination and extraordinary storytelling, they have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.
The State of the Art is the only collection of Iain M. Banks's short fiction and includes the acclaimed Culture novella of the same name.
From science fiction to horror, dark fantasy to twisted comedy, all eight stories bear the indefinable stamp of Banks's staggering talent.
The novels of Iain M. Banks:
The Culture series
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art
Other books by Iain M. Banks
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist
Critic Reviews
'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson
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What listeners say about The State of the Art
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mr Luke H Wainwright
- 05-06-2019
Collection of concept short stories.
Can seem a bit abstract but each chapter is a short story exploring a concept in the banks universe. As always Kenny is excellent.
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- English4876
- 15-01-2021
Perfect.
I want to stand and clap. Culture series keeps getting better. Thanks Mr Banks x.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-08-2023
Ignore the pessimistic reviews
There’s quite a few reviews complaining of no story and suggestions of skipping this particular book but please, PLEASE ignore them. This is a beautiful little interlude in the series to give some unusual perspective of life outside the culture. Mostly random short story’s and unusual and sometimes bizarre scenarios that completely blow away the importance of the society and make the utopian needless cultures efforts seem frivolous to particular viewpoints. Banks throws 1980s earth into the mix in the longest story, skewing time (something of which is sometimes hard to grasp in the series) and also adds one of my favourite characters. Extremely enjoyable and a nice break from what can sometimes be a complex read(listen)
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- Anonymous User
- 24-01-2021
Skip this one.
Just a collection of trash short stories, I'd suggesting skipping this one. Narration is still good up the same standard as the others.
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Overall
- hamish rae
- 08-06-2018
inane ranting
have loved other banks works
but this was like the random and dislocated diary of a madman
started all over the place
ended nowhere at all
waited all that time for it to begin
never happened
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