Talk:The Player of Games

It's A Conspiracy!

"Although Gurgeh never discovers the whole truth, it is ultimately revealed to the reader that even the blackmail that forced him to accept the mission was almost certainly carried out with the knowledge and permission of some faction within Special Circumstances itself." Can anyone substantiate that? Sounds like speculation to me, unless I missed something fairly major. gazok (talk) 12:42, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

Who is the real Master Player here?

It's gotta be a Mind behind it. Minds run everything. --Evercat 6 July 2005 10:31 (UTC)

On the whole, yes, although Consider Phlebas has a human character who is frequently able to out-guess Minds, and whose advice is certainly listened to by them. As it's undisclosed who's actually behind the plot in The Player Of Games, it could well be a similarly talented non-Mind. The Culture is too pragmatic to rely solely on Minds in these sorts of cases. --Plumbago 6 July 2005 10:53 (UTC)

Random insertion

Sorry. Didn't think it was worth doing a talk item on it. I removed the text as it's just a bit random. It doesn't fit where it is (though I notice that it's restoration has moved it), doesn't illuminate the plot (as it refers to two characters otherwise not referred to), and isn't really necessary - the plot's filled out enough as it stands (good work there!). That's all. Cheers, --Plumbago 16:42, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

Sure. I'd like to expand the reference to the two (who are both important characters) rather than delete it. Guinnog 21:40, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

I second you two expanding the character descriptions and relevancy. :) --maru (talk) contribs 02:30, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

They're still not expanded, and I still think they're unnecessary. The plot summary is fine as it is. Cheers, --Plumbago 08:39, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

I've commented out the "offending" text for now. I really don't think it adds anything. Also, it introduces Chamlis, a relatively minor character, ahead of others who feature more prominently. Finally, the current entry on the novel's plot covers it pretty well without going over the top. To introduce more is unnecessary to my mind (= my POV). --Plumbago 12:05, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

The Glass Bead Game

I'd love to know if Banks has ever acknowledged a debt to Hermann Hesse's novel The Glass Bead Game. It seems like an obvious inspiration but you never know, maybe he'd never heard of it and the idea was totally independent. --Spondoolicks

Details on the game and Azad society

I don't think we should go into great detail here. The book makes it clear that it is not a simple thing. The facts are: yes, females and males don't get to learn the game; yes, there is eugenics and GM; and yes, the draw for the game is rigged. And yes, Azadian society is the way it is. We shouldn't make it simpler than Banks does; the beauty is in the complexity of it. Is the game causing the society, or vice versa? In a summary (which is what we are writing), it is enough to say they don't, which is what is important. --Guinnog 01:59, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Well, then perhaps we need to beef up the summary if it isn't appropriate for the aside section? --maru (talk) contribs 02:24, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Ok. I'm off to bed though. If you put something up I'll have a look at it in the norning. --Guinnog 02:26, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Similarity to Damage

The article presently ends with a claim that Azad bears a similarity to Damage, from Phlebas. How is this sustainable? Damage is a cards&emotions game played around a table. Azad a board game, using cards, dice, elemental matching &c.Khavakoz 20:18, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Image

Need a new image for the book here. Somebodies stupid bot decided the image I took myself wasn't legit. tyx (talk) 16:24, 2 July 2008 (UTC)