Not bad considering this sort of art style is very much outside his wheelhouse - all the other images he drew for people this year were pastel & watercolour-style nature scenes of ponds and beaches.

For context, I sent him some quotes from the books describing both GSVs and Orbitals but didn't give him much direct guidance - as such this is his interpretation. I like the idea of a domed rooftop section as opposed to an entirely open top deck, though the scale he's drawn (with the islands) seems to imply an absolutely gargantuan GSV - not that that's a bad thing!

  • Dyno [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I've been going chronologically and it's been fine.
    I like Consider Phlebas as the first book because the Culture is largely a background element - the Culture as a whole is too large and complex an entity to simply be shovelled up front so it makes sense for you to be drip-fed aspects of it over time/sequential books so you don't get too inundated.

    Others might recommend State of the Art if only because it has the only real reference to Earth and homo sapiens humans - the rest of the series involves 'humans' but it's Banks' shorthand for 'humanoid'.