The State of the Art - Iain M. Banks

This collection of stories from Scottish writer Iain M. Banks was first published in 1991. It contains the novella of the title, as well as 7 other short stories ranging from horror to sci-fi. This is the second book by Iain M. Banks (as opposed to Iain Banks) that I have read, the first was the novel Consider Phlebas. I enjoyed this to a point, but found a few of the stories a wee bit bland and/or pointless. 'The State of the Art' is the 7th story in the collection, a mini-novel in fact, and was the one I enjoyed the most. Like 'Consider Phlebas', it deals with Banks' sci-fi world of the Culture, and focuses on a Culture ship as it ...  Read the complete review