Not so long ago, Amazon made the announcement that it was planning to make a new series based on The Lord of the Rings, which remains one of the most influential examples of speculative fiction to have ever been written. However, it seems clear that Amazon isn’t done with speculative fiction, as shown by the fact that it has picked up the rights to Consider Phlebas. For those who are unfamiliar with the name, Consider Phlebas is the first novel to feature the Culture, which is an interstellar civilization created by the writer Iain M. Banks.
It is interesting to note that the Culture is well-known in certain circles of speculative fiction fans, not least because it stands out from a lot of its counterparts. For starters, the Culture can be described as a sort of utopia, though it has its fair share of detractors both in and out of the setting. Its citizens consist of both AIs and humanoids, which run their society via an odd mixture of anarchy, socialism, and direct democracy. The overwhelming majority of its citizens spend their centuries-long lives pursuing their personal passions, which is possible because the Culture is a post-scarcity society with most of its economic needs handled by non-sentient automated processes. As a result, it should come as no surprise to learn that much of the books featuring the Culture are centered around Culture citizens who interact with other civilizations with different values in the setting, with examples ranging from spies and diplomats to mercenaries.
What Can We Expect From Consider Phlebas?
Consider Phlebas is interesting in that its protagonist is hostile to the Culture. Said individual is a member of a species called Changers, which have received that name because of their genetically-engineered ability to change their appearance to mimic that of other humanoid species. The protagonist fights for one of the Culture’s enemies called Idiran Empire because of his hostility towards the Culture’s reliance on machines for its basic functions as well as what he considers to be its spiritual hollowness.
Story-wise, Consider Phlebas is focused on the effort to retrieve a Culture AI, which has fled to a planet that is off-limits to both sides because of the wishes of ascended beings that maintain said planet as a sort of monument to their former civilization. The Idirans believe that the protagonist might be able to set foot on the planet because he was once one of a small number of Changers entrusted with the stewardship of the planet. As a result, he is sent to retrieve the AI, though his mission is soon complicated by the intervention of a Culture operative as well as other factors.
Summed up, Consider Phlebas has the potential to make for an entertaining series on the screen. However, it remains to be seen how well it will translate. Still, the fact that a series about the Culture could be making its way onto the screen is cause for interest, not least because the Culture is so unusual in that it is supposed to be a flawed paradise that is worth striving for rather than a warning about what the future might hold for us.
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