divinenanny
2/5/2012
I got The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks because LT lists it as #3 in the Culture series. Wikipedia lists it separately, but after getting advice from the SF group here in LT, I read it as #3 of Culture.
The State of The Art is actually a collection of short stories, and one novella. One short story and the novella are Culture, the rest is general SF. I didn't like all the short stories, some were just too modern for me. I did like the Culture stories.
The novella deals with a Culture visit to earth. It is a moralizing story about humanity and earth and if there is any future for us (and thus, if the Culture should intervene or not). It is described from one Culture agent's point of view, and it is a great story. I think everybody following the Culture should read it, because it completes the story even more.