CONSIDER PHLEBAS by Ian Banks

Narrated by Peter Kenny

     Hitchhiker’s Guide, Minus the Laughs    

This is the first in Ian Banks’ highly acclaimed Culture Series. I could not make myself get into this book; which is a shame because it has all the Space Opera elements that I was looking for in a Sci-Fi novel.  I had read that this first book in the Culture series was an acquired taste, but I decided to give it a try anyway. My parting feeling was that this reads like Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy but without the slapstick belly laughs. The result was that I have decided that this is not for me. Only a strong personal recommendation could get me to continue this series.

Peter Kenny has a nicely sophisticated British accent which makes for pleasant listening but which does not provide for easy emotional empathy for those of us requiring more American cultural cues to gain full access.