Iain M. Banks - The Player of Games (1988) v1.0 : Scanned by HugHug

The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer, and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game ... a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - a very possibly his death. Gurgeh, a champion game player, travels a hundred thousand light years to the Empire of Azad, where the winner of their complex game becomes emperor The second Culture novel from the awesome imagination of Iain M. Banks, a modern master of science fiction Culture Plate Imperium Machina Ex Machina The Passed Pawn