The Culture, is a space opera series written by Iain M. Banks. I've become somewhat obsessed with space lately, and was wondering if anyone recommended the books. edit: perhaps someone's read one of the books in the series without realizing it was part of a series? So far there are 8 novels in the series, with the 9th to be released soon. Titles are: Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons, The State of the Art, Excession, Inversions, Look to Windward and Matter.
I haven't read any of the Culture novels, but my boyfriend has, and he likes them. Also, some of my friends at the MIT Science Fiction Society have said good things about The Player of Games and Consider Phlebus. As I recall, they recommended that readers start with The Player of Games, that it was particularly good -- and although it's a series, the books apparently stand on their own, so starting with that book presumably won't muck up the other books' plotlines.
