Consider Phlebas

Iain M. Banks’s Consider Phlebas is a 1987 science fiction novel that delves into the complexities of war and identity through the journey of Bora Horza Gobuchul during the conflict between the Culture and the Idirans. The novel is the first installment of Banks’s “Culture Series,” which includes 10 books and other notable works such as The Player of Games (1988) and Use of Weapons (1990). Banks is acclaimed for his contributions to science fiction and is recognized for his ability to intertwine intricate narratives with serious thematic explorations.

This guide references the 2009 Orbit e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of cannibalism, sexual harassment, sexual assault, torture, body horror, suicide, and mental health crises. In addition, the source text uses outdated and offensive terms for mental health conditions, which are replicated in this guide only in direct quotes.

Plot Summary

Two interstellar empires are at war. The Culture is an advanced communist society that prizes machines and engineering. The Idirans are a tripedal, biologically immortal species that is on a religious crusade to conquer and enlighten other civilizations.

Four years into this war, a Culture factory creates a new Mind—an enormous AI construct that is vital to Culture society—and places it on an unnamed spaceship. While the ship is in space, the factory is destroyed, and the ship seeks a haven for the Mind. However, the ship encounters enemies and ejects the Mind before self-destructing.

The Mind seeks refuge on Schar’s World, a planet of the Dead. These planets, scattered across the galaxies, are worlds that destroyed themselves. A pure-energy race called the Dra’Azon maintains these worlds as monuments to poor choices. Both the Culture and the Idirans are banned from the Dra’Azon planets of the dead, creating a conflict as both factions seek to retrieve the lost Mind.

The Idirans choose Bora Horza Gobuchul (Horza) for the mission to find the Mind. Horza is a Changer, a species with venomous teeth and nails that sweats acid and can shapeshift. At the beginning of the novel, Horza’s latest espionage mission fails because he is found out by a Culture Special Circumstances agent, Juboal-Rabaroansa Perosteck Alseyn Balveda dam T’seif (Balveda). Balveda argues for leniency in Horza’s sentencing since Changers are a rare species, but Horza is sentenced to death.

The Idirans save Horza just before his execution and capture Balveda. Then they inform Horza of his next mission: retrieving the lost Culture Mind. They insist that he is best suited for the job because he once worked as a caretaker on Schar’s World and should therefore be allowed to enter the planet freely. Before they reach Schar’s World, however, their ship is attacked by a Culture vessel. Horza is forced off the ship in an advanced spacesuit to await pickup by another Idiran ship.

Pirates find Horza first and bring him aboard their ship, the Clear Air Turbulence (CAT). Kraiklyn, the captain of the CAT, steals Horza’s spacesuit and plans to throw him into space. Horza pleads his case, and Kraiklyn agrees to let him fight a crew member of Kraiklyn’s Free Company (KFC) to earn a place on the CAT. Horza nearly loses but eventually beats his opponent. Kraiklyn insists that Horza kill the crewmate or die himself, and Horza reluctantly does so. Onboard, he develops a relationship with a female crewmate named Yalson.

Horza joins the KFC on a mission to attack the Temple of Light, which fails and costs several lives. Their second mission, a raid on a damaged Culture vessel, ends even more disastrously. Horza flees the carnage and lands on an island in the Vavatch Orbital, a machine-made planet-like structure. There, he encounters a death cult called the Eaters, whose leader engages in cannibalism. Horza uses his Changer skills to poison the island’s leader and narrowly escapes.

Horza then travels to the port city of Evanauth on the Vavatch Orbital by mimicking Kraiklyn’s face and body. He finds the real Kraiklyn engaged in a game of Damage—a brutal card game that uses real human lives and mind-altering cards and is typically played in areas slated for destruction. Kraiklyn loses, and Horza kills him, assumes his identity, and returns to the CAT.

On the CAT, Horza finds Balveda applying for a crew position. He refuses and is trying to expel her and a drone, Unaha-Closp, when Culture agents attempt to capture the ship. Horza enacts a daring escape with Balveda and the drone still onboard. Balveda reveals Horza’s identity to the crew, who are indifferent. Horza informs the KFC about his mission to capture the Mind on Schar’s World, and they reluctantly agree to help.

Upon landing on Schar’s World, Horza discovers that all personnel at the Changer Base, including his former lover, Kierachell, are dead, likely killed by an Idiran task force. Beneath the base lies a labyrinth of tunnels, stations, and trains created by the former inhabitants of Schar’s World. Despite the dangers, Horza and the crew descend into these tunnels to search for the missing Mind.

At the first station, they find evidence of the Idirans, who failed to power up the train. At station six, the crew finds an operable train, two Idirans, and the Mind. Horza tells them that he is an Idiran agent, but they do not believe him. A fight ensues, killing two KFC members and destroying the Mind. Horza captures one Idiran, leaving the other mortally wounded. Yalson and Horza realize the destroyed Mind was only a hologram and continue their search.

Yalson reveals she is pregnant, which leaves Horza hopeful yet fearful. The Idiran who was left for dead powers up the train and sends it toward Horza and his crew. The captured Idiran escapes, steals a weapon, and kills two crewmates (including Yalson) before the train hurtles toward them. The surviving crew members, along with the Mind, struggle to escape. Balveda kills the last remaining Idiran with a hidden Culture weapon, then takes the only remaining survivors—Unaha-Closp, Horza, and the Mind—to the surface. She tries to save Horza, but he dies.

The war continues for 44 more years, claiming billions of lives before the Culture wins. Balveda chooses euthanasia after the war. The Changers, as a species, perish during the conflict. Although the Mind does not recall the events on Schar’s World, it names itself Bora Horza Gobuchul.