[sidibe]

Use of Weapons and Consider Phlebas are the worst of the series IMO. I powered through Consider Phloebus just because I knew people loved the series, but there's really no reason to start there

[rishav_sharan]

Sacrilege! Taste is subjective, but Use of Weapons, imo, is Banks best work. I personally consider it one of the best SciFi, period. It's been years I last read it, but that ending still gives me shivers whenever I think of it

[NoGravitas]

Use of Weapons is generally considered one of the best, but it has a complex narrative structure that makes it a harder read, and it's probably not a good place to start.

[arethuza]

Personally, I think Use of Weapons is by far the best of the Culture series - although I admit it took a few readings for me to get to that view...

[User23]

He does a really good job exploring the theme "what is a weapon?"

[hesperiidae]

Yes! And also, "why is a weapon?", "how is a weapon?" and "what isn't a weapon?"

Really, Culture is a great setting for discussing a lot of interesting philosophical questions and topics.