PSA: The "Culture" novels by Iain M Banks are fantastic and can be read in any order. "Player of Games" was the 1st one I read and still probably my favorite.
It's a great starting point, since not only is the story both fun and interesting, but it also shows what the Culture's values and methods are in a very satisfying way by juxtaposing them against the Empire through the tournaments of the latter's own game.
I keep hearing recommendations for the Culture books so I tried reading it recently and it just didn't work for me -- I gave up on it halfway through, which is rare for me.
They are a slow burn, but the ends always justify the means with those novels. If you really did make it 1/2 way, I’d encourage you to go back and finish reserve judgment.
My reaction is perhaps summarized by the old quip: "This is not a novel to be lightly tossed aside. It should be thrown with great force.".
It wasn't any one thing but I eventually hit a point where continuing just wasn't worth it for me. There's too much else on my to-read shelf which is less likely to seriously annoy me.
Me too with Consider Phlebas. Then I hit the Alastair Reynolds novels pretty hard and now I'm stuck for new material. Dune is en vogue so perhaps that's the right read next? I really enjoyed Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky but couldn't quite get into A Fire Upon the Deep but it still sits on my shelf taunting me.
The first book Consider Phlebas isn't bad, but it isn't as well developed as the rest of the series IMO.