[WorldMaker]

I felt it a good introduction for the same reason as it was the first written book: Banks didn't know how to tell a story about the Culture without trying to attack the Culture and find its flaws and outsiders. The edition I read even had a foreword to that effect. Obviously, he found far more interesting outsiders and flaws as the series progressed, but it is still interesting to see that "bootstrap moment" in Consider Phlebas as he works to find the right hooks in a way that feels almost like "in real time".