Culture books in order
Culture is a series of 10 books by Iain Banks: 3,850 pages in the 9 with a known length, about 71 hours of reading. Shown in the numbered order.
- 10
- books
- 3,850
- pages in 9 of them
- 71 hours
- to read those 9
- 142 days
- at 30 minutes a day
Consider Phlebas 8.6 h 2 
The Player of Games 5.9 h 3 
Use of Weapons 7.3 h 4 
The State of the Art 3.8 h 5 
Excession 8.4 h 6 
Inversions 7.3 h 7 
Look to Windward 6.8 h 8 
Matter 10.9 h 9 
Surface Detail 11.6 h Bar height shows length.
The books
- 1
Consider Phlebas 1987 8.6 h
Consider Phlebas is perhaps one of the lesser-known, but nevertheless the first, of the revelationary late Iain M. Banks' science fiction books.
- 2
The Player of Games 1988 5.9 h
The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh.
- 3
Use of Weapons 1990 7.3 h
The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and…
- 4
The State of the Art 1989 3.8 h
The first ever collection of Iain Banks’s short fiction, this volume includes the acclaimed novella, The State of the Art.
- 5
Excession 1996 8.4 h
Two and a half millennia ago, the artifact appeared in a remote corner of space, beside a trillion-year-old dying sun from a different universe.
- 6
Inversions 1998 7.3 h
In the winter palace, the King’s new physician has more enemies than she at first realises.
- 7
Look to Windward 2000 6.8 h
It was one of the less glorious incidents of a long-ago war.
- 8
Matter 2008 10.9 h
In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war.
- 9
Surface Detail 2010 11.6 h
It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters.
- 10
The Hydrogen Sonata 2012 length not known
How much is left
| After book 1, Consider Phlebas | about 62 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 2, The Player of Games | about 56 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 3, Use of Weapons | about 49 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 4, The State of the Art | about 45 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 5, Excession | about 37 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 6, Inversions | about 29 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 7, Look to Windward | about 23 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 8, Matter | about 12 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
Reading the whole series
About 70 hours 35 minutes
9 of 10 books, 3,850 pages. Estimated at 250 words a minute.
142 days (about 21 weeks) at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.