Culture series

Trojan

Wow. Looking forward to this.

Jeff Bezos wrote:

Happy to announce that Amazon Studios is adapting Iain M. Banks’ amazing Culture series — a huge personal favorite — as a TV series. Can’t wait!

https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/966312919079112705

mcgovern

This could be great but I think it would be very tough to adapt.

pixelburp

That'll be a very tough needle to thread: it's a vision of the future where the concepts of humanity have moved far, far away from even our own more liberal viewpoints. If the production downplays that hyper-liberalism it'll just disappoint fans, whereas embracing the full potential of The Culture will doubtlessly alienate anyone not completely onboard the 'anything goes' utopian decadence of this Federation-on-Steroids. Plus, IIRC 'Consider Phlebus' was told from the perspective of an outsider & former enemy combatant, so I'd worry any production would weave a narrative that critiques the civilisation; I found later books kept a more balanced approach and viewpoint of what was, in effect, the new normal.

Plus, any adaptation of an Iain M Banks novel needs to be prepared for some serious punches to the narrative gut.

Won't get me to sign up to Amazon Prime Video mind you; their Irish service is a pox (last time I tried it they didn't even have the latest seasons of their own shows - specifically the Man in the High Castle)

meep

pixelburp wrote: »

Won't get me to sign up to Amazon Prime Video mind you; their Irish service is a pox (last time I tried it they didn't even have the latest seasons of their own shows - specifically the Man in the High Castle)

It' better if you can manage to get the UK version of the service, though it's frustrating to pay the sub and then find they ask you to pay even more for a lot of the content- what's that about?

Prefer the Netflix approach of honestly putting up the basic sub to cover what is an amazing array of content.

Back on topic - great news, would look forward to these but agree that some things like machine inner monoluges will be tricky to convey.

Dades

pixelburp wrote: »

Plus, IIRC 'Consider Phlebus' was told from the perspective of an outsider & former enemy combatant, so I'd worry any production would weave a narrative that critiques the civilisation; I found later books kept a more balanced approach and viewpoint of what was, in effect, the new normal.

Agreed.

I consider Player of Games the first real Culture novel. I still had no proper concept of what the Culture was after Consider Phlebus, and would consider it one of the standalone novels in the series.

Definitely I'd be starting elsewhere to introduce people to the Culture as the "universe" the series will revolve around.

Trojan

I love Consider Phlebus - and I think it'd make a great movie - but it's probably not right for the first Culture series.

Player of Games is a good one, there's a good balance of internal and external scenes and should convert to the small screen well.


(Against a Dark Background would be an awesome movie too, though it's not Culture).

Johnny Storm

https://www.tor.com/2018/02/21/amazon-studios-to-bring-iain-m-bankss-culture-to-the-small-screen/

This truly is the Golden age of television..... :pac:

And for the record, ConsiderPhlebus is my favorite Culture book.

ixoy

Could be very interesting, although they'd want to have deep pockets for this. I mean "Altered Carbon" costs a fair whack but to get thinks like Orbitals right as well as the various ships is going to cost a fair whack. I'd also think "The Player of Games" would be a stronger opener.

I'd echo pixelburp's concerns that it'll be watered down in the social / politics end - casual gender swapping, relationships with anyone, etc. Hope they keep true to it.

I'd have thought something like Neal Asher's Polity series, a sort of more right-wing Culture, would have made for a better TV adaptation. It's more action orientated and would suit the small screen.

Johnny Storm

The way things are going maybe there will be both Culture and Polity TV shows.......

/* head explodes */


But wait, there more .....

As part of the effort, Amazon made a mega deal for a Lord Of the Rings TV series and is developing a slew of high-profile titles, including The Dark Tower, Wheel of Time, Ringworld, Lazarus and Snow Crash.

:pac: .........................

Dades

Trojan wrote: »

(Against a Dark Background would be an awesome movie too, though it's not Culture).

My favourite of the whole lot.

ixoy wrote: »

I'd echo pixelburp's concerns that it'll be watered down in the social / politics end - casual gender swapping, relationships with anyone, etc. Hope they keep true to it.

Can't see why they'd water it down, tbh. Shows routinely use shock value to get word of mouth and column inches. Nothing about the Culture is shocking compared to what we're used to now on TV or real life. Gender swapping is hardly contentious anymore.

The only thing in the series I can think of that might be unpalatable for any generation is the virtual Hell in Surface Detail.

The one book I hope they don't make soon is The Algebraist, as it's the only one I haven't read and want to save as there'll never be any more.

Johnny Storm

Dades wrote: »

Nothing about the Culture is shocking compared to what we're used to now on TV or real life....

I agree, except for the political side of things as Ixoy said above. Sadly, I think many Americans (also known as "paying customers") would be very shocked if anything even resembling socialism was portrayed in a positive light.... I hope I'm wrong

I think that is the reason why all references to the economic situation in Star Trek are kept extremely vague.....

Dades

Are Americans still allergic to (alleged) references to socialism? In particular Americans that watch SF on Amazon prime or via pirate sites?

In any event the Culture is a utopia, rather than a commune. The Minds really run the place leaving the humans to work or not. The Culture way of life is more akin to a galaxy sized holodeck than a cheerleader for socialism.

quad_red

Oh wow. How did I miss this.

Consider Phlebas is the least 'mind centric' of the books and (as has been mentioned) it's the most scathing of what the Culture is.

Still though there's so much cool stuff to work with.

I remember thinking about it before and dismissing it as unlikely. Felt like any attempt to show an idiran onscreen would end up like manky like