Description
Blending sharp science fiction with inventive speculative tales, this collection explores the possibilities and absurdities of contact between advanced civilizations and humanity. In its centerpiece, Culture agent Diziet Sma joins a covert mission to study late-twentieth-century Earth, where the team must decide whether humanity is ready to be welcomed—or best left to find its own way. Their observations expose the contradictions of human nature, from creativity and compassion to violence, faith, ignorance, and self-destruction, while one colleague becomes dangerously captivated by the primitive world he was sent to observe. Thought-provoking, satirical, and wide-ranging, the book showcases a talent for combining grand ideas about technology and civilization with dark humor and vivid storytelling.
Available Editions
paperback
Unknown
Published Jan 1, 1989
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Details
First Published
1989
Language
eng
Content Warnings
Content and trigger warnings for The State of the Art by Iain Banks.