Will4 Stars A good enough book. My main complaints are that the motivations of characters' actions at points that move the story along are somewhat questionable. There are many ideas here that make the book feel current and new, despite having been released in 1988.
(comment on The Player of Games)
The Player of Games - BookWyrm
The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game...a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.