Consider Phlebas
By Iain M. Banks
 
First edition, first impression, signed by the author to the title page.

Octavo. Publisher's bright yellow cloth, spine lettered in black; with the illustrated dust jacket by Richard Hopkinson, unclipped (£10.95 net).

A fine signed copy of Banks's landmark first science-fiction novel, the book that inaugurated the Culture series and decisively reshaped late-20th-century British science fiction. The dust jacket is notably bright and unfaded - quite uncommon for this title - with only the very slightest and isolated instances of wear to edges, only visible upon close inspection. Boards are clean and vivid. The text block remains clean, showing uniform but moderate age-toning typical of Macmillan's stock.

'Consider Phlebas' marked Banks's transition from acclaimed literary novelist to a defining voice in modern speculative fiction. As the first published entry in the Culture sequence, it introduced readers to one of the most ambitious and philosophically engaged future histories in contemporary science fiction. Its blend of high-concept space opera, moral complexity, and kinetic action influenced a generation of writers and contributed to a revival of large-scale, intellectually driven space opera in the UK and beyond. The novel's depiction of AI Minds, post-scarcity anarchism, and the ethical dilemmas of interventionism remains central to discussions of 20th and 21st century science fiction. It has also seen renewed cultural attention following Amazon's attempted television adaptation, further cementing its status as a modern classic.

Signed first impressions are increasingly scarce, particularly in such strong condition, and copies without jacket fading are decidedly uncommon.