Order of Book Series
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Culture Books in Order

Culture by Iain M. Banks contains 11 books, published between 1987 and 2023. The first book is Consider Phlebas (1987) and the newest is The Culture: The Drawings (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Looking for a different reading order? Culture Shock! books in order (46 books).

Also searched as The Culture.

Books
11
Published
1987–2023
Confirmed
11 of 11 titles
Pages on record
4,604 in 10 of 11 books
Reading time
77–115 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,604 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 11 titles with a page count on record.

See all 11 books in order Printable Culture checklist

Culture is a science fiction series by Iain M. Banks, 11 catalogued titles published between 1987 and 2023. Consider Phlebas (1987) opens the run, followed by The Player of Games (1988), the collection The State of the Art (1989), Use of Weapons (1990), Excession (1996), Inversions (1998), Look to Windward (2000), Matter (2008), Surface Detail (2010) and The Hydrogen Sonata (2012). Space warfare, imaginary wars and life on other planets are the recorded subjects. Nothing has followed the 2023 title The Culture: The Drawings.

How many Culture books are there?

Culture has 11 books, released between 1987 and 2023.

Culture Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 11 Culture books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks, book 1 of the Culture series (1987)
  2. Cover of The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks, book 2 of the Culture series (1988)
  3. Cover of The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks, book 3 of the Culture series (1989)
  4. Cover of Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks, book 4 of the Culture series (1990)
  5. Cover of Excession by Iain M. Banks, book 5 of the Culture series (1996)
  6. Cover of Inversions by Iain M. Banks, book 6 of the Culture series (1998)
  7. Cover of Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks, book 7 of the Culture series (2000)
  8. Cover of Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks, book 9 of the Culture series (2010)
  9. Cover of The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks, book 10 of the Culture series (2012)
  1. 1
    Consider Phlebas1987 · 480 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1987480
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Player of Games1988 · 416 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1988416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The State of the Art1989 · 224 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1989224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Use of Weapons1990 · 480 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1990480
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Excession1996 · 499 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1996499
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Inversions1998 · 352 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1998352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Look to Windward2000 · 369 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2000369
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Matter2008 · 611 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2008611
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Surface Detail2010 · 656 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2010656
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Hydrogen Sonata2012 · 517 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2012517
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Culture: The Drawings2023 · confirmed 3/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Is there a chronological order for Culture?

No separate chronological order is on record for Culture, because none of the book listings this catalogue draws on publishes one; the publication order above is the only order given.

Do you have to read Culture books in order?

You should read the Culture books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Culture book also stands alone.

Where to start with Culture

Start with Consider Phlebas (1987), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Culture book?

The Culture: The Drawings (2023) is the newest Culture book released so far.

Is there a new Culture book coming?

No next Culture book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Culture has won

Wikidata records 1 award and 11 nominations for Culture. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • BSFA Award for Best Novel1996Wonfor Excession
  • Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2013Shortlistedfor The Hydrogen Sonata
  • Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2011Shortlistedfor Surface Detail
  • Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign-Language Short Story2011Shortlistedfor The State of the Art
  • Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2009Shortlistedfor Matter
  • Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2001Shortlistedfor Look to Windward
  • BSFA Award for Best Novel1998Shortlistedfor Inversions
  • Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel1997Shortlistedfor Excession
  • August Derleth Award1997Shortlistedfor Excession
  • Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign Novel1993Shortlistedfor Use of Weapons
  • Arthur C. Clarke Award1991Shortlistedfor Use of Weapons
  • Locus Award for Best Novella1990Shortlistedfor The State of the Art

Culture at a glance

Paused
No new Culture title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
Culture books have appeared about one every 4 years on average.
Length
4,604 pages across the 10 of 11 books with a recorded length, a median of 480 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Culture books, 3 of 11, were published in the 1990s.
Corroboration
5 of the 11 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.

What the Culture books are about

10 of the 11 Culture books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: science fiction is tagged on 8 of 10. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by Iain M. Banks

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.