Two of these eight short stories were REALLY good (don't miss ODD ATTACHMENT and DESCENDANT). Others (A GIFT FROM THE CULTURE, CLEANING UP, and SCRATCH) were generally a little boring without much present in the story to entertain. The remaining (THE STATE OF THE ART, ROAD OF SKULLS, and PIECE) fall somewhere in between; not great, but not too bad either. It's a shame that the title story falls into this category and wasn't one of the best pieces.

If you're a fan of Banks, you'll want to read this collection. If this is your first CULTURE book, put it down and go read PLAYER OF GAMES first instead.