This was my first exposure to the Culture universe (and to Iain M. Banks's work in general), but I have to admit that it didn't blew my away. But I also have to admit, that his might partly be my own fault. I approached this book expecting something much more highbrow, elaborating a lot on the setting, exploring concepts, all of what you would expect from some harder form of sf. Instead, for the most part this was an easy to read space opera.

The events of the book are set during the Idiran-Culture War, something that always lingers at the fringes of the narrative, but that never really takes central stage. Instead we follow the shape-shifter Horza whose people are allies with the Idiran Empire and who is send on a mission to retrieve a so-called Mind - a Culture machine which took refuge on a planet called Schar's World. That planet has religious value and is protected by a god-like being allowing neither Culture nor Idirans to enter. I newer quite understood why the Mind is so important to either side (on a similar note: I never quite understood the motivation for the entire war), but Horza might be able to approach because, in the past, he was among the shape-shifters who served as some sort of guards on Schar's World.
After some turbulent events Horza ends up on a ship (is it a futuristic pirate ship?), the Clear Air Turbulence, on which he serves as a crew member (participating in two unsuccessful missions) and, at a later point, he gets control over the ship (initially disguised as its former captain, which he killed). Together with the left-overs of the ship's crew he pursues his original mission of acquiring the Mind.

Emotionally the book is very cinematic, giving you a similar feeling to some blockbuster Sci-Fi flick from the 80s (though it tends to drift off into video game territory here and there). However, it would be a movie in which every set-piece is designed according to an immeasurably verbose description. Really, in any given scence Banks has a clear vision of what is going on in the character's surroundings. In the beginning I quite liked his wordy style, but I have to admit that it seemed a bit tiresome to me after a while.
I wished he would have put as much detail to the characters and their relationships. It gets much better towards the end of the book, but many crew members (or a are very stereotypical and their past, ambitions, are at best superficially explored. This certainly adds to the incredibly high pace of the book, but I would have appreciated a bit more detail here and there (especially with a character like Yalson who becomes more important in the course of the book).
More importantly, I would have loved the book so much more if its events were deeper embedded in the overall setting. The appendix in which Banks explains motivations, technologies, history, important figures, and these kinds of things got me quite excited - it would have been great if that were more intertwined to the characters on which the plot focuses.

There certainly were great moments in there as well. What I really did love was the depiction of the card game. It was cool how it was brought together with impending doom, but what really excited me was the idea of being able to influence your opponent's emotions. The world came so much alive in the way Banks explored the lifestyle-choices made surrounding the game. I so wish there is more stuff like this in the other books!

So, this is one of the books that made me wish you could give more differentiated ratings on here (then it would be a 3 1/2). 3/5 seems like such an average rating, like something that gave you a bit of enjoyment but that you won't think of again. Well, maybe that is my opinion of the book. But I will certainly read some more of the Culture novels, and I wouldn't be surprised if that also somewhat influenced my perception of Consider Phlebas.