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Consider Phlebas
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Prologue-Interlude 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary
Content Warning: This section references depictions of cannibalism, sexual harassment, sexual assault, torture, body horror, suicide, and mental health crises. In addition, the source text uses outdated and offensive terms for mental health conditions, which are replicated in this guide only in direct quotes.
Consider Phlebas begins amid a war between two interstellar empires: the Culture, a highly advanced civilization reliant on machines and engineering, and the Idirans, a tripedal, biologically immortal species driven by a religious crusade to conquer and enlighten “less-advanced” civilizations.
An unnamed spaceship flees its homeworld, carrying a Culture Mind, one of the Culture’s AI leaders. The ship narrowly escapes an explosion in the homeworld. The sentient ship traverses space, desperately seeking safety and sanctuary from the conflict. When the ship encounters a hostile fleet, it ejects the Mind, sending it to find refuge on the nearest planet before self-destructing to prevent capture. The Mind ends up on Schar’s World, a forbidden planet guarded by the Dra’Azon, a species that neither the Idirans nor the Culture wish to disturb.
Chapter 1 Summary: “Sorpen”
Bora Horza Gobuchul is a Changer mercenary hired by the Idirans. As a Changer, he has venomous teeth and nails and can alter his shape at will. He has been hired to infiltrate The Gerontocracy of Sorpen, and he murders Sorpen’s outworld minister, Egratin, and poses as him. He is found out by Perosteck Balveda, a Culture agent, and imprisoned for his assassination and espionage.
Balveda argues with Amahain-Frolk, the security minister, that they should keep Horza alive, as Changers are a rare and dying species, but Frolk refuses. Horza makes a final plea, suggesting that Sorpen must eventually choose a side in the war, noting that the Idirans support organic life while the Culture supports machines. Despite his argument, Frolk and Balveda leave Horza to his punishment. Bound in a sewer cell, Horza awaits death by drowning in the accumulating filth.
Horza tries to use his Changer skills to escape but cannot free himself from his restraints. Just before drowning, the wall across from Horza explodes, and the Idirans rescue him.
Chapter 2 Summary: “The Hand of God 137”
The Idirians fight the Sorpens while escorting Horza onto a ship, The Hand of God 137. Horza meets with Querl Zoralundra, the spy-father and warrior priest, to receive his next mission.
Horza learns that the Idirans have launched a full attack on Sorpen and captured Balveda. The Querl informs Horza that the Idirans intercepted a Culture spaceship carrying a new type of Mind. Although they destroyed the ship, the Mind escaped to Schar’s World, one of the Dra’Azon Planets of the Dead. Before becoming a mercenary, Horza was a caretaker in Schar’s World along with several other Changers. The Querl tasks Horza with retrieving the Mind as he is one of the few beings that is allowed to enter the dead world. Horza agrees, but as payment, he wants resources to remove himself and an unnamed friend from the war.
Horza meets with Balveda and explains why he sides with the Idirans despite disagreeing with their methods. He reflects on Balveda’s role in the Culture’s Special Circumstances (SC) unit, which deals with espionage and military intelligence. Although they have harsh words for each other, Horza respects Balveda as a worthy adversary and leaves when she asks him to.
A Culture ship emerges from hiding and attacks the Idirans. The Idirans bundle Horza into a space suit and throw him off the ship to await rescue from their fleet. While waiting, Horza contemplates the Idirian/Culture war. The Culture is a utopian communist society led by Minds, massive artificial intelligences, while the Idirans seek conquest as part of a holy war. The Idirans are three-legged, monstrous-looking creatures with extensive war experience and are immortal unless they are killed. No one expected the Culture to go to war against the Idirans, let alone for the war to last for four years.
The chapter ends with an unknown ship scanning Horza.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Clear Air Turbulence”
Horza ineffectively tries to evade the ship’s radar. As the ship approaches, he is knocked out.
Horza wakes up on a pirate ship, the Clear Air Turbulence (CAT), and overhears several people discussing him and his spacesuit. They are shocked to find Horza still alive and plan to throw him out of the airlock, keeping his suit as the Kraiklyn’s (captain’s) property. Horza argues for a chance to prove himself and join the company until their next stop.
Kraiklyn states that the ship is overcrowded and demands that Horza kill one of the crew to make space for himself. They pit the geriatric-appearing Horza against a large, burly youth named Zallin. A female crewmate, Yalson, is Horza’s second. The fight is brutal, but Horza gets lucky and subdues Zallin. He argues against killing him, but Kraiklyn insists that anyone incapable of murder cannot stay on board. Horza reluctantly snaps Zallin’s neck.
Later, Horza and Yalson dispose of Zallin’s body by dumping it off the ship.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Temple of Light”
Horza becomes friendly with Yalson and learns more about the workings and crew of the CAT. He takes Zallin’s old bunk and shares the room with the ship’s mechanic, Wubslin.
Yalson briefs Horza on the next steps for Kraiklyn’s Free Company (KFC). They plan to attack the Temple of Light, kill the priests, and steal the treasure they protect. Kraiklyn assures them that this will be an easy job. Afterward, the KFC intends to head to the Vavatch Orbital, which the Culture has scheduled for destruction to prevent it from falling into Idiran hands.
Kraiklyn meets privately with Horza, and they probe each other about their knowledge and history. Kraiklyn expresses an interest in the Culture, particularly their sexual practices, that Horza finds revolting. Disgusted, Horza leaves, determined to use his powers to assume Kraiklyn’s identity next.
The attack on the Temple of Light is a complete disaster. The priests are well-armed, and the temple’s crystal structure reflects the KFC’s laser shots back at them. The CAT loses 7 crew members, including one who dies by suicide after her partner’s death. The crew returns to the ship frustrated, disheartened, and without the promised treasure.
That evening, Horza and Yalson find solace in each other’s company.
Interlude 1 Summary: “State of Play: One”
In the State of Play interludes, the third-person limited narrator shifts from Horza to Fal ‘Ngeestra, a young Culture Referrer. Referrers possess unique abilities of precognition and clairvoyance, which the Culture dismisses as impossible. They attribute the Referrers’ abilities to superhuman processing. The Culture constantly monitors referrers like Fal, though Fal refuses observation while climbing. As such, it took a full day and night for the Culture to retrieve Fal after she broke her leg in a climbing accident. An AI drone named Jase now accompanies Fal, caring for her and appearing to have a crush on her.
Jase shares the Culture’s concerns about the missing Mind and its daring attempt to find refuge in Schar’s World. The Culture knows the Idirans intend to send Horza after the Mind. Fal questions the importance of retrieving the Mind, and Jase explains that if the Idirans acquire it, the war could extend for several months. Fal weighs the options, noting that the Culture refuses to upset the Dra’Azon, a “pure-energy superspecies” that protects planets whose populations destroyed themselves as monuments. Fal considers the possibilities, including the potential diplomatic fallout, but makes no definite conclusions, feeling the weight of her unique abilities and responsibilities.
Prologue-Interlude 1 Analysis
Ambiguity pervades much of Consider Phlebas, beginning with a morally complex protagonist and a war fueled by questionable motives. From the outset, the author challenges readers to scrutinize The Morality of War and Conflict by depicting its horrifying consequences. Even species that abstain from the war demonstrate questionable moralities under the pressure of the conflict surrounding them. The Sorpen Gentocracy, while grateful to Balveda for identifying Horza as a traitor, refuses her plea to spare his life because he is part of a dying species. While Horza’s death sentence may seem justified given his actions, the method of execution is ruthless: Instead of a quick death, the Sorpens intend to slowly drown Horza in a blocked sewer chamber that fills steadily with refuse and excrement. This punishment symbolizes the sort of dehumanization that is inherent in warfare, and it particularly critiques practices of torture. The Sorpen justify this inhumane treatment as a deterrent, though given the dwindling number of Changers, it is unlikely to deter anyone. Ironically, this brutal punishment inadvertently aids Horza, providing the Idirans time to rescue him. This also calls the execution method into question, emphasizing its prioritization of cruelty over swift justice. This early episode sets the tone for the novel’s portrayal of how individual lives are valued in wartime.
When the Idirans rescue Horza, they clarify, “We did not come to rescue you out of compassion. Failure is its own reward” (16). Their lack of loyalty or desire to protect Horza underscores their pragmatic approach—he is merely a means to an end for a new mission. The novel thus illustrates a dichotomy: Characters fight to protect their way of life while disregarding the well-being of those who sustain it. The Idirans use Horza to advance their goals without regard for him as a person. Similarly, their quest to impose their ideology on others is superficial; they focus on external rituals rather than genuine spiritual growth. For example, the Idirans insist that Horza recite a prayer before a ship goes into warp despite his lack of belief in their god and his inability to understand the language. The Idirans inform Horza that only the ritual matters: “For what the Idirans regard as essentially an animal (their term for humanoids translates best as ‘biotomaton’), only the behavior of devotion was required; his heart and mind are of no consequence” (33). When Horza inquires about his immortal soul, Xoralundra’s response is dismissive: “Whoever heard of a mortal body having an immortal soul?” (33). Thus, the Idirans wage galactic war, killing billions and expending vast resources, to enforce religious trappings on species they deem unworthy and unredeemable. Banks sets up the Idiran’s war as a futile endeavor, thus interrogating the true purpose of war and the complex morality it engenders.
Horza also embodies a complex wartime morality. He leaves his job as a caretaker on Schar’s World to support the Idirans, even though he disagrees with their goals and methods. As Horza explains to Balveda, “I don’t care how self-righteous the Culture feels, or how many people the Idirans kill. [The Idirans are] on the side of life—boring, old-fashioned, biological life…You’re ruled by your machines. You’re an evolutionary dead end” (26). Although Horza has a clear purpose and goal, he, like the Idirans, sacrifices many lives in his quest to protect life., introducing the theme of Technology Versus Biology. Nevertheless, he respects his enemies, even choosing to leave Balveda unharmed rather than torment her after her capture. In many ways, Horza and Balveda demonstrate the most empathy and morality in this section despite their significant kill counts.
The complex morality of war often leaves space for civilians to engage in morally dubious actions. This is evident in Kraiklyn’s Free Company (KFC), which not only abducts Horza but also steals his spacesuit and plans to murder him. When Horza pleads for his life, the KFC forces him to fight another crew member to the death. Their ship is a microcosm of this brutal world, where one must fight against others to maintain their place. Despite Horza’s attempts to show mercy, Kraiklyn insists on the necessity of killing, highlighting how survival can override morality in wartime. After Horza’s brutal fight, which kills one of their crew members, the KFC integrates him into their ranks, demonstrating a morality that prioritizes individual survival over group cohesion.
The Idirans are not alone in their moral complexity. Fal, one of the few Culture agents in the novel, also grapples with ethical dilemmas. Although she supports the war and the Culture’s role in it, she questions the necessity of rescuing the Culture Mind trapped on Schar’s World. Jase argues that if the Idirans retrieve the Mind, it could prolong the war by months, prompting Fal to question whether the cost in resources and workforce labor is justified. This ongoing question of “Is it worth it?” haunts the characters throughout the novel, illustrating how evaluating the value of actions is a key and complicated aspect of war and conflict.
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