The Culture is a series of books by Iain M. Banks, all of which take place in the same universe, but also stand-alone, sometimes spanning hundreds of years. It’s a unique take on a shared universe and a sci-fi series. We hope you enjoy!
What’s in The Culture Reading Order?
The Culture reading order assembles all of the books in this shared universe created by scottish author, Iain M. Banks. Each book mostly stands on its own, but they all exist in the same universe. There are many ways to place these books in order. However, as with our other timelines, we go chronologically by default.
Be sure to let us know if there is anything wrong with this timeline. We welcome and and all input you may have. You can do this on our contact page. And if you liked this timeline, perhaps you’ll enjoy some of our others, like our Expanse timeline.
Where to start reading The Culture?
There is no perfect way to read this series. Additionally, each book stands on its own, and the only references to other books come in the form of historical footnotes. You can read by release date, chronological, or any other order. It does matter. However, we do recommend starting with the first book ever published, Consider Phlebas.
Once you have read this first book, you’re at a good launching point to read all of the remaining books. And with that, we hope you enjoy this chronological reading order of The Culture books.
