Scottish writer Iain M. Banks publishes “Consider Phlebas” (later published in Italy as “Pensa a Fleba” or “La Mente di Schar”); the first in a series of novels set against The Culture, a society of machines, artificial minds, and humans, where everyday entertainment is accompanied by a vision of civilization and morality. In “Consider Phlebas,” The Culture is pitted against the Idirans, an alien race of religious fanatics.
