The 1991 collection The State of the Art serves an important function in the bibliography of revered Scottish author Iain M. Banks (1954 - 2013). It collects his short fiction from 1987 to 1989, crucially including the stories "A Gift From the Culture", "Descendant", and the title story. These are entries in Banks' Culture series, and good entry points into that sprawling, post-scarcity SF setting.

This episode is a whistlestop tour of The State of the Art, taking in skulls, alien waste disposal, a lovesick plant creature, and nuclear war.

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Can 2023 live up to the lofty hopes of a revival of real-time strategy games? We had the first major test of that thesis in February, with the releases of The Settlers: New Allies and Company of Heroes 3. I reviewed both of those games for Entertainium this month, and share some brief thoughts in this episode. The games covered this month are:

• The Settlers: New Allies (2023)
• Company of Heroes 3 (2023)
• Wanted: Dead (2023)
• Train Valley 2 (2019)
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (2004)

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The exploration and colonisation of Mars is a perennial subject in science fiction. Arthur C. Clarke's 1951 novel The Sands of Mars is a significant entry in that history, especially because it takes a realistic approach before the Mariner 4 flyby in 1965 - at least until the alien kangaroos show up.

This episode takes a look at the book, and how it fits in with the history of Mars-themed fiction and Clarke's wider career.

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Before The Handmaid's Tale (1985), there was Native Tongue (1984). Suzette Haden Elgin's feminist dystopia is an early precedent for this increasingly popular genre. Combining a powerful feminist message with a detailed exploration of the science of linguistics, this is an interesting curio of 1980s social SF. But why has Klingon proven to be so much more successful than Láadan, Elgin's own constructed language for women?

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American author Roger Zelazny won the Hugo and Locus awards for Best Novella for his story "Home is the Hangman". The 1976 book My Name is Legion collects this science fiction tale and its two prequels. Featuring nuclear engineering projects, assumed identities, dolphins, and a killer robot, how does this collection stack up?

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This bumper edition of "what I played" covers not one but two months! Featured in this instalment:

• Need for Speed Unbound (2022)
• Metro Exodus (2019)
• Company of Heroes 2 (2013)
• A Plague Tale: Innocence (2019)

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This episode continues our look at the Humanx Commonwealth sci-fi series by Alan Dean Foster. The fourth standalone book, Voyage to the City of the Dead, is set on the diverse Commonwealth world of Horseye. Married human scientists Etienne and Lyra Redowl travel up the massive Skar river and could make an incredible discovery - if they can survive the planet's dangers.

To catch up with the series, listen to episodes #62 (Midworld), #65 (Cachalot) and #81 (Nor Crystal Tears).

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If humans mastered the stars and met other alien species, what would they do in order to stay on top? This short episode covers The Long Result, a 1965 sci-fi novel by British author John Brunner which is part of a transitional period in his fascinating career.

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The latest monthly roundup of the games I've played lately, new and old. Featured in November 2022: 

• Evil West (2022)
• Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 (2022)
• Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005)
• Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (2006)
• Sniper Elite 4 (2017)
• Star Trek: Away Team (2001)

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My coverage of Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth series continues with Nor Crystal Tears (1982). This third novel focuses on the early history of the setting, and the first encounter between humans and the insect-like Thranx. Can the plucky agronomist Ryozenzuzex bridge the cultural barriers with a freakish species who wear their skeletons on the inside?

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