Consider Phlebas -

Consider Phlebas focuses on the war's sheer brutality, featuring "deaths in the billions". Plot Overview

The story is set during the Idiran-Culture War, a defining conflict in the Culture's history. It explores the collision between: Consider Phlebas

A religious, tripedal race bent on galactic conquest and biological purity, who see the Culture's AI-led society as soulless and heretical. Consider Phlebas focuses on the war's sheer brutality,

The narrative follows , a "Changer"—a genetically modified human capable of altering his appearance. Horza is not a hero in the traditional sense; he is a mercenary, a shapeshifter, and an enemy of the Culture, who believes that society’s reliance on machine intelligence is a failure of morality. he is a mercenary