Culture against the Empire

I discovered with "Man games" the universe of Culture imagined by Iain Banks.
His world stands out in a very original manner with respect to those described by other monuments of the SF as Asimov or Simmons. Through this novel, we discover more of Culture, a humanoid Empire, also very fascinating in its organization. The confrontation between the two worlds is done via a game that will delight fans of role playing. The narrative is dynamic and leaves little downtime.
The only reservation I would so is that the plot is no real surprise.
This novel encourages me to continue to advance in the cycle of Culture.