The State of the Art (Culture, #4) by Iain M. Banks
5.0 Stars
1-1-2015

A series of early and beautiful short stories set in the Culture universe. "A Gift from the Culture" would have been enough to sell me on Banks even if he had never written anything else. I also particularly liked the titular story, a somewhat non-canon tale that examines a ship Mind in greater detail. It captures what makes the ship Minds such an attractive ideal, not just that they are enormously effective and benevolent, but also that they have joy in their work.