Consider Phlebas

I went into this book with high hopes based on recommendations from others. It sets up an interesting universe, and I very well may check out additional books in this universe, but I can't say that I was particularly thrilled by this book itself.

The plot wandered all over the place, usually at an unbearably slow pace. I felt like far too much time was spent setting up a couple of key moments that most people probably saw coming from 50+ pages away.

I've read some of Banks' other works and liked them a lot more. As one of his earlier works that does manage to setup an interesting setting maybe I should cut it more slack, but I just don't feel that it holds up that well.