KF1903

2023

Games

Hick Blackburn is a central character in the Iain Banks novel, Games (also known as The Player of Games). He is a citizen of the Culture, a utopian, post-scarcity society.

Hick is a skilled and somewhat disillusioned game player, renowned for his expertise in various complex strategic games. He is approached by Special Circumstances, a secretive branch of the Culture's Contact section, to undertake a highly sensitive mission.

His mission involves traveling to the Empire of Azad, a brutal and hierarchical society whose culture revolves around a single, all-encompassing game called Azad. He is tasked with participating in and attempting to master Azad, with the aim of destabilizing the Empire and exposing its inherent flaws.

Hick's journey is one of self-discovery and moral questioning. He grapples with the Culture's manipulative tactics and the implications of interfering in another civilization, even one as oppressive as the Empire of Azad. His character arc explores themes of cultural relativism, moral responsibility, and the nature of power.