Content Warning: This section references depictions of cannibalism, sexual harassment, sexual assault, torture, body horror, suicide, and mental health crises. In addition, the source text uses outdated and offensive terms for mental health conditions, which are replicated in this guide only in direct quotes.

Consider Phlebas begins amid a war between two interstellar empires: the Culture, a highly advanced civilization reliant on machines and engineering, and the Idirans, a tripedal, biologically immortal species driven by a religious crusade to conquer and enlighten “less-advanced” civilizations.

An unnamed spaceship flees its homeworld, carrying a Culture Mind, one of the Culture’s AI leaders. The ship narrowly escapes an explosion in the homeworld. The sentient ship traverses space, desperately seeking safety and sanctuary from the conflict. When the ship encounters a hostile fleet, it ejects the Mind, sending it to find refuge on the nearest planet before self-destructing to prevent capture. The Mind ends up on Schar’s World, a forbidden planet guarded by the Dra’Azon, a species that neither the Idirans nor the Culture wish to disturb.

Bora Horza Gobuchul is a Changer mercenary hired by the Idirans. As a Changer, he has venomous teeth and nails and can alter his shape at will.