The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks is $3 in the US (
Kobo,
Amazon.com).
Second book in the Culture series by publication order, but (speaking as somebody who's not yet read any Culture books at all) I understand that the “series” is more of a “setting”, i.e. the books can be read in any order – no need to read Consider Phlebas (first published Culture novel) before The Player of Games. If you ask the web, some people apparently rate The Player of Games as the most accessible entrance to the setting. (Others, of course, have other choices.)
Quote:
The Culture — a human/machine symbiotic society — has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy.
Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game. . . a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life — and very possibly his death.
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