The Player of Games (A Culture Novel Book 2) by Iain M. Banks
Summary: In the Culture universe technology has progressed so that society is satiated. Jernau Morat Gurgeh is a master game player, respected and dominate in the Culture when the opportunity arises to play an exotic game, a game which a nascent civilization uses to enforce it’s totalitarian government. A musing on games, the shock of fascism, and the future.
Rating: A good romp through a fun universe, if you’ve been following Alpha Go you’ll dig this.