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Letter-writing on the part of a busy [...] woman is the quintessence of generosity.
I have long considered that Mr. Banks' untimely death means that there are so many tales he just did not get around to writing. While I cannot pretend to emulate Mr. Banks' ideas at all perfectly, it seems to me that there is an opportunity to create new stories set in that well-described universe. This story follows the correspondence between a child and the Culture's Ambassador to a recently Contacted planet. Please feel free to read and comment by email on the story.
Apart from being set in the same fictional universe, this book shares no characters or plot with Dark Matter, so the two works can be read independently.
This is still very much a work in progress. Again, apart from being set in the Culture universe, this book shares no characters or plot with Impact Analysis.
Phrontisterion explores the fate of a Group Mind composed mainly of rather grumpy retired Drones.
Butterfly Happiness explores the attitude of the Culture to the Sublime. Door Bell explores a meeting between a well-known author and an enigmatic visitor who seems to know more about the author's fiction than he does himself.
Never a Coincidence is a sequel to Unusual Circumstances and further investigates events at the very beginning of The Culture's existence.
City of Glass follows the Contact section in action on a planet not entirely dissimilar to Earth, where some of the inhabitants have developed a curious denial of reality. Mind in the Making explores how new Culture Minds are created, and the activities of other Minds in supporting their development. 
Rocks and Stars follows the Culture's Quietudinal Service (Quietus) in action and explores what that organisation might do with the dead of other species. 
Death and Paradise is another story about the Culture's Quietus service and explores what happens when relics of the dead are found in a system where the Culture has started constructing a new Orbital. 
The Gaia Principle considers circumstances when the Culture's Contact section can - and cannot - intervene in the development of another society, regardless of how reprehensible the result might be. Retrospective State explores more of the actions and consequences of Culture ships during the early part of the Idiran war. 
Star Crossed is a slice-of-life story set in the Culture, albeit with a twist in the tale. Beneath the Ice explores how Culture Minds manipulate the presentation of data to minimise psychological damage both to individuals and to the society as a whole.
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