Occasionally you will find a book that describes some concept, interesting, deeply complex, with that flavour of exclusivity. Some books do it by concocting elaborate descriptions, rules, methods and techniques. The best books do it by implication, suggestion, and drawing clever analogies with familiar concepts.

The Player of Games is one of the best.

Jernau Morat Gurgeh is the best game player in the Culture, a vast society of humanoids spanning the galaxy. The branch dealing with alien societies is called Contact, and they want Gurgeh.

The game of Azad is so complex that it determines the career and position of everything in the Empire of Azad, and the winner becomes the Emperor. Gurgeh travels to Azad to play, learning the game during the trip, and causes a furor when he actually wins against players who have trained their whole lives.

As he plays he discovers more about the fabulous culture of Azad, but the Empire doesn't want him winning any further. From assassination attempts to political tricks, they will do anything to stop him.