Originally posted by Shrike
Well, considering that Culture ships routinely blast targets in real space from hyperspace (or vice-versa) I think they could handle Xeelee ships. Plus they have Lineguns if all else fails, which are gravity guns like Starbreakers.
Gridfire is the 'energy of the end of the universe'. Basically, think of opening a hole allowing the (effectively infinite) energy between universes (the Energy Grid) to spray out into real space. Kind of like using a firehose on a sandcastle, assuming that the firehose is actually a gridfire incursion and the sandcastle is a target, like say....... a planet. 
And they're by Ian M. Banks. If you're in NA, they might be hard to find. But I recommend them, they're cool books. 
I don't think the Energy Grid exists in the Xeelee (our) milieu. As the two sound like they have the same basic control over baryonic matter, I'd say the battle goes to the ones with the hometurf advantage.
That said, you never answered if the Culture ever built its own Universe to specification.
I shall seek these books when my current preload of novels is consumed. As there is only fifteen or twenty, I'll probably start looking in April, May at the latest. Are they all in print in Britain, Australia or Canada? I've got access to bookstores in all three, so it shouldn't be too much trouble to get them, I think.
