Read an extract from Iain M Banks's new book - my favourite Sci-Fi author.

[Olive]

Iain M Banks is an author who has been my favourite sci-fi author for some eyars now.

An extract from his new book here.

I understand his stuff can be a bit hard to find in the US (he's a Brit), and some people will find his politics kinda annoying given that most of his sci-fi is based in a socialist utopia, but I think he's truely excellent.

Is anyone else around here a Banks fan?

 

[Inez Hull]

I lurv Iain Banks. He has THE most fertile imagination of any fiction writer and a cracked sense of humour. I prefer his scifi stuff but his 'normal' fiction can be quite good to.

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

I've read Player of Games and Excession. Besides those two, what's your recommended reading order for the rest of the Culture series?

 

[Olive]

Well, I gotta say that you've read the best two Banks books of the sci-fi stuff.

But I'd read Consider Phlebas and Use of Weapons as well, in that order.

It goes (roughly):
Consider Phlebas - good
Player of Games - fantastically amazing
Use of Weapons - great
Excession - better than great
Look to Windward - good

Inversions is sorta Culture (but his worst sci-fi book), and The State of The Art is a collection of short stories with at least on the Cutlure. Against a Dark Background I remember being good, but it's been ages since I read it. Feersum Endjinn is ok, but writen in an experimental dialect which makes it hard work (but funny).

Hope that helps!

 

[Capellan]

Iain M Banks rocks my world.

His sans-M, non-SF books are even better, IMO.

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Thanks!

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

Wow, the international locale of Banks fans is amazing! I'm always impressed to see visitors to the US reading his books & to find that they enjoy his SF and non-SF stuff without distinction. So do I, but the normal reading audience in the USA is strongly divided; folks who read "normal" books don't usually read SF, and visa versa. I certainly can't think of an American author who moves so effortlessly between mainstream bestsellers, hardcore SF exploration, and experimental literary novels.

 

[Olive]

I certainly can't think of an American author who moves so effortlessly between mainstream bestsellers, hardcore SF exploration, and experimental literary novels.

I can't think of another British author who does either.

 

[mo]

For thoses Banks-o-philes, there are a couple of interesting essays he has written on the Culture:

A few notes on the culture:
http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/~stefan/culture.html

A few notes on Marian:
http://homepages.compuserve.de/Mostral/artikel/marain.html

 

[Olive]

For thoses Banks-o-philes, there are a couple of interesting essays he has written on the Culture:

A few notes on the culture:
http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/~stefan/culture.html

A few notes on Marian:
http://homepages.compuserve.de/Mostral/artikel/marain.html

Ahh I'd forgotten about those...

That essay is great.