Okay, Iain M. Banks Thread

Who's read?

I'm currently reading Surface Tension. There's some parts of it I have no idea what's going on, and that's great.

Some of his stuff I find a bit dense, like Use of Weapons, but Excession is just great, and I'm remembering Matter and The Algebraist very fondly. He's got a really good universe going, with infinite possiblities, and a real knack for characters you either want to be, or care about.

Nobody has read Iain M. Banks and his Culture novels? I thought this forum had some real SF fans.

mmm, deliberate goading.

Was planning to read them soonish, though I'm currently putting a lot of hours into writing my own SF, so I don't really wanna get distracted. Read some demos from the apple bookstore though and it seemed very promising.

Originally Posted by The Dude

Was planning to read them soonish, though I'm currently putting a lot of hours into writing my own SF, so I don't really wanna get distracted. Read some demos from the apple bookstore though and it seemed very promising.

Yeah I don't read SF unless more than one person tells me it's good, and then I have criteria of it has to essentially make me smarter or incredibly entertained, usually both.

In Bank's case, however, I saw the books at Chapters, I was really stuck, and I bought one because it was long. That was The Algebraist, and I thought it was pretty decent. I've since grown to really enjoy the culture novels. Each one is a meal of reading.

Oh, I've read some Iain Banks novels. He's one of the more intelligent and unbiased Sfi authors. I would think Banks can count as literature what is rare in the genre.

Originally Posted by Blau&Gruen

Oh, I've read some Iain Banks novels. He's one of the more intelligent and unbiased Sfi authors. I would think Banks can count as literature what is rare in the genre.

Yeah, he's one of few authors who's made a transition from SF to literary and back again. He writes as Iain Banks for his non-SF work, and his novel, The Wasp Factory, was listed as one of the top 100 British books of all time to read.

Well, as it seems not many people have read him, consider this an official recommendation.