What a brave man, condolences to his wife and widow lighting camera andy. Banks made his debut as a published author with the wasp factory in 1984. Iain banks remembered by michelle hodgson books the guardian. He moved to london and lived in the south of england until 1988, when he returned to fife where he lived with his wife. The tenth culture book from the awesome imagination of iain m. Iain banks books list of books by author iain banks. He has since gained enormous popular and critical acclaim for both his mainstream and his science fiction novels which are published under the name iain m banks iain banks died in june 20. Visiting some of the worlds most famous distilleries and also some of its smallest and most obscure ones, banks embarks on a journey of discovery which educates him. Banks decided to try a more mainstream novel in the hopes that it would be more readily accepted, and wrote about a psychopathic teenager living on a remote. Iain banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, the wasp factory, in 1984. Use of weapons is the third installment of iain m banks culture series, and again, has very little to do with the previous two. The bridge is a novel by scottish author iain banks. This noir fable confirms his reputation as the master of things dark and debauched. Its a selfindulgent travelogue of scotland, with long sections on cars, motorcycles, his friends.
Dec 05, 2003 raw spirit, iain banks s quest for the ultimate whisky, leaves david horspool thirsty for something more david horspool fri 5 dec 2003 19. Buy a cheap copy of against a dark background book by iain m. From the opening prologue you get drawn in and it sustains the pace to the end. Iain banks in his wonderful room packed full of things from his lifes episodes. Consider phlebas introduces listeners to a utopian conglomeration of human and alien races that explores the nature of war, morality, and the limitless bounds of mankinds imagination. His first science fiction book, consider phlebas, was released in 1987, marking the start of the popular the. Banks banks is a phenomenon writing pure science fiction of a peculiarly gnarly energy and elegance. Iain banks is best known for the science fiction novels in his culture.
Writes fiction including science fiction and one factual book. As always, further details and links to relevant websites are available on the appearances page of the. Poetic, humorous, baffling, terrifying, sexy the books of iain m. We personally assess every books quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures.
Iain banks, who died this month, was one of my favourite writers. He was a writer and actor, known for consider phlebas, complicity 2000 and stonemouth 2015. Iain m banks beginners guide scifinow the worlds best. Iain banks will be meeting his public and signing copies of his brand new culture novel matter and, most probably, the paperback edition of the steep approach to garbadale at city books in hove, waterstones bristol, waterstones norwich and waterstones lincoln from monday to thursday next week. Just over twenty years ago, the novelist iain banks finally broke into print after years of trying. Fts book tour posted on june 30, 2014 by iainmaloney leave a comment ive been meaning to write about the first time solo book tour since i got back to japan a couple of weeks ago but a number of things prevented me from work, through editing a new book more on which later this week to not having a computer anymore. Following the publication and success of the wasp factory 1984, banks began to write on a fulltime basis. Iain banks was born on february 16, 1954 in dunfermline, fife, scotland. The characters and events in this book are fictitious. He was known for his book the wasp factory banks was born on 16 february 1954 in dunfermline, fife, scotland. Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. A song of stone book by iain banks official publisher. Iain banks was born in dunfermline, fife, in scotland in 1954 and was educated at stirling university where he read english literature, philosophy and psychology. I finally got round to reading iain banks final book, the.
This autumns surface detail tour continues to grow, with the addition of two more dates for your diary, both lunchtime book signings. He wrote mainstream fiction under the name iain banks, and science fiction as iain m. Iain banks faq an unofficial faq for the author iain banks. Its a selfindulgent travelogue of scotland, with long sections on cars, motorcycles, his friends, roads in scotland, food, hotels, restaurants, and such.
Iain menzies banks 16 february 1954 9 june 20 was a scottish writer. Aug 05, 2004 informative but above all entertaining book, exploring the world of malt whisky, scottish roads and cars, but the muchmissed and lamented iain banks. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name menzies. Consider phlebas introduces readers to the utopian conglomeration of human and alien races that explores the nature of war, morality, and the limitless bounds of mankinds imagination. Iain banks 195420 published the wasp factory in 1984 and has since become one of the most powerful, innovative and.
He is now acclaimed as one of the most powerful, innovative, and exciting writers of his generation. Start with the two first ones, which are also by most fans as determined by another question asked on here regarded as being the best place to start with m. Banks consider phlebas the player of games use of weapons the state of the art against a dark background feersum endjinn excession inversions look to windward the algebraist matter by iain banks the wasp factory walking on glass the bridge espedair street canal dreams the crow road complicity whit a song of stone the business dead air. Raw spirit, iain bankss quest for the ultimate whisky, leaves david horspool thirsty for something more david horspool fri 5 dec 2003. Banks decide as a bairn aw 11 tae be a scriever an feenish his 1st novel at 16. Reprinted 1993 twice, 1994, 1995 twice, 1996 three times. Iain banks was a brilliant writer and use of weapons is one of his best. Big fan of the culture books, totally respect him as an author. Iain banks will be meeting his public and signing copies of his brand new culture novel matter and, most probably, the paperback edition of the steep approach to garbadale at city books in hove, waterstones bristol, waterstones norwich and waterstones lincoln from monday to thursday next week full details can be found in the appearances section of the extras page. Iain banks s classic novel reissued with a striking new cover from the back cover baroque, digressive, kinetic, teeming with big ideas and grand theories, its a novel to get lost in. The culture series is a science fiction series written by scottish author iain m. An over the top space opera nominated for a hugo award when first published in the u. Jun 30, 2014 fts book tour posted on june 30, 2014 by iainmaloney leave a comment ive been meaning to write about the first time solo book tour since i got back to japan a couple of weeks ago but a number of things prevented me from work, through editing a new book more on which later this week to not having a computer anymore.
It was a macmillanfutura books presentation to their sales force, and to a handful of journalists. The hydrogen sonata by iain m banks is out 4 october 2012. Even for those who dont like whisky it is a still a good read, but for those who like a dram, the book includes some casual tasting notes and a number of fine stories that give an insight into. Raw spirit in search of the perfect dram by iain banks. I will be reading, signing books, answering questions and partaking of the odd tipple at the following venues. Against a dark background is a novel by the noted author of science fiction iain m banks. So, on finally agreeing to do a concert tour in europe, she opts to go by ship, passing through the panama canal where their ship. Banks was born on february 16, 1954 in fife, scotland. Raw spirit in search of the perfect dram by iain banks the.
Following the publication and success of the wasp factory, banks began to write on a fulltime basis. The world created for you is just amazing and leaves me thinking about it long after. It really is brilliant, but he has plenty of greats. Bankss novels of the culture dont actually seem to have that breaking point to begin with. He was married to adele hartley and annie blackburn. He used this as his pen name for science fiction and goes by iain banks for some of his books. Against a dark background is science fiction at its best. Consider phlebas, his first science fiction novel, was published under the name iain m. Iain banks, who has died aged 59, was a novelist who achieved popularity and critical success in two separate fields. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading canal dreams. The novel stonemouth does not open on the forth road bridge, but on a fictional bridge. To my shame, ive largely not read very many of these though i would recommend the. Repost of my interview with mylifemybooksmyescape for first publication of the book. But i just learned that iain banks is dead, and im alone in this house, and i cope with things by writing about them.
In a career spanning twentynine years, he wrote an impressive twentynine books including the science fiction culture books as iain m. Banks book, just took a chance and now on my sixth culture audiobook. Since that time, he has split his time between his culture books the series started in 87 and standalone novels such as stonemouth. Sharrow was once the leader of a personalityattuned combat team in one of the sporadic little commercial wars in the civilization based around the planet golter. Browse iain banks tour dates and order tickets for upcoming shows near you. Before the publication of the wasp factory, banks had written several science fiction novels that had not been accepted for publication. He came to widespread public notice in 1984 with the publication of his first novel, the wasp factory. Dec 16, 20 iain banks remembered by michelle hodgson. Banks s seminal science fiction series, the culture. The stories centre on the culture, a utopian, postscarcity space society of humanoids, aliens, and advanced artificial intelligences living in socialist habitats spread across the milky way galaxy. Since then he has gained enormous and popular critical acclaim with further works of fiction and science fiction.
Our protagonist is a man named cheradenine zakalwe. I havent actually read any of banks nonsf, apart from the below, but if its as good as his sf, well, its definitely worth a look. Iain banks 16 februar 1954 9 juin 20 wis a scots author. The world created for you is just amazing and leaves me thinking about it.
Im not sure when im going to do it, probably within the next year or two, but im going to line them all up and blast through them as a first proper reread of the entire series. His immense imagination and often quirky humour is put to full use in this book and he conveys both to the page beautifully. Jun 09, 20 iain banks, who has died aged 59, was a novelist who achieved popularity and critical success in two separate fields. I read banks in an interview as saying he thought the bridge was possibly his best book. Born outside the culture, he had been recruited by a woman named diziet sma into special circumstances, a section of the cultures foreign intelligence service. Rescued from the socalled slush pile of unsolicited manuscripts, the wasp factory achieved both commercial success and notoriety. The wasp factory is the first novel by scottish writer iain banks, published in 1984. Bankss culture novels, the advanced spacehumans and artificial intelligences that drive the novels with their. Book festival endo shusaku first time solo fishnet flash fiction fractures freight freight books gaijinpot glasgow gutter haiku iain banks interview in the empty places jackie copleton james hogg james kelman janice galloway.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The main theme of the novels is the dilemmas that an idealistic hyperpower faces in dealing with. Iain banks raw spirit in search of the perfect dram. Iain banks simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. He gained enormous popular and critical acclaim for both his mainstream and his science fiction novels. Nov 11, 2009 iain banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, the wasp factory, in 1984. He wrote mainstream feection unner the name iain banks an science feection as iain m.
Iain will be appearing at the edinburgh international book festival on wednesday 16th august 2006. The book switches between three protagonists, john orr, alex, and the barbarian. When he wrote science fiction books he wrote his name as iain m. Its hard to tell whether iain banks is more well known for his science fiction books, or for his straightfiction books. I think it tried to explore some interesting concepts, but quite unevenly, and there are two big pitfalls firstly, the use of culture sc super high tech gadgets as a magic wand to overcome plot obstacles, and secondly, the use of an alien culture that looks. Banks books in order of publication and in chronological order. Yes, more banks since crow road and use of weapons he has definetly become one of my favorite authors. As a native of scotland, bestselling author iain banks has decided to undertake a tour of the distilleries of his homeland in a bid to uncover the unique spirit of the single malt. A song of stone demonstrates iain banks s unique ability to combine gripping narrative with a soaring, voyaging imagination. Iain m banks book signings in bristol and cambridge. Bankss seminal science fiction series, the culture. I was all set to finish a piece on the characters who inhabit the world of iain m.
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