iain m banks

Affront, the fascinating species in Excession have such strange physiques - best described on wiki: I found very difficult to picture it in my mind. Can anyone draw a picture of it?

Iain M Banks' Culture To Be Filmed? I've read A Gift from the Culture and liked it (my favourite in the collection is still The State of the Art). But to elaborate such a short story to a film? I don't know... If it's true, may be a small experiment on a mission impossible - Culture on screen?

Mr Banks has written a superhero book of sorts. The majority of characters here have the particular power of being able to move (or transition) between alternate realities and influence events in them. People determined to have this ability are conscripted into The Concern, a shady and not...

Transition is Iain Banks' new novel. Although it's not ful on M. Banks SF, there is supposed to be quite a large SF Element. Anyone game?

Cheradenine Zakalwe is a (non-Culture-born) agent in Special Circumstances, skilled in steering less-developed planets towards the path that the Culture thinks is best for them. Unlike most SC agents, Zakalwe's speciality is fighting and the use of weapons in both prosecuting wars, and averting...

The State of the Art is Iain M. Banks first, and to date only, short story collection. It was originally published in 1991 and features both genre and mainstream fiction, as well as three stories set in his signature Culture setting. The collection opens with 'Road of Skulls', a sort of jaunty...

I got this at a second hand shop to try before I buy. I must say I am enjoying it thoroughly, it kinda sorta reminds me a bit of Neal Ashers Cormac series so far but I am sure it's not. I like his writing style, very fluid prose with slick action scenes. Does anyone else like this book?

Most discussions about Iain M Banks' SFF books usually ends up with people nominating their faves (see http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/49443-consider-phlebas-by-iain-m-banks.html). So let us clarify our position by ranking them, and ofcourse having subsequent discussions about why we...

Iain Banks had already published three mainstream novels by the time Consider Phlebas was published in 1987. When his publishers suggested using a pseudonym to make it easier to distinguish between his SF and mainstream work, Banks decided to adopt the impenetrable alias 'Iain M. Banks' for his...

Look to Windward is the nineteenth novel by British SF and mainstream author Iain M. Banks, and the seventh book set in his Culture universe. Published back in 2000, there was some speculation that this would be the last Culture book, especially because the title of the novel comes from T.S...

Hi folks, I recently came across a reference to 'University sages' in a Wiki article on the 'Mind' concept in Banks's Culture novels. I'm not overly familiar with the series - could anyone give me some pointers as to where in the novels Banks refers to issues of education? Even if someone can...

We're delighted to announce that Iain has kindly agreed to run a kaffeeklatsche on the Sunday morning of NewCon 4. www.newcon4.com For anyone unfamiliar with the term, this basically means that a few lucky people (6 to 8 individuals) will have the chance to sit around for an hour or so with...

This is probably old hat to most, but I thought the little video tour of Iain Banks' work space on this site was great. It demonstrated a lot of his wit. It seems not to be available on YouTube anymore. http://www.iain-banks.net/

Forgive me if I'm just showing my ignorance but I read a book by this guy about the earth having been destroyed and about the terran diaspora. It was very impressive but then I read another book which was just rubbish (I don't think it was even SF). Is there a series about the 'destroyed...

I am wondering about the reason Banks named two of his novels after lines from Eliot's Waste Land. Any thoughts?

Anyone know which order the sf books sell in?

Taken from the Books section of the Guardian today 7th Feb. What was your favourite book as a child? I never really had a single favourite - but when I was about 12 or 13, I discovered science fiction and that became my "genre". So, I had a favourite genre rather than single book. When you...

[Maybe SPOILER hints] My personal opinion ofcourse! Well, just finished it and I wasnt too impressed really. Far too much pseudo fantasy in a sci-fi novel, took far too long to get moving and it really didnt seem to become a Culture novel until the last quarter. I didnt really care about the...

Short Version: Fascinating, funny, dark and smart. But not quite smart enough to get away with it. Long Version: HERE BE SPOILERS! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK! I should probably start this review with a disclaimer. I’m a thicko. A moron. A complete numpty. As a result, I don’t “get” much of...

Just to alert everyone to a new convention, NewCon 4, being held over a weekend in October 2008, at Northampton. Guests of Honour: Iain Banks, Ken MacLeod and Storm Constantine plus Special Guest: Paul Cornell (novellist & TV scriptwriter for Dr. Who, Primeval & Torchwood) Many other...