iain m banks

Hi all, I'm looking forward to the big day next year when I can get stuck in again to a Culture novel. 7 years is far too long! I just pre-ordered my copy of Matter from Waterstones. Seemed like good value so I thought I'd mention it here. Currently £12.59 delivered but I got it for £10.70...

Just to let any of Iain's fans who might be interested know that he will be one of the Guests of Honour at a two day convention in Northampton next year. Details at: www.newcon4.com. As well as scheduled program items, Iain and the other GofH's will be available for informal conversation etc...

Right, so I mentioned this in another thread but the more I think about it the more it’s annoying me. At the end of Use Of Weapons, we find out that the dude we thought was Cheradenine Zakalwe is actually Elethomel the Chairmaker, the step brother of Cheradenine who’s hobbies include...

So did Boy George give Banks the name or was it the other way around? Where did the club bit come in?

Hi All, My name is Alex Davis and I'm currently working on Derby's Alt.Fiction event featuring Iain M Banks as well as nearly forty other fantastic sff authors. The Alt.Fiction 2007 event takes place on April 28th from 11am-9pm, with day tickets on offer for a bargain £20/£15 concessions...

This took me forever to finish. Not because it was boring, but because I was busy with other things, but I'm sure that had it been more gripping I would have found more time for it. It takes ages at the beginning to get into the main story. This is not a 'Culture' novel. The perculiar...

i got this book when i was on holiday and am about half way threw and all i can say is wow lol i didnt expect there to be sex in the book:) and sum pretty graphic descriptions :plol the books good like n dont spoil the end of it please im only at the big where the planet defender is used

Iain Banks is a scotch expert? http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?id=31745

I just finished reading "Excession" and I must admit it's one of his better ones. Don't think it's as good as "The Player of Games" or "Inversions", but he does tell a story well. A good read for anyone who wishes to obtain insight into the human condition.

I've read some of his mainstream "literature" works, such as the Wasp Factory and Espedair Street. But I've never actually read any of his SF novels. Has anyone ehre read any of Iain M Banks' science fiction novels, and if so, what did you think of them? Were they visionary, tacky...

Next week, and I'm going. Got any questions you'd like me to ask on your behalf? ;) I don't think he is launching a new book or anything, although it has been a while since he has had a new SF release. I wonder whether the focus of discussion and audience questions will lie on his fiction...

Iain Banks was on a TV program a few weeks back giving advice to aspiring authors. He was filmed beside the Humber Bridge, just outside of Hull. As I live there, I'm wondering if there's a Hull connection with Iain Banks, and if so what it is? I can only assume he was passing through -...

Curious... Read "the Wasp Factory" and "Espedair Street". Good stuff - in that Bank's writes well with character. But looking at the backk of his SF novels I have a nasty feeling that he's rooted in anachronistic thinking, and that his SF lacks vision. Is there someone to correct me on...

The Culture's starship names - got any suggestions? One of the many small parts of Bank's SF that really got me hooked was the fact that the AI ships chose their own names, and had no qualms about choosing offbeat or alarming names like: Funny, It Worked Last Time..., I Thought He Was With...

According to http://members.tripod.com/a.b.i-b/html/faq_text.htm I haven't read ANY of these. In fact several of them I have never even heard of! I think I will probably read the Heinlein one in the near future, but as for the others I don't know. I sort of expected Larry Niven's...

Do you prefer Bank's SF or 'normal' fiction novels? I have read a lot of Iain M Banks scifi writings, but I have also read most, if not all, of his 'normal' fiction - like The Crow Road, Complicity, The Wasp Factory. His writing style is similar in both genres - he seems to like to tell a...

Fave Culture Novel/ Story. I haven't read them all yet. But Use of Weapons is the best that I've read, I especially liked the twist at the end, which I hadn't completely guessed at.

A back-up copy of yourself. Working my way through these 'Culture' novels, and currently reading Look To Windward, I decided that this ability to back yourself up was a neat idea. Members of the Culture already have a 'terminal' that keeps them in permanent contact with the Hub of an...

So who are the culture fans here? Read any of Banks's books?