Iain M Banks dies today...

[Ian Whates]

A lovely guy, great company, and a very good writer. Can't believe this has all happened so quickly. Really hoped he had more time left to him. RIP, Iain.

Ian Watson, Ian McKenna, Iain Banks, Ian Whates
Photo by Deirdre Walsh, October 2008​

 

[EloiseA]

I wasn't expecting this yet -- so sad.

 

[Nesacat]

Thank you for the books. I'll raise a glass of Scottish whisky when I get home tonight.

 

[Boneman]

59 is no age, quite a loss. On Radio four this morning Ian Rankin recounted the fact that he insisted on putting negative reviews for 'The Wasp Factory' (I think it was this one...) inside the cover as well as the positive ones, (The Times said: it soars the the height of mediocrity). He cut his passport in half and sent it to Downing Street to protest about Blair's invasion of Iraq, forgetting he was due to do a tour of Australia a few weeks later. His self-deprecating humour was legendary: in a DVD edition of 'Crow Road' he wrote of the film "Annoyingly better than the book."

Going to the library today to start reading him.

 

[Ian Whates]

For whatever little it's worth, I've blogged about Iain and about another recent absentee, Debbie Miller:
http://www.ianwhates.co.uk/uncategorized/iain-and-debs/#comments

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Another major loss. At least the end was swift. He won't be forgotten in a hurry. RIP.

 

[Moonbat]

RIP Iain M Banks, I will re-read all the culture novels in honour of your passing.

 

[Bowler1]

You’re not a SciFi fan unless you’ve read Iain Banks.
He says he was proud of his work, and so he should be – he was always entertaining.

 

[EloiseA]

Another good tribute here

http://arcfinity.tumblr.com/post/52619691641/were-mourning-iain-banks

 

[Vertigo]

I'd lapsed a bit on SF/F during uni and just after, mostly reading history and literary fiction. It was The Player of Games that brought me back into the fold. That and Use of Weapons are two of my favorite novels of all-time.

RIP.

Bigger lapse for me but like you it was Banks got me back into reading in general and more particularly SF. The first for me was The Algebraist. The other author who got me reading again at the same time, though fantasy in his case, was Terry Pratchett.

I must admit, I'd thought we'd be losing Pratchett first, but either way it is so desperately sad that we'll now see nothing further from one of them and little from the other.

Rest in Peace Iain, and I will always be sad I never met you.

 

[Writersblock]

A sad day indeed, even though we knew it was coming.

 

[Bick]

I can't begin to describe how sad this makes me. I thought he had a little longer than this. He missed seeing his new book hit the shelves by about a week.

 

[Barracooda]

The king is dead

It was with shock and sadness that I read the news of my favourite sci fi author's death. Iain Banks has died, aged 59, leaving a wealth of worlds still left unexplored.

I discovered Banks through a friend and, through Banks, discovered the world of modern science fiction. He was an author who spoke for our generation of sci fi fans; we didn't want little green men or flying saucers in our books and Banks provided a modern space opera for the modern world.

I had glimpsed the sci fi I had wanted to read in the works of writers who were ahead of their time, like Orwell's 1984 or Frank Herbert's majestic Dune series. They were books that resisted the trends of their times and provided timeless stories which seem not to have aged. But it wasn't until I read The Player of Games that I discovered someone I could hitch my pony to.

Banks did not just provide entertainment, he provided inspiration. The anti-theistic, quasi-anarchistic, pro-choice world of the Culture is quite literally heaven. Obviously things do not always run to plan or there would be no drama, but the Culture is really what we should aspire to.

'We treat religion and politics the way a doctor treats disease.' Amen. Rest in peace Mr Banks, you are gone but your words will live on.

This thread is for discussion and tributes to the great man.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Merged another thread with this one.

 

[gully_foyle]

I am sad. Thankyou Iain, I have been, and remain, your fan.

Gav

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Thank you for some wonderful science fiction, Iain. R.I.P.

 

[gully_foyle]

This brought a wee tear to my eye: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2013/06/iain-banks-with-or-without-m.html

 

[Vertigo]

That's an excellent obituary from Neil Gaiman, Gully, thanks for the link.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I particularly liked this quote at the end:

'If you've never read any of his books, read one of his books. Then read another. Even the bad ones were good, and the good ones were astonishing.'

 

[Stephen Stagg]

The final released book ever is going to be an instant best seller.

I would like to think that toward the end he had a brilliant story in him and all his remaining brilliant ideas will all be in this book.