Looks like Ian M Banks work-ish, feels like it, a bit, but isn't at all

[Paul Meccano]

Anyone care to recommend books similar to Ian M Banks, Perhaps with a bit more emotional grind ( no not that type of grind .)
Ive done me Baxters and me Aurthur C's and me Arsenaults, tried some self published too and well not found similar-ish-enough yet but any idea's would be lovely.

It's all about re living the dream again.

 

[williamjm]

When I read Anne Leckie's Ancillary Justice it did remind me of the sort of story Banks used to write.

Banks' best friend Ken MacLeod might be worth a try as well, he's definitely got a similar worldview to Banks although his SF tends to be a bit smaller in scope than the Culture books and the quality can be a bit hit-and-miss. His first book The Star Fraction would be a reasonable place to start.

 

[Brian G Turner]

If you're looking for grand space opera then Peter F Hamilton comes to mind, not least The Reality Dysfunction, which kicks off an epic trilogy.

 

[Paul Meccano]

Peter F Hamilton and Anne Leckie are now on the reading list.
Thanks you two.
Anyone got an extra me to help me read the Ten books I now have pegged for this month?

 

[Venusian Broon]

Oh yeuk Peter F. Hamiltion! He's not forgiven for the Reality Dysfunction - but that's just me ! You should give him a try. (Just remember that he writes a single story usually in three massive brick shaped tomes.)

On the plus side he does put Dalston and Peterborough in his future novels....

I'd suggest Alastair Reynolds - go through the Revelation series, there are five books, but he's written a lot more. Possibly Vernor Vinge - but I've only read A Fire upon the Deep and that was a long time ago.

 

[Danny McG]

Neal Asher

Instead of The Culture you have The Polity.

 

[BAYLOR]

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook

 

[Paul Meccano]

Glad to see a crowd gathering around me, flaying around on the floor whilst books hit me from all directions, feebly cowering, crying out loud, "For crying out loud!!!!, Cant you lot agree on anything!!". finally releases self from pile of said books, walking away huffing and brushing down dusty clothing. 'Well I did ask'.

Seems to me that Venusian Broon and Baylor agree on something ( that's in the bag) which is good. Venusian Broon disagrees with our Brian which means I now have to read P F Hamilton to see what gives there.

dannymcg has mentioned the C word and as such should win a prize (cheers Neal Asher is in the bag) although I have no prizes to give other than a warm thank you.

As mentioned to Baylor in a conversation we had, with all the books, all of the recommendations from the last few days, I need more time, more time to read, another life, or a feedback clone .........maybe, just maybe.

 

[tinkerdan]

I have only read Consider Phlebas
With that in mind--His writing reminded me of
Susan R. Matthewa
and
Valerie Freireich

Probably in the sense of containing elements that sometimes jar one out of the comfort zone.
Such as causing me to have fecal material dripping out my eyes.

 

[Paul Meccano]

Interesting Tinkerdan.

What jars's so?
prey tell

 

[tinkerdan]

If you are asking about
Susan Matthews
Her world and her POV are stuck in a place where the best way to achieve things if through torture. So we get a quite a bit of that in various forms(If I remember correctly the author has some military intelligence background). Also there is a weird twist if I remember correctly in that one of these professionals has perfected his skill so as to get the information fast enough to eventually put the victim out of his misery in something that is approached from a compassionate point of view.
Valerie Freireich
World is built more around freedom or lack thereof and slavery and goes into some depths that can become uncomfortable--at least to me.

Both of the above actually achieve this uneasiness while using these elements to move the story forward.

If we are speaking about Ian Banks

It is a slight difference in a number of ways and yet it creates the same uncomfortable taste(jar) to me in reading.

The thing starts--after some prologue--with the main character up to his neck in sewage. For me this read mostly as a sort of shock thing that could have been done anyways different considering how he manages to be extricated from the problem.

But then the whole thing moves on to happenstance for the main character Horza--that pushes him into all sorts of unsavory characters and each event seems to shoot him further away from the plot. He gets picked up by scavenger 'pirates' only because they mean to take the suit off his dead body. When he is found alive they put him to test in a duel and when he wins he gets to join the pirates. From there he follows them through several bloody plot deviants that get characters killed.

There is one particular section where Horza is separated from the group of 'pirates' and if I remember correctly he meets some strange cult that might be cannibalistic or some such weirdness(it's been a while). However this doesn't help the plot much and just seems like the opening scene in that it has some interesting shock factor.

Eventually Horza(who shape-changes) takes over the captains position but not before the captain loses enough crew to have to hire someone new. Of course the new crew is someone chasing after Horza and the whole thing devolves to a kill fest until it a fight to the death between those two.

Then at the end--when this reader is still trying to sort through the real plot there is this sudden reveal almost equivocal to Deus ex Machina in that we discover(out of nowhere)something about Horza that may or may not help try to understand the plot.

So it all felt like a horror fest that had these loose plot-less threads extending outward while the story(with or without a plot)sort of staggers around all of that to get to a surprise ending. So in this case the work is full of jarring element(for me)that unfortunately did not really move the plot forward--but that's okay because I couldn't figure out the plot anyway.

 

[Vladd67]

Glad to see a crowd gathering around me, flaying around on the floor whilst books hit me from all directions, feebly cowering, crying out loud, "For crying out loud!!!!, Cant you lot agree on anything!!". finally releases self from pile of said books, walking away huffing and brushing down dusty clothing. 'Well I did ask'.

Seems to me that Venusian Broon and Baylor agree on something ( that's in the bag) which is good. Venusian Broon disagrees with our Brian which means I now have to read P F Hamilton to see what gives there.

dannymcg has mentioned the C word and as such should win a prize (cheers Neal Asher is in the bag) although I have no prizes to give other than a warm thank you.

As mentioned to Baylor in a conversation we had, with all the books, all of the recommendations from the last few days, I need more time, more time to read, another life, or a feedback clone .........maybe, just maybe.

The day everyone agrees on something on this forum is listed as the eighth seal of the apocalypse.

 

[Paul Meccano]

The day everyone agrees on something on this forum is listed as the eighth seal of the apocalypse.

I see this now
I suppose, I should never have expected anything else, especially if wishing to be continually comforted by this colourful world.

 

[Paul Meccano]

If you are asking about
Susan Matthews
Her world and her POV are stuck in a place where the best way to achieve things if through torture. So we get a quite a bit of that in various forms(If I remember correctly the author has some military intelligence background). Also there is a weird twist if I remember correctly in that one of these professionals has perfected his skill so as to get the information fast enough to eventually put the victim out of his misery in something that is approached from a compassionate point of view.
Valerie Freireich
World is built more around freedom or lack thereof and slavery and goes into some depths that can become uncomfortable--at least to me.

Both of the above actually achieve this uneasiness while using these elements to move the story forward.

If we are speaking about Ian Banks

It is a slight difference in a number of ways and yet it creates the same uncomfortable taste(jar) to me in reading.

The thing starts--after some prologue--with the main character up to his neck in sewage. For me this read mostly as a sort of shock thing that could have been done anyways different considering how he manages to be extricated from the problem.

But then the whole thing moves on to happenstance for the main character Horza--that pushes him into all sorts of unsavory characters and each event seems to shoot him further away from the plot. He gets picked up by scavenger 'pirates' only because they mean to take the suit off his dead body. When he is found alive they put him to test in a duel and when he wins he gets to join the pirates. From there he follows them through several bloody plot deviants that get characters killed.

There is one particular section where Horza is separated from the group of 'pirates' and if I remember correctly he meets some strange cult that might be cannibalistic or some such weirdness(it's been a while). However this doesn't help the plot much and just seems like the opening scene in that it has some interesting shock factor.

Eventually Horza(who shape-changes) takes over the captains position but not before the captain loses enough crew to have to hire someone new. Of course the new crew is someone chasing after Horza and the whole thing devolves to a kill fest until it a fight to the death between those two.

Then at the end--when this reader is still trying to sort through the real plot there is this sudden reveal almost equivocal to Deus ex Machina in that we discover(out of nowhere)something about Horza that may or may not help try to understand the plot.

So it all felt like a horror fest that had these loose plot-less threads extending outward while the story(with or without a plot)sort of staggers around all of that to get to a surprise ending. So in this case the work is full of jarring element(for me)that unfortunately did not really move the plot forward--but that's okay because I couldn't figure out the plot anyway.

I may leave those books for now Thanks for the thought.

It's funny really because you are correct, Consider Phlebas was all over the place and is also in my opinion the worst of the series, with further issue's in a couple of the following culture books. However, for me, I found an underlying humour in, and dare I say, almost a contempt for his own stories that actually worked for me back then ( when I cared less for the written word and more for a good escape). Its a bit like a painter throwing paint around to make art; rather than a careful stroke of a brush, Similar to Mc Donald's instead of Caviar and champagne. However it is still important to remember that there is skill in doing that well, even if it is trash.
Reminds me of Les Dawson-On The Piano

 

[Vladd67]

It does take skill to play that badly on purpose, a bit like Tommy Cooper’s style of magic.

 

[Danny McG]

It does take skill to play that badly on purpose, a bit like Tommy Cooper’s style of magic.

I can do that. Unfortunately it happens when I'm trying my best to play correctly