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Iain Banks

Iain M. Banks - Sci-Fi
Iain Banks - Hard to say. Thriller? Contemporary? Each one seems different.
 
Litany said:
There's a story where they come and study Earth,
and decide not to ask us to join the Culture,
:( so I always figured that they were humanoid rather than us in the future.
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Ah, yeah, I remember now :) It's been long time since I read that :)

Regards
Sillywabbit
 
igkuk7 said:
Iain M. Banks - Sci-Fi
Iain Banks - Hard to say. Thriller? Contemporary? Each one seems different.
Click to expand...


I'm confused as usual. Do you mean he uses a middle initial only when he writes sci-fi ?

RaVeN
 
He does. I saw an interview with him once, and though my memory is vague, I think he has the 'M' to separate his two personas on account of a lot of people who wrote sci fi at the time were a bit up themselves.
 
Okay, Banks vs Banks -

Iain Banks - just read The Wasp Factory, quite a gruelling read, quite a facinating read at the same time. I enjoyed the book, and blew through it quite quickly (its not the longest read ever) The narrative was VERY good, especially considering this was his first novel - will definately be reading more of this - whats The Crow Road like?

Iain M. Banks - read The State Of The Art, and kudos to Litany it is not the best place to start reading his Sci-fi work, as i found it generally disinteresting - the individual stories are okay, but short stories were never really my thing anyway, so i didnt enjoy this much - perhaps with some better knowledge of his universe a re-read would be beneficial, as im sure long term fans found the stuff about the Culture in it fascinating.

Phil
 
crow road?

crow road is probably my favourite of all his books, i think if you enjoyed the wasp factory then you shall enjoy the crow road. it was made into a film but i haven't seen it.

unfortunately it's been a while since i read it, and i think if i were to give you a brief synopsis it might contain some spoilers so i won't risk it, because similarly to the wasp factory the most memorable part for me would be a giveaway.

ksky

i also highly rate walking on glass, which is not the book that it seems. but i would recommend crow road first.
 
Well, I caved in and bought myself The Crow Road yesterday, so you better be right, kskyhappy!

Cheers, Martin :cool:
 
Anyone read Inversions? Comments?

I have it sitting on my shelf eagerly waiting to be picked up, Just waiting till I get back to work to read it.
 
I've read Inversions. Not a traditional Culture novel, but awfully good. Not one you should read without some understanding of the Culture though. There are subtle references to the Culture throughout it, and some not so subtle references later on. Basically a tale of two different people with two very different philosophies, but hard to say anymore without spoiling it.
 
I just picked up Dead Air and The Business - anyone read these and care to tell me if they are good or not??

Phil :)
 
The Business isn't one of his best books. It's an easy read, the sort of thing that's good for a holiday maybe. Not too much thought needed at all. Bit shallow for Banks to be honest. Still readable. Maybe 6 out of 10.
 
Did i mention i got them both for £1 each - Hardback no less ;)

Looking forward to reading them - they're not sequels to other books are they? - Banks doesnt seem to require much reading in a sequence thankfully :)

Phil
 
I just finished The Wasp Factory. I don't think it's ever taken me so long to read such a short book. It wasn't from the subject matter, I just couldn't get into it until half way through. That's when it started getting interesting for me.
I esp liked the detail he went into describing his Factory. And he did have some great conversations with Eric over the phone. :D One of my favorite lines was "that was Eric at the door, Dad"
Any way. I had my doubts if I was going to like this book or not but for me he turned it on toward the end and it made it worth while.

RaVeN
 
Raven, read The Bridge or Feersum Endjinn. Although I would say that Wasp Factory, I reckon, is still one of his best.
 
I second Feersum Endjinn and The bridge They are great! The Bridge is REALLY weird :D

As for the Wasp Factory I really liked it! LOVED the telephone coversations with Eric lol

Regards
SillyWabbit
 
It's an Iain Banks novel. Very strange. Has some really wonderful prose in it. It seems to be one of those love/hate books. Personally, I think you will like it!

Regards
SillyWabbit
 
Skycat said:
Raven, read The Bridge or Feersum Endjinn. Although I would say that Wasp Factory, I reckon, is still one of his best.
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Thanks Skycat, I'll check them out.
Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm condeming Wasp in any way, it's just that with all the hype (BBC's top 100) I guess I was expecting to get into it more than I did.

RaVeN
 
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