Kevin's Watch

Are there any Iain M. Banks fans here? What do you consider his best work to be? I'd day either Against A Dark Background or The Bridge.

I like the Culture series. Of those, I enjoyed Consider Phlebas and Excession the most. Allthough, Look To Windward was also very good.

I thought Consider Phlebas to be very good. I have a couple of his other books, which I hope to read sooner or later.

Consider Phlebas is great. I also like Look to Windward, too. Apparently the great Banks is at work on
on another sci-fi novel.

Actually I have not read The Bridge or Against a Dark Background and because of this I cannot really say if they are good or not.

I have read quite a bit of the culture stuff though, and that is really good.

I've read Against a Dark Background, which I erroneously thought was a Culture novel, but I've been told it isn't.

I liked it quite a bit, but thought the ending was reminiscent of a somewhat far-fetched James Bond sequence.

I'll defintely try other books by this author, though.

Yeah the ending is a bit that way.

Banks non Culture books are rather hard to come by over here. I know he writes in other genres but I've never come across them.

Wow. That's so weird. Almost every bookstore here in Australia has them. It must be because no one thinks his non-culture would sell well in America.

I've never heard of him...

Oh yeah, I'm a big fan of Banks. I picked up my copy of Look to Windward at a market stall for £1.50, only to later discover that it was signed!

I'm after Feersum Endjinn at the moment, it's supposed to be quite a difficult read, as one of the characters thinks phonetically. Against a Dark Background is definitely one of my favourites, Sharrow was a really good character. I thought the actual ending was a bit contrived though, and by the time I was a third of the way into the book I'd guessed that at some point Sharrow would shoot somebody with the round she always left in the breach.

He certainly isn't afraid to shock his readers. It took me a while to get over the ending of The Use of Weapons. I just kept thinking "but you can't do that!"
The Wasp Factory has a hell of a twist at the end too, well worth reading if you have a day or two to spare.

I'm not sure what to read next, The Crow Road or Dead Air, his most recent book.

Nav wrote:Oh yeah, I'm a big fan of Banks. I picked up my copy of Look to Windward at a market stall for £1.50, only to later discover that it was signed!

I'm after Feersum Endjinn at the moment, it's supposed to be quite a difficult read, as one of the characters thinks phonetically. Against a Dark Background is definitely one of my favourites, Sharrow was a really good character. I thought the actual ending was a bit contrived though, and by the time I was a third of the way into the book I'd guessed that at some point Sharrow would shoot somebody with the round she always left in the breach.

He certainly isn't afraid to shock his readers. It took me a while to get over the ending of The Use of Weapons. I just kept thinking "but you can't do that!"
The Wasp Factory has a hell of a twist at the end too, well worth reading if you have a day or two to spare.

I'm not sure what to read next, The Crow Road or Dead Air, his most recent book.

Feersum Endjin is fabulous. I found reading those chapters (the phonetic character) difficult at times, but the book as a whole is great. Use of Weapons was shocking at the end. Made me look twice at chairs! Unfortunately I know of the twist at the end of the Wasp Factory. I haven't read it, and probably wont know considering that it has been spoiled for me!

Just finished reading Excession. It's very good, definitely one of the best Culture novels I've read, after Consider Phlebas and Use of Weapons. I really liked the way the ships talked to each other, as if they were a bunch of old cricket selectors.

Banks said in an interview that Player of Games has been optioned, which surprised me as it's got comparatively little action and a lot of the book consists of Gurgeh's internal thoughts. Banks said he'd like to see Consider Phlebas made into a film, as there's lots of opportunity for great imagery. I think the destruction of Masaq orbital would look incredible.

Yeah, Consider Phlebas would be much better! Oh! and the Idirans would be fantastic to see on the big screen!

I think Consider Phlebas would make a great movie!
From what everyone is saying, I should read Excession and Look to Windward next...like Damelon, I have not seen any of his non-sf in any store...

Look to Windward continues the Culture-Idiran story in a way. Very good.

I thought Kabe was great in Look to Windward, as were Ziller, Quilan and the Hub. Do we know if Banks' next sci-fi book will be a culture one? I wasn't sure if Look to Windward was going to be the last, especially given the reference to the quote at the beginning of Consider Phlebas.

He is currently at work on another sci-fi book, as he has released a fiction one a while back; his publishers make him do one sci-fi, then fiction, then sci-fi. I have heard it will be a Culture one, though I also have heard he is tiring of the Culture universe.

I've just had a look on Amazon to see when Banks' next book is coming out. It's scheduled for September and it doesn't have a title yet and no details have been released.. This hasn't stopped Amazon writing a synopsis:

Amazon wrote:Synopsis
The new SF novel from Iain M. Banks is a masterpiece of storytelling and staggering imaginative vision. Accolades for Iain M. Banks' science fiction works include the following mainstream and genre praise: 'There is now no British SF writer to whose work I look forward with greater keenness' The Times 'Confirms Banks as the standard by which the rest of SF is judged' The Guardian 'Explosive' Sunday Times 'Gripping, touching and funny' T.L.S. 'A wild imagination' Mail on Sunday 'Captivating' Time Out 'Spectacular ... the field needs his energy' The Scotsman 'One of the very best just got even better' Starburst 'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson

I've also had a look around the official Iain Banks webboard, and there is a user there called coercri. Anyone we know?

Now here's a book to put on the list The Algebraist. The latest, sci-fi work from Banks. Non-Culture work apparently.

Looks like a post x-mas search for this book is in order.