Iain Banks in general

I can’t be too knowledgeable about the bulk of this guy’s work as I’ve only encountered three of his books: Consider Phelebas, Excession and The Business. The first two are sci-fi and the second in the vein of Michael Crichton. I’m writing about the first two; more specifically about the setting they’re in and why I think it’s a work of near-genius. Consider Phelebas & Excession are set in what IMB calls the Culture Universe. Before I attempt to explain this, I’d like to point out to those of you might go off and get these books that IMB shares a trait of Arthur C Clarkes in that he often introduces concepts, events ...

Iain Banks writes two very different kinds of novels under two very similar names. He writes science fiction fantasy novels under the name of Iain M. Banks, but this is not the genre I am interested in when it comes down to it. Don't get me wrong, not be one to judge especially when it comes to an author with the calibre of Mr Banks, I have tried, but I just don't enjoy them compared to the novels he writes without the dreaded M. He writes in an unique style that usually places the feature character in odd surroundings, or in the case of 'The Bridge' a subconcious background, played out in the mind of the 'hero'. Yet he manages to help ...

A few of years ago I was fairly strictly reading English or European authors, a mixture of modern and classics, and certainly no Scots, detectives or children's books. Since moving back to Scotland three years ago I seem to have been sucked into the Scottish set. Maybe it's the heavy promotion of local writers in the Princes Street bookshops, or maybe it's that friends and colleagues here rave about how good they are. Iain Banks writes under the name Iain Banks, strangely enough, but also does science fiction under the name Iain M Banks. You can also tell which is which by the cover; colour is science fiction, black and white is not. ...