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Favourite Iain (M) Banks?

54 posts & 42 voices | Started 2 years ago by Rusty Spanner | Latest reply from GavinT

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Rusty Spanner - Member

Watched the conclusion to the superb Crow Road adaptation again last night on BBC3 - Can't believe it's been 13 years since I first saw it.

Reminded me just how much I love this man's writing, and persuaded me to start rereading his stuff again.
Not read Garbadale, Transition, Matter or The Algebraist yet either, so really looking forward to those.

Favourite of the non genre stuff is definitely The Crow Road, which I always find uplifting if I'm feeling a bit down: The strong familial bonds and the sense of redemption get me every time.

Of the genre stuff, I really like Against a Dark Background and Player of Games - The former for it's charcters and the way they interact and the latter for it's plot and storyline.

Any stand out for you?

Posted 2 years ago #
spacemonkey - Member

Have loads of his books and have always wanted to like him/them. Prefer his real-world stuff, e.g. Wasp Factory, Whit, etc, to the other-worldly.

I guess it's an acquired taste.

Posted 2 years ago #
mrmichaelwright - Member

just finished Matter, a cracking read and immensely complex in it's construction of future worlds and (in my mind) it's criticism of organised religion

Posted 2 years ago #
nickf - Member

Without doubt it has to be Espedair Street. I've worn out three copies with re-reading.

Posted 2 years ago #
david_r - Member

Just read Consider Phlebas which was very good. Reading Excession at the moment which is also a great read.

Posted 2 years ago #
MrSparkle - Member

It's all good. Just read Transition and enjoyed it. I have a signed copy of the Wasp Factory shrink wrapped at home.

Posted 2 years ago #
Del - Member

'excession' is superb, though found it a bit tricky with the masses of ships involved.
'against a dark background' is a corker.
'use of weapons' has some properly dark aspects to it.
like his contemporary fiction a lot too. great writer. really liked 'complicity'. a little predictable towards the end, but top writing nevertheless.

Posted 2 years ago #
samuri - Member

Crow Road
Espidair Street
Wasp factory

These were all written by Iain Banks, not Ian M Banks. ;-)Edit: I;ve just seen the brackets round the 'M', sorry.

Posted 2 years ago #
gonefishin - Member

These were all written by Iain Banks, not Ian M Banks.

Err it's the same guy, and the title does imply books from either his SF writing (Iain M Banks) or general fiction (Iain Banks)

Posted 2 years ago #
ScotlandTheScared - Member

Am reading Player of Games again now having read it for the first time many moons ago...

Posted 2 years ago #
Rusty Spanner - Member

Samuri, did you mean Espedair Street?

Posted 2 years ago #
samuri - Member

Err it's the same guy
Yes, that would be the smiley then.

Posted 2 years ago #
Rusty Spanner - Member

Just had a look on Wikipedia and apparantly there was a film made of Complicity.

Anyone seen it? Was it any good?
And did anyone else think that Valerie Edmond (who played Ash in the Crow Road) is a bit of a corker?

Posted 2 years ago #
Harry_the_Spider - Member

Not read any of his sci-fi stuff (I don't work in IT), but his other stuff is very good.

I've got

Complicity
The Wasp Factory
Dead Air
Whit
The Crow Road
The Business

There is not a dud amongst them.

Difficult to pick a winner, but for me it is probably The Crow Road.

Posted 2 years ago #
Harry_the_Spider - Member

Rusty Spanner - Member
Just had a look on Wikipedia and apparantly there was a film made of Complicity.

Anyone seen it? Was it any good?

Jonny Lee Miller and Keeley Hawes (In the buff!!!)

Posted 2 years ago #
thepurist - Member

I thought Matter was a bit of a missed opportunity

(possible spoiler alert but trying not to be specific)
because the interweaving threads of the story seemed to get suddenly severed without really meeting up and the ending is quite abrupt and didn't resolve a lot of the tensions that had built up or address any of the fundamental questions
(/possible spoiler alert)

Against a Dark Background wins it for me so far. I can't get on with the non-M stuff very well though - can't seem to get as drawn in to them.

Posted 2 years ago #
Del - Member

Not read any of his sci-fi stuff (I don't work in IT), but his other stuff is very good.

it's ok you know. i don't think there's any sort of qualifications required to read good books.

Posted 2 years ago #
Rusty Spanner - Member

thepurist - Try The Bridge or Walking on Glass. Not SF, but not exactly 'everyday' fiction either.

Harry, go on, give Consider Phlebas or Against a Dark Background a try.
You'll feel a bit, you know, soiled at first, but after a bit you'll start to forget any embarrassment and feel pretty normal.

Posted 2 years ago #
thepurist - Member

Cheers Rusty Spanner - mental note for next trip to the library.

Posted 2 years ago #
kimbers - Member

consider phlebas and excession are my favourite of his sci fis

i love them al though my fave of his non sci fi is the bridge thou thats almost scifi really

have you tried alistair reynolds?!

Posted 2 years ago #
Rusty Spanner - Member

have you tried alistair reynolds?!

No, but just looked him up on Wiki.
Another for the must read list!

Posted 2 years ago #
andytherocketeer - Member

So far, read Player of Games (wierd, but good), and Complicity. So can't really choose a favourite since it's 1 from each genre.

Got Consider Phlebas and Use of Weapons on the "yet to read" pile.

Posted 2 years ago #
nickc - Member

Use of Weapons is by far the best Sci-Fi one he's written.

Posted 2 years ago #
problem_child - Member

use of weapons,just love the clown scene.....allways makes me smile,
tried to read fearsum engine a few times but just couldn't get in to it.

Posted 2 years ago #
khegs - Member

I've got all of the SF books, and a good number of the non-genre ones.

Of the SF I Like Feersum Endjin (ooo contraversial), The Algebraist and Excession. But all of the SF books are very good. I like The Bridge and the Wasp factory best of his other stuff, Complicity is very good too.

I second the recommendation of Alastair Reynolds, he is very very good, as is Ken MacLeod and Charlie Stross.

Posted 2 years ago #
fairlylimitedresponsibility - Member

I've only read three of his sci-fi novels: Use of Weapons, Consider Phlebas and The Algebraist. Sometimes I find bits of his writing clunky but the scale he works at, the set pieces he builds are fantastic.

Posted 2 years ago #
Forking Our Souls - Blocked

Crow Road definitely wins out but as has been said, he's not done a dud yet.
Read The Bridge recently and was ready to throw it out of the window halfway through but stuck with it and it's one of the most imaginative ways of describing the inner psyche of a character I've ever read.

I think I'm ready for a re-read of Crow Road. I love the subtle analogy (that I presume is the crux of the novel) about the path through grassy wasteland that McHoan sees from a train window. Utterly profound.

Posted 2 years ago #
afrothunder88 - Member

If I had to pick two, it would be The Algebraist and Excession but I think that all his Sci-Fi stuff is epic. Which reminds me I haven't actually read Consider Phlebas yet. Went off on a Peter F Hamilton tangent. Another tangent - do you think he uses the Iain M Banks moniker because Peter uses Peter F Hamilton?? Random I know.

*Goes to check ebay...

Posted 2 years ago #
Colin-T - Member

Hard to pick a favourite as I like most of his work. But forcing myself to just one per "genre", todays choices are

Iain Banks - Whit wins for humour and humanity.
Iain M Banks - Use of Weapons is undeniably brilliant if very dark.

Posted 2 years ago #
disco_stu - Member

use of weapons is my favorite sci-fi one, but i don;t think theres a scifi one that i haven't enjoyed reading

Posted 2 years ago #
RaglanSurf - Member

Read The Wasp Factory when it first came and really loved his other early work, really enjoyed the rerun of The Crow Road, miles better than any of the other adaptations. Not really written anything decent since Complicity, imho.

The Steep Approach to Garbadale is getting back to his earlier form but a little run of the mill for my tastes but it is worth reading just for the description of the suicide and was a huge improvement on the awful era of Song of Stone, Business, Whit etc. Never really got on with his Sci-Fi stuff either.

Saw him do a Q&A at a festival last year and was really impressed with his honesty and openness about his writing (and his loathing of Mrs T)

Strangely, I am looking forward to Transition, he may be revisiting old themes but at least he's revisiting the good ones. And the early reviews I've read and comments from friends who still do the hardback thing have been very good.

Posted 2 years ago #
RichPenny - Member

Recently read Song of Stone, which is disturbing in places but didn't really grip me. Much preferred The Wasp Factory, or Steep Approach To Garbadale.

I have to admit to reading more of his SF stuff, despite not working in IT. The Algebraist is probably my favourite.

Posted 2 years ago #
matthewjb - Member

I really like all the SF stuff. Especially The Culture ones. Look to Windward would be my favourite. But Excession is good and Against a Dark Background and...

I'm less keen on the 'conventional' stuff.

Crow Road is good. But Garbadale seems too similar.

Espedair Street just seems like wish fulfilment.

The Bridge is meant to be Banks' favourite. I liked it but it's more like the SF novels.

Posted 2 years ago #
anagallis_arvensis - Member

Cant remember if its Use of Weapons or Againts a Dark Background, whihc is the one with the chair? Thats the best one. I would say The State of the Art final story called The State of the Art is utterly brilliant when you think about how dependant people are on mobile phones now.

Posted 2 years ago #
WhatWouldJesusRide - Member

Really into all his SF stuff. Especially liked Feersum Endjinn.

Had to concentrate on that one as I normally read his books too quickly. Liked the way the plot in Inversions evolved gradually.

Posted 2 years ago #

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