[Cause]

I read Use of Weapons. Did not hate it, Did not love it.

Anyone want to recommend me a Banks Sci Fi reading order

[Chance]

Cause, on 08 April 2013 - 08:12 AM, said:

I read Use of Weapons. Did not hate it, Did not love it.

Anyone want to recommend me a Banks Sci Fi reading order

Publishing order...

It doesn't make huge difference but some of the books do connect in minor ways. The books also rougly appear in chronological order and stuff spoken of in early books appear on screen in later books and so on.

[Tiste Simeon]

Cause, on 08 April 2013 - 08:12 AM, said:

I read Use of Weapons. Did not hate it, Did not love it.

Anyone want to recommend me a Banks Sci Fi reading order

That makes me sad!!

As for me I didn't read them in any particular order but as Chance says, there are some connections between books (for example Look to Windward comes after Consider Phlebas but I'm not sure it would make a HUGE difference...) Publication order possibly wisest if you can though.

[Tiste Simeon]

Hey has anyone read Matter? I think I want to read that next but I've heard its a bit of a heavy one & will be reading it over a holiday break. Kind of wanted skmething less complex... Cheers.

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

Not his best work but how could you not read it?! I think it was hard work at the time, but looking back on it, it was damn good and I'd like to re-read it myself. I found The Algebraist similar; I actually couldn't get through it the first time but I put it down and came back to it some time later and thoroughly enjoyed it that second time around.

At the moment, I'm about half way through Stonemouth, give or take. I hardly want to put it down—it's just good old, classic Banks. No offence to ICE, when I say this but, as good as it was—and I did enjoy the book—I almost felt like I was reading Blood and Bone just to get it finished and move on. Stonemouth, however, along with the majority of Banks novels, are just over far too quickly because they're so damned compelling.

This post has been edited by Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast: 12 April 2013 - 10:11 PM

[Solidsnape]

This is indeed ill tidings. The guy is an absolute legend, this is so sad.
I hope he manages to live the last as good as the best.
So sad.

[Tiste Simeon]

Ohmydays... Just finished reading Transition, what an utterly superb book!

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

Told you.

[Tiste Simeon]

You were right. I think the other two of his I have that I haven't read are Matter & The Algebraist. Will probably start one of them fairly soon!

[Solidsnape]

Tiste Simeon, on 24 April 2013 - 08:30 AM, said:

You were right. I think the other two of his I have that I haven't read are Matter & The Algebraist. Will probably start one of them fairly soon!

You can't go wrong.
Matter is an excellent read.
It's so shit that this is happening to a stand up bloke.
We owe it to him to spread the word and get people reading his books.

SO ANYONE ON THIS FORUM WHO HASN'T READ AN IANI M BANKS BOOK, DO IT NOW!!!

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

I found the algebraist tough on the first go and gave up half way through. I loved it when I re-read it though.

The other day I went and dug out all twenty-whatever of my Banks books and lined them all up on my shelves. There's definitely a number of re-reads I want to do now.

I'm determined read the business properly but it's been so long since I read the crow road that I really want to start that too!

This post has been edited by Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast: 24 April 2013 - 11:16 AM

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

I've never felt any pressing desire to attend book signings and what not but I think that Iain Banks is one guy that I kind of wish I'd met.

I doubt he will but if he said he'd do like, a last signing event or something, I'd definitely try to go.

[Solidsnape]

I know what you mean, I was never really one to go to book signings, but I did get to meet SE in person last year and he signed my copy of TCG.
And even though I never met Iain M Banks, I was given signed first editions of Excession (my favourite) and Matter, by my now estranged brother, as birthday presents.
They now mean a lot more to me than they did, and I wish it had been me who was there when he signed them. Wish I'd met the bloke.

[D'iversify]

RIP and respects.

[Una]

I just finished reading Use of Weapons. Wow! I am thoroughly impressed. I don't even know how to feel about the ending, but I'm definitely feeling something. I tried to read the Culture novels and started out with Consider Phlebas. Parts of it were engaging enough and it had all the elements of a successful adventure story, but I just couldn't quite get into it for some reason and I was wondering what was the big deal about this guy. Now I get it and I'm sad there's no more. I shall get started on working my way through the rest of his novels forthwith. But not all at once, I want to savour them. The book I read immediately before was a Robert J. Sawyer novel and Banks makes Sawyer look positively ham-fisted and cringeworthy.

[Salt-Man Z]

Good to hear. I own both Consider Phlebas and Use of Weapons. Just read Phlebas recently, and didn't see what the big deal was.

[amphibian]

I think part of the world's love affair with Consider Phlebas comes from the flip of who you're rooting for throughout the book. The two sides appear to be hazily identifiable as this or that and thus you pick a side early on. Then, it usually flips and the sheer drama of what happens to the main character carries us through.

That was a fairly strong achievement for SF at the time of publication and I believe Banks deserves high praise for it.

[amphibian]

I think Player of Games is his weakest book of the four I've read and it's still a good read.

One of its problems is that the psychology of the game became a much more fun thing to write about than what most serious game players actually engage in. Nobody at the elite level of sports or game playing devotes that much time to figuring out cultural backgrounds mid game.

[QuickTidal]

CONSIDER PHLEBAS is enjoyable and does some really awesome stuff...so is PLAYER OF GAMES, to a lesser degree....but USE OF WEAPONS is nothing short of a godsdamned revelation! It is a triumph of writing that I was so impressed by that it humbled me when I finished it. It's confusing as hell, but once you reach the end and look back at your journey, you should be amazed.

[Solidsnape]

QuickTidal, on 14 July 2013 - 09:10 PM, said:

CONSIDER PHLEBAS is enjoyable and does some really awesome stuff...so is PLAYER OF GAMES, to a lesser degree....but USE OF WEAPONS is nothing short of a godsdamned revelation! It is a triumph of writing that I was so impressed by that it humbled me when I finished it. It's confusing as hell, but once you reach the end and look back at your journey, you should be amazed.

Agree wholeheartedly.

My fav scene,

Spoiler

Is when 'Zakalwe' confronts the owner of the Nazi type death trains in his bed. Dressed as a Jester/clown I might add!!!
Then goes on to terrify him before pretending he's NOT going to kill him. Then he kills him. Excellent.

Also, this quote.

"In all the human societies we have ever reviewed, in every age and in every state, there has seldom if ever been a shortage of eager young males prepared to kill and die to preserve the security, comfort and prejudices of their elders, and what you call heroism is just an expression of this fact; there is never a scarcity of idiots."

Use of Weapons - Iain M Banks

Which is just so on the money. Controversial, yes. But SO up my street.


Editted for spoiler tags.

This post has been edited by Solidsnape: 14 July 2013 - 09:53 PM