Writer of some popular novels televised over recent years, such as The Crow Road and The Wasp Factory. He also writes scifi novels under the name Iain M. Banks.
Generally I prefer the scifi novels, although these can be a bit hit-and-miss - he can release a book that's not particularly well-received in between two fantastic reads. Many of the books are known as Culture novels, in that they all take place in the same universe populated by the Culture, although the ones that don't tend to be similar in style. There's no need to read them in order however, as they involve different characters & there's no story arcs (as far as I know - I haven't read them all yet).
Although I prefer the scifi, my all-time favourite is the non-scifi novel Whit. It's about a girl who lives a rather sheltered life in a religious cult started by her grandfather in Scotland. Sounds like an odd topic, but it's brilliant! The characters are all so full, that even though the cult is a strange one, you really feel for the girl on her painful spiritual journey. Iain signed my tatty old copy at a reading for The Algebraist, & I couldn't help but feel that he was secretly pleased to be signing such an ancient well-read book. Of course, all I managed to say was "'nk you"
Generally I prefer the scifi novels, although these can be a bit hit-and-miss - he can release a book that's not particularly well-received in between two fantastic reads. Many of the books are known as Culture novels, in that they all take place in the same universe populated by the Culture, although the ones that don't tend to be similar in style. There's no need to read them in order however, as they involve different characters & there's no story arcs (as far as I know - I haven't read them all yet).
Although I prefer the scifi, my all-time favourite is the non-scifi novel Whit. It's about a girl who lives a rather sheltered life in a religious cult started by her grandfather in Scotland. Sounds like an odd topic, but it's brilliant! The characters are all so full, that even though the cult is a strange one, you really feel for the girl on her painful spiritual journey. Iain signed my tatty old copy at a reading for The Algebraist, & I couldn't help but feel that he was secretly pleased to be signing such an ancient well-read book. Of course, all I managed to say was "'nk you"
