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Terrible news. If you're not familiar with Iain's work you owe it to yourself to drop everything and start reading the Culture series[1] right now. [1] http://

Terrible news. If you're not familiar with Iain's work you owe it to yourself to drop everything and start reading the Culture series[1] right now. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_series

john_i 14y ago
I absolutely love the Culture series. Although it doesn't delve into the Culture universe proper, Use of Weapons is one of the best books I've read. Would highly recommend checking out this book. The two narrative flows and the conclusion at the end, wow, just wow. Definitely very sad news.
- crapshoot101 14y ago
  Use of Weapons is maybe the best (or at least top 5) sci-fi novel I've ever read. Amazing stuff - and a turn that genuinely changes the whole story.
arc_of_descent 14y ago
I just ordered the first three books. Will start off with Player of Games. Sad news indeed.
- engtech 14y ago
  read this before starting to books. It's a great intro to the Culture: http://nuwen.net/culture.html http://nuwen.net/culture.html
adrianhoward 14y ago
Terrible news. If you're not familiar with Iain's work you owe it to yourself to drop everything and start reading the Culture series[1] right now. In fact go give all of his books a try (hey - we're allowed to read non-SF here too aren't we ;-)
- arethuza 14y ago
  Iain's non-SF work is wonderful, and often so very Scottish. In particular, I love the opening to Espedair Street: "Two days ago I decided to kill myself. I would walk and hitch and sail away from this dark city to the bright spaces of the wet west coast, and there throw myself into the tall, glittering seas beyond Iona (with its cargo of mouldering kings) to let the gulls and seals and tides have their way with my remains, and in my dying moments look forward to an encounter with Staffa’s six-sided columns and Fingal’s cave; or I might head south to Corryvrecken, to be spun inside the whirlpool and listen with my waterlogged deaf ears to its mile-wide voice ringing over the wave-race; or be borne north, to where the white sands sing and coral hides, pink-fingered and hard-soft, beneath the ocean swell, and the rampart cliffs climb thousand-foot above the seething acres of milky foam, rainbow-buttressed. Last night I changed my mind and decided to stay alive. Everything that follows is . . . just to try and explain."
  - Nick_C 14y ago
    Totally agree. Last year I decided to give Bank's non sci-fi a go. He draws such great characters. Espedair Street was my favourite, but The Steep Approach to Garbadale and Complicity were also great. Complicity is a really good intro to Banks; it's a nice Scottish thriller and an easy read. He is a good literary writer, and I think that is what makes him such a good sci-fi writer. I had never read any sci-fi like it when I first read him. There are still very few good writers in sci-fi.
    - lobster_johnson 14y ago
      Very few indeed. Have you read Gene Wolfe? One of the few writers in the genre I truly admire as a literary writer. A good starting book is "The Fifth Head of Cerberus".
      - Nick_C 14y ago
        No I haven't. Thanks for the reference, I'll look for him next time I'm at the library.

john_i 14y ago

I absolutely love the Culture series. Although it doesn't delve into the Culture universe proper, Use of Weapons is one of the best books I've read. Would highly recommend checking out this book. The two narrative flows and the conclusion at the end, wow, just wow. Definitely very sad news.

crapshoot101 14y ago
Use of Weapons is maybe the best (or at least top 5) sci-fi novel I've ever read. Amazing stuff - and a turn that genuinely changes the whole story.

arc_of_descent 14y ago

I just ordered the first three books. Will start off with Player of Games. Sad news indeed.

engtech 14y ago
read this before starting to books. It's a great intro to the Culture: http://nuwen.net/culture.html http://nuwen.net/culture.html

adrianhoward 14y ago

Terrible news. If you're not familiar with Iain's work you owe it to yourself to drop everything and start reading the Culture series[1] right now. In fact go give all of his books a try (hey - we're allowed to read non-SF here too aren't we ;-)

arethuza 14y ago
Iain's non-SF work is wonderful, and often so very Scottish. In particular, I love the opening to Espedair Street: "Two days ago I decided to kill myself. I would walk and hitch and sail away from this dark city to the bright spaces of the wet west coast, and there throw myself into the tall, glittering seas beyond Iona (with its cargo of mouldering kings) to let the gulls and seals and tides have their way with my remains, and in my dying moments look forward to an encounter with Staffa’s six-sided columns and Fingal’s cave; or I might head south to Corryvrecken, to be spun inside the whirlpool and listen with my waterlogged deaf ears to its mile-wide voice ringing over the wave-race; or be borne north, to where the white sands sing and coral hides, pink-fingered and hard-soft, beneath the ocean swell, and the rampart cliffs climb thousand-foot above the seething acres of milky foam, rainbow-buttressed. Last night I changed my mind and decided to stay alive. Everything that follows is . . . just to try and explain."
- Nick_C 14y ago
  Totally agree. Last year I decided to give Bank's non sci-fi a go. He draws such great characters. Espedair Street was my favourite, but The Steep Approach to Garbadale and Complicity were also great. Complicity is a really good intro to Banks; it's a nice Scottish thriller and an easy read. He is a good literary writer, and I think that is what makes him such a good sci-fi writer. I had never read any sci-fi like it when I first read him. There are still very few good writers in sci-fi.
  - lobster_johnson 14y ago
    Very few indeed. Have you read Gene Wolfe? One of the few writers in the genre I truly admire as a literary writer. A good starting book is "The Fifth Head of Cerberus".
    - Nick_C 14y ago
      No I haven't. Thanks for the reference, I'll look for him next time I'm at the library.