Picture of author.

Iain M. Banks (1954–2013)

Author of Consider Phlebas

64+ Works 84,625 Members 1,979 Reviews 270 Favorited

About the Author

Iain Banks was born in Fife in 1954 and was educated at Stirling University where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. Banks came to widespread and controversial public note with the publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984. His first science fiction novel, show more Consider Phlebas, was published in 1987. He continued to write both mainstream fiction (as Iain Banks) and science fiction (as Iain M. Banks). Banks' mainstream fiction included The Wasp Factory (1984), Walking on Glass (1985), The Bridge (1986), Espedair Street (1987), Canal Dreams (1989), The Crow Road (1992), Complicity (1993), Whit (1995), A Song of Stone (1997), The Business (1999), Dead Air (2002) and The Steep Approach to Garbadale (2007). His final book, The Quarry, was released posthumously on June 20, 2013. Banks died on June 9, 2013 of terminal gall bladder cancer. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:

There are multiple authors with the name Iain Banks. Do not combine this entry with any of them. The Iain Banks author entry is correctly split into sections for the different authors, and the books of Iain M. Banks listed there are included here by aliasing. You cannot combine this author page with just one of the split entries, it doesn't work that way.

Image credit: Author photograph from official website.

Series

Works by Iain M. Banks

Consider Phlebas (1987) 7,924 copies
The Wasp Factory (1984) 7,059 copies
The Player of Games (1988) 6,434 copies
Use of Weapons (1990) 5,418 copies
Excession (1996) 4,684 copies
The Algebraist (2004) 4,277 copies
Look to Windward (2000) 4,088 copies
Matter (2008) 3,726 copies
Inversions (1998) 3,388 copies
The Crow Road (1992) 3,201 copies
Against a Dark Background (1993) 2,927 copies
The State of the Art (1991) 2,823 copies
Feersum Endjinn (1994) 2,578 copies
Surface Detail (2010) 2,537 copies
Complicity (1993) 2,452 copies
The Bridge (1986) 2,167 copies
The Hydrogen Sonata (2012) 1,960 copies
Transition (2009) 1,946 copies
The Business (1999) 1,941 copies
Dead Air (2002) 1,698 copies
A Song of Stone (1997) 1,696 copies
Whit (1995) 1,681 copies
Walking on Glass (1985) 1,569 copies
Espedair Street (1987) 1,434 copies
The Steep Approach to Garbadale (2007) 1,358 copies
Canal Dreams (1989) 1,227 copies
Stonemouth (2012) 702 copies
The Quarry (2013) 613 copies
The Culture: The Drawings (2023) 47 copies
Poems (2015) 39 copies
The Culture Series (2018) 14 copies
Surface Detail, Part 1 (2011) 13 copies
Surface Detail, Part 2 (2011) 4 copies
Piece [short story] (1989) 3 copies
Cleaning Up [short story] (1987) 3 copies
Descendant [short story] (1991) 3 copies
Scratch [short story] (1987) 3 copies
The Spheres 3 copies
Overload 1 copy

Associated Works

The Big Book of Science Fiction (2016) — Contributor — 412 copies
The Space Opera Renaissance (2007) — Contributor — 282 copies
Granta 43: Best of Young British Novelists 2 (1993) — Contributor — 177 copies
Cyber-killers (1997) — Contributor, some editions — 106 copies
Dark: Stories of Madness, Murder and the Supernatural (2000) — Contributor — 57 copies
Arrows of Eros (1989) — Contributor — 43 copies
Tales From the Forbidden Planet (1987) — Contributor — 40 copies
Burning Brightly: 50 Years of Novacon (2021) — Contributor — 33 copies
The Orbit Science Fiction Yearbook: No. 3 (1990) — Introduction — 32 copies
An Anthology of Scottish Fantasy Literature (1996) — Contributor — 14 copies
A Feast of Stories (1996) — Contributor — 14 copies
The Crow Road [1996 TV miniseries] (1996) — Original novel — 14 copies
Complicity [2000 film] (2000) — Original novel — 4 copies

Tagged

20th century (273) anthology (206) artificial intelligence (166) British (295) contemporary (211) contemporary fiction (213) culture (981) ebook (653) fantasy (413) fiction (8,299) goodreads (319) hardcover (211) horror (315) Iain M. Banks (200) Kindle (322) literature (218) mystery (193) novel (1,316) own (273) owned (351) paperback (206) read (1,145) science fiction (10,972) Science Fiction/Fantasy (217) Scotland (898) Scottish (622) Scottish fiction (175) Scottish literature (190) series (203) sf (2,565) sff (405) short stories (302) signed (163) space opera (1,497) speculative fiction (226) The Culture (1,278) thriller (259) to-read (3,839) unread (532) war (190)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Banks, Iain Menzies
Other names
Banks, Iain
Birthdate
1954-02-16
Date of death
2013-06-09
Gender
male
Nationality
UK
Country (for map)
Scotland, UK
Birthplace
Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK
Place of death
Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, UK
Cause of death
Gallbladder cancer
Places of residence
North Queensferry, Scotland, UK
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Education
Gourock High School
Greenock High School
University of Stirling (BA 1975)
Occupations
writer
Relationships
Hartley, Adele (wife)
Organizations
National Secular Society
Humanist Society of Scotland
Awards and honors
Guest of Honour, Eastercon, UK (1990)
Granta's Best Of Young British Novelists (1993)
Guest of Honour (posthumous), Loncon 3 (World Science Fiction Convention) (2014)
Disambiguation notice
There are multiple authors with the name Iain Banks. Do not combine this entry with any of them. The Iain Banks author entry is correctly split into sections for the different authors, and the books of Iain M. Banks listed there are included here by aliasing. You cannot combine this author page with just one of the split entries, it doesn't work that way.

Members

Discussions

Group Reda, February 2022: The Crow Road in 1001 Books to read before you die (March 2022)
THE STATE OF THE ART discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (August 2015)
MATTER discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (June 2015)
SURFACE DETAIL discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (November 2014)
LOOK TO WINDWARD discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (October 2014)
THE HYDROGEN SONATA discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (October 2014)
INVERSIONS discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (September 2014)
EXCESSION discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (July 2014)
USE OF WEAPONS discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (May 2014)
The Culture group read (Organisational Thread) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (April 2014)
CONSIDER PHLEBAS discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (April 2014)
THE PLAYER OF GAMES discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (March 2014)
September 2013: Iain M. Banks in Monthly Author Reads (January 2014)
Group Read: The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks in 75 Books Challenge for 2013 (August 2013)
Sad news: Iain Banks Very Poorly in Science Fiction Fans (August 2013)

Reviews

Smack dab in the middle of Ian Bank’s highly acclaimed science fiction series (‘Culture’), is “Inversion.” A tale full of feudal rule, distant war, spies, torture, harems, and loads of palace intrigue -- it’s closer to ‘Game of Thrones’ than Star Trek. Set on a backwater planet somewhere in the Culture universe, the entire novel happens away from the technological sophisticated Culture, with only a few characters that even aware of the vast technological society that exists beyond the medieval cities, towns, and countryside of this planet.

I struggled to find the meta-meaning of why Banks authored this novel in the context of the broader Culture series. Perhaps it’s to remind us of the ‘inverse’ of the Culture – an unjust, misogynistic, and at times brutal world. Maybe the reflections of power/powerless, men/women, sickness/healing, and love/hate. It caught me off guard, I was prepared for another dazzling technology story depicting a far distant future. But as I settled in, I certainly appreciated the taut intertwining of multiple story lines, distinct characters, and a rich plot. I’ve always been fascinated by stories where the downtrodden and powerless find ways to affect the rich and powerful. As in most feudal tales, there is nothing noble about noblemen and given enough time, even the subjugated will find revenge/justice/reprisal.

Four stone stars for this well-written medieval tale of contrasting themes, exposed by fascinating characters and plot.
… (more)
 
Flagged
Kevin_A_Kuhn | 62 other reviews | Mar 9, 2024 |
Generally great! First 350 pages were mind-bending, well written, with fascinating characters and ideas. Last 50 pages kind of fell into B-movie plotlines. I'd still give it four stars though.
 
Flagged
roguelike | 67 other reviews | Feb 4, 2024 |
Maybe the first Culture novel. Great writing, characterization. Wish I had read this one first, though many say it doesn't matter what order you read them in.

Some fabulously exciting, cinematic scenes, plus moral ambiguity, interesting characters, and a galactic war as the backdrop. Recommended.
 
Flagged
roguelike | 251 other reviews | Feb 4, 2024 |
Fasciating read. Too clever for its own good, in terms of plot twists. Still, I couldn't put it down and look forward to reading other Culture books.
 
Flagged
roguelike | 142 other reviews | Feb 4, 2024 |

Lists

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Teens (1)
My TBR (2)

Awards

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Associated Authors

Ken MacLeod Introduction, Editor
T. S. Eliot Contributor
Peter Kenny Narrator
Mark Salwowski Cover artist
Nóra Gálla Translator
Peter Brown Cover artist, Illustrator
Irene Bonhorst Translator, Übersetzer
Ville Keynäs Translator
Paul Youll Cover artist
John Foley Photographer
Richard Hopkinson Cover artist
Hélène Collon Translator
Fred Marcellino Cover artist
Milena Benini Translator
David Cruz Translator
Benedek Totth Translator
G. Zuddas Traduttore
Black Sheep Cover artist
Gérard Klein Préface
Ron Walotsky Cover artist
Eeva Louhio Cover artist
P. Nicolazzini Cover artist
Héléne COLLON Traduction
Gérard Klein Foreword
Jérôme Martin Translator
Anton Lesser Narrator
Lee Moyer Cover artist
Jari Virtanen Translator
Leonardo Rizzi Translator
Craig Stennett Photographer
Lauri Mäkelä Translator
Jerry VanderStelt Cover artist
Bernard Sigaud Translator
Debra Lill Cover artist
Viktor Janiš Translator
Brian Bailey Cover artist
Nathalie Serval Translator
Dorothy Carico Smith Cover designer
Anu Partanen Translator
Les Edwards Cover artist
Nick Day Illustrator
Michael Whelan Cover artist
Shuttershock Cover artist
Lauren Panepinto Cover designer
Ville Keynäs Translator
Tom Canty Cover artist
Johanna Mo Translator
Robert Vernooy Translator
Simon Denton Photographer
Ute Thiemann Translator
Topi Makkonen Translator
Bascove Cover artist
Lisa Coleman Narrator
Leslie Howell Cover artist
Martin Gray Photographer

Statistics

Works
64
Also by
15
Members
84,625
Popularity
#131
Rating
3.8
Reviews
1,979
ISBNs
671
Languages
24
Favorited
270

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