Today brings the truly sad news that international treasure Iain Banks has terminal cancer and has written his last book (The Quarry, to be released this year).
I have been recommending Banks' novels to everyone I meet ever since discovering him about four years ago. (When Borders went under, I went to every store clearance event specifically with the goal of scooping up his books.) The Culture novels (I hesitate to call them a series, since the only persistent character is the civilization itself) have excavated a huge new region for what sci-fi can accomplish. Instead of the futuristic-feudal imaginings of Asimov or Herbert, we have a vision of humanity embracing its independence from want and explicitly devoted to the flourishing of all persons (whether biological or synthetic).
He will be sorely missed.
Recommendations: For a standalone story, The Algebraist is a great read (fair warning: its actual algebra content is minimal). To be introduced to the Culture universe, start with Consider Phlebas, or possibly The Hydrogen Sonata; then move on to The Player of Games. Do not miss Surface Detail (or as I like to call it, The Girl With The Fractal Tattoo), which tackles the idea of hell (and in the process, the morality of waging war to endhuman personal rights abuses.
I have been recommending Banks' novels to everyone I meet ever since discovering him about four years ago. (When Borders went under, I went to every store clearance event specifically with the goal of scooping up his books.) The Culture novels (I hesitate to call them a series, since the only persistent character is the civilization itself) have excavated a huge new region for what sci-fi can accomplish. Instead of the futuristic-feudal imaginings of Asimov or Herbert, we have a vision of humanity embracing its independence from want and explicitly devoted to the flourishing of all persons (whether biological or synthetic).
He will be sorely missed.
Recommendations: For a standalone story, The Algebraist is a great read (fair warning: its actual algebra content is minimal). To be introduced to the Culture universe, start with Consider Phlebas, or possibly The Hydrogen Sonata; then move on to The Player of Games. Do not miss Surface Detail (or as I like to call it, The Girl With The Fractal Tattoo), which tackles the idea of hell (and in the process, the morality of waging war to end
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