Questions tagged [iain-m-banks]
For questions about Iain Banks (born on 16 February 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife), a Scottish writer. He wrote mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies. Only use for questions about the author himself, for questions about his works use the relevant work tag instead.
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Communications "cauldron" in Iain Banks novel
In one of the Banks novels (one outside of the Culture universe, I believe), there is a scene where real-time communication across long distances is supported by a kind of thing referred to as a "...
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Is there any knowledge or notes on the 11th Culture book?
When Banks died, he had in his mind the plot for the 11th Culture book (source):
What's next?
(...) then another SF novel for 2014. Possibly Culture, possibly not. For once, I sort of have a Culture ...
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Why did Iain M. Banks use his middle initial for his science fiction writing, but go by 'Iain Banks' in other works?
In the published works of Iain Menzies Banks, we may notice that the author chose to display his name slightly differently. The culture series has him as 'Iain M. Banks', but his 'non-genre' fiction ...
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How is The Culture's universe populated by humans if current human culture on earth exists contemporaneously with it?
Does Iain M. Banks explain anywhere how in the world of the Culture the galaxy came to be populated by humans and humanoid races? ... given that it can't be that the human race became a space-faring ...
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Are there any unpublished Iain M. Banks short stories?
Iain M. Banks only ever published one collection of short stories. Do we know if he left any short stories unpublished or have any come to light since his death?
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Which Iain M Banks short stories have been adapted for radio?
I have been told that several Iain M Banks short stories have been adapted for radio, probably broadcast by the BBC. Hunting online all I can find is a reference to an adaptation of "The State of The ...
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Did Iain Banks ever acknowledge Hermann Hesse as an inspiration?
To an outside observer it seems that the game of Azad, from the empire of the same name featured heavily in The Player of Games, bears strong similarities to the Glass Bead Game from Hesse's 1943 ...
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Is the short story Descendant from the Culture?
I have just read the Iain M Banks short story Descendant, part of the anthology The State Of The Art. It features technologies reminiscent of the Culture stories, such as an intelligent suit with 1.0 ...
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Iain M. Banks' "Against a Dark Background'
I read this a long time ago and thought that it had the saddest line I'd ever read at the end, referring to the star being so far from galactic fringes that it had no chance of ever achieving MFTL ...
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Are Effectors unique to Iain M. Banks's "Culture"?
In Iain M. Banks's "Culture" novels, the Culture's most powerful and sophisticated weapons are effectors, electromagnetic manipulation devices capable of remotely reading and controlling computers and ...
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Who won the civil war in "Use of Weapons"?
The language is intentionally ambiguous about who won the civil war, to accommodate the twist ending:
In retrospect, the last sentence is obviously about the surgeons. But it's not clear to me who ...
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Are there any couples in the Culture?
Is sex in Iain M Banks's Culture limited to orgies and one-night stands? The only romantic love I can think of is in the one that has a Hell and the one where they're descended from carnivores and ...
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Which British author wrote about Shellworlds before Iain M. Banks?
Iain M. Banks is remembered as creator of Shellworlds-artificial planets with layers of habitable space within them.
Except this is incorrect. I distinctively remember reading a British author in my ...
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Source for Culture timeline
I've been an Iain Banks fan for a long long time, but for the most part haven't haven't tried to read the Culture books in any particular order, and have left myself at least a few for the future. I'...
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Why are there so many tripedal species in Iain M. Banks' Culture series?
Tripedalism seems physiologically inefficient, otherwise we would probably see at least one tripedal species on Earth. And yet the Culture universe has at least three (!) tripedal species: the ...
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Can my bookgroup start reading The Culture books at "Use of Weapons"?
My book group wants a sci-fi book. They're all incredibly intelligent and educated people who are all incredibly well-read. I'm not worried about the fractured narrative of Banks' Use of Weapons, but ...
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How to read the communication between spaceships in Excession?
In Iain M. Banks's Excession, there are several discussions between spaceships that are in a format that looks like a log file. It looks like this:
(GCU Grey Area signal sequence file #n428857/119)
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What is the significance of the last line of Iain M Banks' "Surface Detail"?
I just finished Banks' "Surface Detail" Culture-universe novel. Great stuff, although my reading of it was rather interrupted and spread over almost 3 months, so my memory of the earlier ...
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About the 'Lives' from the Damage game in Consider Phlebas (spoilers)
For those who don't know, Damage is a illegal betting game where you bet not with money, but with Lives, who are people kept strapped to electric chairs. When a player lose a Life, this Life was ...
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Is there a precursor to the Culture? [closed]
The Culture, from the Iain M Banks novels, seems to be a merger between a utopia and a dystopia. Is this a new phenomenon or do other examples exist?
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Has Iain M. Banks ever cited his inspirations for the backstory of Cheradenine Zakalwe? (possible spoilers)
Specifically, I recently heard the story of Ed Gein, and how it influenced the movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I'm wondering if either inspired the story of the Chairmaker. Are there any ...
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Rereading of Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks and chapter order
I just finish Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks. This book is written in a peculiar way that makes it a non-straightforward read, and I'm wondering how different an impression a second read would leave. ...
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Is there any artistic representation of Mawhrin-Skel?
I'm currently reading "The Player of Games" from Iain M. Banks's Culture Cycle.
I'm having difficulty picturing the character of Mawhrin-Skel Drone (and Drones in general since they "are floating ...
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What is the order/timeline for Iain M. Banks "Culture" novels?
I just finished Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks....I'm hooked and have a couple of questions on the Culture novels:
Is there an order to the novels (preferred or otherwise) ?
What is the timeline ...
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