Iain M Banks has cancer and less than a year to live

spronk_sl said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-22015175

Author of some of the greatest sci fi books this generation, FUCK CANCER

Not just scifi, but some really great fiction published under Iain Banks.

His last book will be Quarry, to be published soon. I'm really sad his Culture setting will not be turned into a movie or TV series before his passing, it would be one of the greatest shows if it was done similar to Game of Thrones.

Click to expand...

This is very sad newsone day someone will film a Culture novel but I bet they fuck it up. Until then we have a short fan-made riff on the Player of Games:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET8IFxPo61w

Well, fuck.

First Pratchett, now Banks?

There goes 2/3 of my favourite British authors...

Shitty

Who is Iain Banks?

Mudcrush Durtfeet_sl said:

Who is Iain Banks?

Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iain_Banks

I haven't read any of his books either but I will now, he has written quite a few throughout his long career.

Yeah, I saw this elsewhere. Fucking sucks.

This simply cannot be said enough. FUCK CANCER!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22835047

Sharinel_sl said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22835047

Click to expand...

sucks.

Sharinel_sl said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22835047

Click to expand...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013...dies-59-cancer

"His announcement of his terminal illness provoked an outpouring of dismay and affection from his readers ... It was striking how many of those who responded to the news spoke of having encountered him in person, often after a reading or public interview.A significant number recalled sharing not just a conversation but also a drink with him: he was an author whose readers felt in close touch with him."

Cheers Iain, raised a glass to you last night. Truly a nice guy.

Actually met him, once. He did a thing at Powell's. Was going out for a drink with a bunch of fans. Unfortunately it was I that didn't have the time.

Was a great guy, though.

Definitely one of my favorite authors and by all accounts a hell of a nice guy too.

Will be missed.

Fuck Cancer. My favorite Sci.Fi Author by far if you like Sci.Fi I can't recommend Culture enough.

The Culture books can be fun if you space them out, I wouldn't recommend reading one after the other as they all follow the same themes and can get a bit tiresome as a result. I wish the Idrian's had won or at least done something to limit the Cultures complete dominance throughout the series.

Gask_sl said:

The Culture books can be fun if you space them out, I wouldn't recommend reading one after the other as they all follow the same themes and can get a bit tiresome as a result. I wish the Idrian's had won

or at least done something to limit the Cultures complete dominance throughout the series.

Click to expand...

The stories do have similarities running through them (to the point where it becomes almost an in-joke with societies forbidding entry to a Special Circumstances agent with accompanying drone) but the books aren't really about the Culture "winning". Instead they explore questions about what happens when the good guys have all the guns; are they good merely because they have everything they want already, and what happens when they find something new they don't have (Excession); in a peaceful civilization, who fights their proxy wars across thousands of different worlds and what effect would that have on them (Use of Weapons); what happens when their well-intentioned interference goes terribly wrong (Look to Windward) and so on.

Running Dog_sl said:

the books aren't really about the Culture "winning"

Click to expand...

Any question of who will come out on top in any conflict of interest or arms is kind of a given from the get go of most (not all) of the books in the series save for the first. They (the Culture) are consistently portrayed as being that powerful and dominant and I think that it hurts the series a bit. Aside from that they are fun especially if you enjoy immersing yourself in descriptions of gigantic sentient ships, orbitals and alien cultures.

I see this in George Martins future. ><