Iain M Banks / Iain Banks
To me he is the master British storyteller. His culture series is top rate sci fi at its best, highlights include Excession, Use of weapons, The Algebraist. Transition is fantastic and The crow road always makes me cry when i read it.
If any one mentions The Bible or the Koran as the best books written then they are Kunts of the highest order, my sons Beano album is more relevant .
(Hammy1801 may have scabies!, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:00, 15 replies)

I got to talk to Iain Banks a few weeks back over beers, and while he was polite and laughed at my jokes to start with
...mostly I just wibbled on about Complicity, Wasp Factory and Use of Weapons, which I suspect he found tiresome
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:02, closed)

I met one of my music heroes once.
I vowed never to again, as that's exactly how I felt.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:05, closed)

I disagree.
Whether you like it or not, the Bible and the Koran are both massively relevant - they have shaped culture and history pretty well since their conceptions.

The Beano, on the other hand, is a quaint British comic rapidly falling into disrepair from being superceded by market forces and the evolution of media.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:04, closed)

Not making any judgements about the Bible or Koran
But the Beno is now shit - my kids always fall for the crap plastic crap thing stuck on the front. Then after 5 minutes when that has broken, there aren't any decent stories or articles in it and there is loads of adverts for more cheap plastic crap...
(LetsGetDownToIt, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:00, closed)

Iain Banks - fuck yes.
But the Bible is much better than your son's Beano annual. Unless, of course, it's the 1984 annual, which I highly doubt you son is cool enough to own.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:07, closed)

I've got that one
Absolute classic
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:10, closed)

1984!!
He has the 1983 and the 1985 but ive just found out the little bastard sold his 1984 copy for some meth amphetamine.
(Hammy1801 may have scabies!, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:22, closed)

Iain Banks can
be a bit hit and miss, but The Culture is one of the best sci-fi inventions ever. For non-sci-fi I think The Bridge is his best one, closely followed by the Crow Road.
( splorp ®, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:08, closed)

the bridge is awesome, as is walking on glass.
to be honest, the crow road left me a bit cold.
( janet aylia y'all motherfuckers need jesus, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:15, closed)

The Bridge!!
Never really got that, did like Espedair Street though. Was that the unofficial Fleetwood Mac biography??
(Hammy1801 may have scabies!, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:20, closed)

Just introduced The Wasp Factory to
friends in Canada. I think it's a fine way to prepare them for what else is out there.
( Infidel , shit and wrong, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:18, closed)

For Iain M
I would recommend "The Player of Games" as a good intro to the Culture, followed by "Consider Phlebas".

For Iain, I would suggest not bothering with much he's done in the past decade. "The Crow Road", "Complicity" and "The Wasp Factory" are probably his best.
(TheImmortalJenkins, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:22, closed)

Transition.
That was a quality read, I thought that was one of his best.
(Hammy1801 may have scabies!, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 20:25, closed)

Bah!
Iain Banks. His characters all have silly names.
(fivetide, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:23, closed)

He is an excellent storyteller. I can't think of any other authors who have produced so many excellent sci-fi and non-sci-fi books. So dark, and so funny at the same time.
(anvil, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 18:20, closed)