I'm currently reading 'Walking On Glass', one of Iain Banks' mainstream novels (although there does seem to be a fantasy element running through it!) and it's occurred to me that I've nearly read all of his books. I had a look at his Wiki entry:
His mainstream ones (published as Iain Banks) are:
And the Iain M Banks:Quote:
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)
Raw Spirit (2003) (travelogue)
The Steep Approach to Garbadale (2007)
Transition (2009)
Of these, I think my favourites are The Wasp Factory, Excession (the first one I read!) Whit and The Player of Games, though I think most of his sci-fi ones are brilliant. The only one I wouldn't rate is Against A Dark Background, which was rather dull towards the end. I didn't think much of 'A Song of Stone' at the time either, even though I got a signed copy when he did an event at WH Smiths in Guildford. :)Quote:
Consider Phlebas (1987)
The Player of Games (1988)
Use of Weapons (1990)
Against a Dark Background (1993)
State of The Art
Feersum Endjinn (1994)
Excession (1996)
Inversions (1998)
Look to Windward (2000)
The Algebraist (2004)
Matter (2008)
His novels cover so many different areas and different styles. There are a few recurring themes, most usually separated and slightly insane families, which run through all his strands of fiction. He's also great at places, whether it's the wilds of Scotland or a GSV (one of the vast intelligent spaceships that run the Culture) I always feel as though I can see the place he's talking about.
But he's great on all fronts, characters, twists, thrills, plotting; he's simply a brilliant novelist. His new novels are always worth looking forward to.
So have you read any Iain Banks? If not, perhaps you should!