An anthology of authentic and realistic hard science fiction
Iain Banks’ latest Culture novel, Surface Detail, may be about a War in Heaven, but it is definitely not an eschatological novel. In the universe of the Culture, there are races which have transcended to a higher plane of existence, the Sublimed – via, it is assumed, technology, or great intelligence / knowledge of the [...]
Filed under: book review, first look 2010, iain banks, science fiction | 6 Comments »
I’ve been very good recently – not only have I not added greatly to the To Be Read pile, but I have also pruned my collection of a few hundred paperbacks. Well, they were just sitting there, taking up shelf-space. I was never going to read them again; and some of them are readily available [...]
Filed under: book haul, books, dg compton, iain banks, paul scott | Leave a Comment »
The gauntlet has been laid down, and I’m up for the challenge. What do I think are the best science fiction series? For this list, I’ve defined a series as more than a trilogy, or a series of standalone novels set in the same universe and sharing a linked chronology. I actually put together a [...]
Filed under: alastair reynolds, books, cj cherryh, ec tubb, frank herbert, gene wolfe, iain banks, john varley, kim stanley robinson, science fiction, susan r matthews, ursula le guin | 32 Comments »
“Apparently I am what is known as an Unreliable Narrator, though of course if you believe everything you’re told you deserve whatever you get.” So opens Iain Banks’ Transition. It is a science fiction novel, set among and across many alternate worlds; but it has been published in the UK without the defining “M”. Transition [...]
Filed under: book review, first look 2009, iain banks, science fiction | 4 Comments »
NOTE: THIS POST INCLUDES SPOILERS Matter is Iain Banks‘ first Culture novel since Look to Windward in 2000. So there was a great deal of eagerness – and not just by myself – when it was announced. Orbit clearly realised that Matter‘s publication was an event – Waterstone’s has been selling the hardback at half [...]
Filed under: book review, books, first look 2008, iain banks, science fiction | 8 Comments »
I’ve been a bit random as to which title I choose to read next from my list of favourites. I wonder if this has affected my response to the various novels? I mean, going straight from the grim and political near-future of Gwyneth Jones’s Kairos to the slight but fun space opera of Iain M [...]
Filed under: 2007 reading challenge, book review, books, iain banks, science fiction | 5 Comments »
