Iain M. Banks
author profile
born
February 16, 1954
gender
male
place of birth
Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, The United Kingdom
website
genre
Science Fiction & Fantasy, Literature & Fiction
about this author
This author publishes fiction under the name "Iain Banks" and science fiction under the name "Iain M. Banks" (Menzies).
Banks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. Banks studied English, philosophy, and psychology at the University of Stirling.
His latest book is a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called Matter, published in January, 2008.
Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife.
Banks met his wife Annie i...more
Sign up for Goodreads to pick your favorite quotes and books by Iain M. Banks.
39 postsIain M. Banks's Blog
Iain M. Banks isn't a
Goodreads Author (yet), but he
does have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
his feed.
avg rating: 3.84
| 11,672 ratings
| 1,072 reviews
| 41 distinct works
|
128 fans
More books by Iain M. Banks…
|
The Wasp Factory: A Novel by Iain M. Banks avg rating 3.79 — 2,231 ratings — published 1984 24 editions |
my rating: |
|
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks avg rating 3.85 — 1,447 ratings — published 1987 16 editions |
my rating: |
|
The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks avg rating 4.10 — 1,173 ratings — published 1988 13 editions |
my rating: |
|
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks avg rating 4.11 — 1,142 ratings — published 1990 13 editions |
my rating: |
|
The Crow Road by Iain M. Banks avg rating 4.02 — 947 ratings — published 1992 9 editions |
my rating: |
|
Excession by Iain M. Banks avg rating 3.94 — 916 ratings — published 1996 9 editions |
my rating: |
|
The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks avg rating 3.80 — 883 ratings — published 2004 13 editions |
my rating: |
|
Complicity by Iain M. Banks avg rating 3.71 — 757 ratings — published 1993 12 editions |
my rating: |
|
Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks avg rating 3.83 — 714 ratings — published 2000 11 editions |
my rating: |
|
The Bridge by Iain M. Banks avg rating 3.67 — 619 ratings — published 1986 16 editions |
my rating: |
upcoming events
No scheduled events.
"You need to read more science fiction. Nobody who reads science fiction comes out with this crap about the end of history"
— Iain M. Banks
— Iain M. Banks
"Oh, they never lie. They dissemble, evade, prevaricate, confound, confuse, distract, obscure, subtly misrepresent and willfully misunderstand with what often appears to be a positively gleeful relish and are generally perfectly capable of contriving to give one an utterly unambiguous impression of their future course of action while in fact intending to do exactly the opposite, but they never lie. Perish the thought."
— Iain M. Banks (Look to Windward)
— Iain M. Banks (Look to Windward)
"All reality is a game. Physics at its most fundamental, the very fabric of our universe, results directly from the interaction of certain fairly simple rules, and chance; the same description may be applied to the best, most elefant and both intellectually and aesthetically satisfying games. By being unknowable, by resulting from events which, at the sub-atomic level, cannot be fully predicted, the future remains makkeable, and retains the possibility of change, the hope of coming to prevail; victory, to use an unfashionable word. In this, the future is a game; time is one of the rules. Generally, all the best mechanistic games - those which can be played in any sense "perfectly", such as a grid, Prallian scope, 'nkraytle, chess, Farnic dimensions - can be traced to civilisations lacking a realistic view of the universe (let alone the reality). They are also, I might add, invariably pre-machine-sentience societies.
The very first-rank games acknowledge the element of chance, even if they rightly restrict raw luck. To attempt to construct a game on any other lines, no matter how complicated and subtle the rules are, and regardless of the scale and differentiation of the playing volume and the variety of the powers and attibutes of the pieces, is inevitably to schackle oneself to a conspectus which is not merely socially but techno-philosophically lagging several ages behind our own. As a historical exercise it might have some value, As a work of the intellect, it's just a waste of time. If you want to make something old-fashioned, why not build a wooden sailing boat, or a steam engine? They're just as complicated and demanding as a mechanistic game, and you'll keep fit at the same time."
— Iain M. Banks (The Player of Games)
The very first-rank games acknowledge the element of chance, even if they rightly restrict raw luck. To attempt to construct a game on any other lines, no matter how complicated and subtle the rules are, and regardless of the scale and differentiation of the playing volume and the variety of the powers and attibutes of the pieces, is inevitably to schackle oneself to a conspectus which is not merely socially but techno-philosophically lagging several ages behind our own. As a historical exercise it might have some value, As a work of the intellect, it's just a waste of time. If you want to make something old-fashioned, why not build a wooden sailing boat, or a steam engine? They're just as complicated and demanding as a mechanistic game, and you'll keep fit at the same time."
— Iain M. Banks (The Player of Games)
polls
AUGUST SCIENCE FICTION: This poll decides which two books move on to the run-off poll for August SF Book of the Month!
34 total votes
2 comments
Sign in
to vote!
topics mentioning this author
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SciFi and Fantasy...: Worst/Most Disappointing Book You've Read This Year? | 79 | 467 | Mar 10, 2009 05:30AM | |
| Beyond Reality: Nominations for July | 24 | 93 | Apr 19, 2009 08:25AM | |
| SciFi and Fantasy...: Talk about Iain M. Banks | 31 | 185 | Apr 23, 2009 09:49PM | |
| Megan's democrati...: Nominations time! | 7 | 11 | Apr 29, 2009 12:06AM | |
| Beyond Reality: Finding similar authors | 16 | 116 | May 13, 2009 08:58AM | |
| The Next Best Boo...: Worst Books | 139 | 443 | May 17, 2009 02:23PM | |
| Beyond Reality: Nominations for August | 21 | 63 | May 20, 2009 09:17AM | |
| The Alternative W...: Is it SF/Fantasy? | 157 | 25 | May 31, 2009 07:58PM | |
| Beyond Reality: Welcome to June! | 1 | 28 | Jun 01, 2009 08:59AM | |
| Beyond Reality: Welcome to July! | 1 | 47 | Jul 01, 2009 09:30AM |
































