Iain M. Banks

By Michael O'Toole

There's a mystery at the heart of an Iain M Banks story. You’re never on firm footing, right up until the end, and even knowing that there's a twist doesn’t often help. Of course, sometimes you may not even want to work out what's going on. Frankly, Against a Dark Background, or even more so, his Song of Stone (as Iain Banks) were works of more than usual bleakness that have haunted me for years after.

Still, is he the best sci-fi writer of his generation?

Because that darkness is just one part of an overall storytelling ability that's rare, rich and strange. Banks delivers on plot, character, scene, all put together in a near-seamless fashion. It’s not enough, he seems to be telling the 'big concept' sci-fi writers amongst us, to dream up these tales of wonder – it's got to be well written too… It's a dictum that applies just as much to his 'mainstream' books (as Iain Banks) as it does to the Iain 'M' Banks that writes such compelling science fiction.

Each book feels fresh, working as a powerful reminder that there's a seriously inventive mind at work invested, as the aforementioned William Gibson said, with a certain 'gnarly energy'. It’s an energy that comes as much in person as it does on the page. After listening, you don't feel much wonder at how anyone could have written so many quality words in a row. It's that he can type as fast as he thinks.

Banks' characters often come from the Culture, a galaxy-spanning civilisation based as often on massive AI-controlled starships as it is on planets. The inhabitants live in what we might call a post-scarcity world, where living for pleasure seems to be the main occupation. Is it a paradise?

It would seem so, but I sometimes wonder what Banks would say about that…

Every once in a while the cute and fluffy bunnies of the Culture come across the harsh reality of the rest of the universe. It's in that rub, where the seemingly infallible brains of the Culture, and their all-too-fallible agents, meet the rest of the galaxy that some of Banks’ most compelling works are set. For those familiar with Banks, I’m pleased to make your acquaintance. And for those just setting out to read Banks, I honestly would say I envy you.

Of course, the above is only a short, all-too-worthy introduction. For another side, Banks has also written a non-fiction book on the joys of whisky…and did we mention that there is a panel at Odyssey devoted to appreciating that particular drink? Oddly enough, Banks has agreed to be on it...