One week after the death of Jack Vance, another towering giant in the sf world passed away. Iain M. Banks was only 59 years old when he died in June 9. He had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer only a few months prior, and knew his time was marked and short.
I’ve mainly read his Culture and other sf books, all under the Iain M. Banks name, rather than his Iain Banks literary fiction. His two most memorable books are Feersum Endjinn and Player of Games, and while at times his penchant for twist endings seemed contrived, everything prior to his endings stood out as an example of superb writing and dazzling imagination at furious work. Time, I think, to look for his non-sf books and mourn his loss by celebrating his fiction.
