#171

just finished watching starship troopers. still, without doubt, the single greatest film ever made.

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#172

I think @LastAstronaut is probably right that itā€™s Against a Dark Background which is a fucking SLOG of a book. Christ.

The best one is Inversions as itā€™s the only one written with the style of his contemporary books. The others can suffer from him writing in an over-serious style. I think Player of Games is a good first one to read and while I donā€™t think any M. Banks stuff is bad, I donā€™t think itā€™s his best comparative to his non-Sci-Fi books like The Wasp Factory or The Crow Road. (And one could argue The Bridge is more Sci-Fi than anything I guess.)

Personally @Twinkletoes I reckon if thereā€™s one author everyone should read itā€™s Asimov. I avoided him for over a decade because I presumed his style of writing would be very like Iain M Banksā€™s: slightly dry/reserved. But bloody hell, that man could write a story. I, Robot, Foundation, the Elijah Baley books are all really fantastic, despite all the effective anachronisms contained within them.

#173

I was a big fan of Ancillary Justice.

I also really enjoyed Too Like the Lightning and Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer. I wasnā€™t fully on-board with her ideas at all times but it was really interesting to think about. If you want a good book to discuss in a book club or something then Too Like the Lightning will definitely achieve that.

#174

If I have read one author more than anyone else, itā€™s Asimov. All his robot short stories, then the longer books with robots. Many of them whodunnits. Then the whole Foundation trilogyā€¦which goes on even further if I remember correctly. Then I can distinctly remember he started referencing other books as well. I donā€™t want to say too much in case I spoil stuff, but there is kind of an ā€˜aaaahā€™ moment.

I want to go back and reread them, but make sure I get the order correct.

As you say, some writing isnā€™t the best, and is dated, but itā€™s all about the ideas.

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#175

I started reading his stuff after The Caves of Steel came on as a play on Radio 4 in the afternoon. I didnā€™t know how long it was lasting for and couldnā€™t (in those days) check without leaving the room which I didnā€™t want to do. I think it was actually something like 2 hours in the end. But (as you probably know) the mystery has a number of points where Baley declareā€™s heā€™s solved the puzzle, except he hasnā€™t. Clearly when youā€™re reading a book you know how much is left to read so you realise itā€™s a false call but in this instance every time I was obviously, ā€œOoh, right, that makes sense,ā€ before the rug was pulled from under me :smiley:

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#176

Iā€™ll vouch for Asimov - first Foundations books are among my absolutely favourites

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#177

Yep. In Foundation, they did similar stuff with the location of Earth (and Foundation itself?) and The Mule as well if I remember correctly.

#178

This was the one I enjoyed the leastā€¦ Just not that keen on faux-historical stuff. For my money, the Excession was the best. Love the conversations between the ships/Minds and the whole concept the novel is based around.

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#179

Excession was a return to form to be fair.

I think I liked Inversions a bit because it reminded me somewhat of the Stainless Steel Rat books.

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#180

In the later foundation books he tied the foundation universe to the robot universe (something which he never intended when he started but which is SO satisfying if you read them in ā€œchronologicalā€ order) :nerd_face:

#181

Yes. As soon as I posted it, I thought that. Obviously the way to read is as he wrote. I am a dumbass.

I still remember the ā€˜tieing upā€™ clearly.

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#182

I didnā€™t mind Against A Dark Background, not his best sci-fi but I didnā€™t think it was a slog. Inversions is ok but I canā€™t agree itā€™s his best, pretty sure Iā€™ve read it twice but it didnā€™t really wow me either time.

Iā€™d have to go for Excession as his best sci-fi I think, although Transition, Walking on Glass and The Bridge could all be considered sci-fi and are as good if not better than a lot of his M Banks novels imo.

Iā€™ve only read the Foundation books by Asimov and to be honest I found them dated and really quite dull.

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#183

Asimov is like Arthur C Clarke : a much better ideas writer than a gifted writer for the details of character creation, dialogue etc. Plus with both you have to be ok with them being products of their time in terms of gender attitudes etc.

I actually thought that Asimov developed a fair deal as a writer during his career and his later foundation books are better written than the really ones.

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#184

Banks chat, huh? Probably rude not to comment reallyā€¦

Inversions is by my reckoning the second weakest of the Scifi, only ahead of the dismal Matter, although still worth a read. I enjoyed Against a Dark Background too, re-read it several times and I think it stands up pretty well, although I wouldnā€™t argue itā€™s one of his best.

For me, the top three are Excession (no shit), Look To Windward and Consider Phlebas (possibly for nostalgic reasons). Probably not that surprising are there are common themes and styles, and in some senses they follow on from one another. For my money his scifi is incredibly consistent, unlike his ā€œnormalā€ stuff which I have a real love/hate relationship with. Interesting to see that @LastAstronaut likes The Bridge and Walking on Glass, couldnā€™t stand either of them when I read them (a long time ago, admittedly).

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#185

It has been a very long time since I read Walking on Glass tbh, Iā€™ll put in the Banks re-read pile.

Not seen The Algebraist mentioned, I seem to remember that being a good non-Culture novel (again, been a good few years since I read it)

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#186

Again. Use of Weapons is the best, you imbeciles.

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#187

Depends what youā€™re after. Itā€™s the least ā€˜funā€™ read - very powerful but itā€™s less what I come into Banksā€™s universe for.

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#188

No it is YOU who are the imboseal.

See a lot of this sort of thing. It really isnā€™t, which is not to say itā€™s bad, just over-rated IM(correct)O.

@LastAstronaut - The Algebraist is excellent too, another thatā€™s a bit dense to get into but an incredibly imaginative book.

#189

Fair. I find Banksā€™s traditional production slightly too whimsical and farty. The focus and consistent theme in UoW I thought helped showcase his universe to its best effect.

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#190

Bloody love the algebraist. Kind of wish heā€™d done more non culture stuff like this.

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