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gently caress, I saw all the new posts and I knew. RIP Mr. Banks, I've only read two of your books so far but you're my favourite space scifi author 
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Jun 9, 2013 18:55
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MikeJF posted:The literary world is a much lesser place today. I have nothing to add. I wish I had a finer whiskey to toast the man, but Jameson will have to do.
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Jun 9, 2013 19:20
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drat, these news are dragging me down so much
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Jun 9, 2013 19:24
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RIP. Truly sad news.
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Jun 9, 2013 19:28
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Don't even know what to say, this is so sad . He was definitely one of my favorite writers.
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Jun 9, 2013 19:38
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The only thing I can hope is that he was surrounded by his loved ones, despite the (seemingly) unexpectedly rapid progression of his disease.
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Jun 9, 2013 19:42
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Really sad news, I started reading his books 5 years ago and he quickly became my favourite author. Matter is the only sci-fi book of his I haven't read, now I feel like I should hold off reading it for a special occasion.
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Jun 9, 2013 19:42
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Neil Gaiman on Iain's passing http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2013/06/iain-banks-with-or-without-m.html Neil Gaiman posted:I finished, a kitten fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Jun 9, 2013 |
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Jun 9, 2013 19:50
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I've been avoiding this thread for a month because it's been depressing me, but I needed to come back and say-- gently caress. gently caress gently caress. gently caress!  That's about all I can express.
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Jun 9, 2013 20:09
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GSV That wasn't the Banks I meant should be ended. poo poo buckets.
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Jun 9, 2013 20:41
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Plavski posted:In a white room somewhere far away, Iain M. Banks is waking up to the word SIMULATION floating lazily in mid-air and being informed about the neural lace implanted in his head 58 years ago. I love this. Thanks, man.
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Jun 9, 2013 21:31
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gently caress This is a tragedy.
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Jun 9, 2013 21:31
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A great man and a great writer. Sadly missed. I loved his books from reading The Wasp Factory as an angsty teen, to the dazzling star-scapes of the Culture. Raising a glass to you in Infinite Fun Space.
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Jun 9, 2013 21:35
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The one time I met him (at the Word festival in Aberdeen) I admitted that I once inadvertently stole a copy of Inversions from a library without checking it out and that it was my favourite of his books. He found this very amusing. I did return the book and I bought a copy for him to sign, though. Great guy with a bright, impish mind matched with, to all appearances, a genuinely warm personality.
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Jun 9, 2013 21:38
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If I can give even one person as much pleasure as his writing has given me then my life will have been worthwhile. And I have only read the M. Banks books, so it is consoling to have plenty more of his creations to keep me company for a while yet.
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Jun 9, 2013 21:46
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I remember that the first Banks book I started off with was The Algebraist. I remember being rather taken by the novel cover - a tiny planet orbiting a massive gas giant. The book was astounding, the only other sci fi writers I had read before him were Clarke and Herbert, whose ideas seemed dry and dated by comparison. Here was a novel that seemed to bounce with creativity and ideas. Massive ships, strange worlds and even the very idea of living on a gas giant were amazing ideas. The Culture novels were just as fascinating and entertaining. The Minds of The Culture were exciting, amusing and terrifying. I think my personal favourite Culture novel though was Surface Detail. It was one of his darker works and something very unique in the Culture Universe. I am extremely saddened that this has happened. He was an excellent writer and The Culture will stand the test of time, just like Arrakis, Middle Earth and others.
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Jun 9, 2013 22:21
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I guess this is a Dramatic Exit, Or, Thank you And Goodnight. RIP Sun-Earther Iain El-Bonko Banks of North Queensferry. 
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Jun 9, 2013 22:23
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Gravitas Shortfall posted:I guess this is a Dramatic Exit, Or, Thank you And Goodnight. I laughed so hard after reading about how Culture names work: quote:Some humanoid or drone Culture citizens have long names, often with seven or more words. Some of these words specify the citizen's origin (place of birth or manufacture), some an occupation, and some may denote specific philosophical or political alignments (chosen later in life by the citizen themselves), or make other similarly personal statements. An example would be Diziet Sma, whose full name is Rasd-Coduresa Diziet Embless Sma da' Marenhide So now at least I'm happy to have remembered that in addition to still being pretty broken up by his passing.
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Jun 9, 2013 22:28
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By sheer coincidence I have a bottle of the Macallan that I bought a while back and haven't opened yet, I think I will be having a dram or two in Banks' honor this evening.
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Jun 9, 2013 22:35
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WMain00 posted:
They weren't a series', which is part of the reason as to why they were such good books and why he was so far above all the other sci-fi writers. RIP!
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Jun 9, 2013 22:55
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quote:He looked up from it at the stars again, and the view was warped and distorted by something in his eyes, which at first he thought was rain
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Jun 9, 2013 23:14
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RIP
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Jun 9, 2013 23:17
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Torquemada posted:
Ah, gently caress, that got me teary-eyed. RIP.
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Jun 9, 2013 23:35
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gently caress. Nice post from Charles Stross: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/06/gently caress-every-cause-that-ends-in-.html
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Jun 9, 2013 23:45
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Well, he had a good run but was cut short which is tragic but I'm happy he had enjoyed his turn at life and I'm glad I've been around to read his books just as they were released. If I could stomach whiskey I'd raise a glass but I can't (believe me, I've tried!) so I'll re-read the M. books in his honour instead.
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Jun 9, 2013 23:57
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xiw posted:gently caress. Adding to that, here's Alastair Reynolds' tribute.
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Jun 10, 2013 00:02
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Well, poo poo. Whether or not his writing did anything for you, the world needed more like him.
srt fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Jun 10, 2013 |
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Jun 10, 2013 00:03
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Back in 2010 Iain typed out and posted in this thread. He struggled with a laggy smartphone to give you this message when I described you as being intelligent and witty fans, whose opinions I respected.FelchTragedy posted:Instead of signing my audiobook here is a message from Iain: El-Bonko Himself posted:hello, good to see you
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Jun 10, 2013 00:34
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God drat it; gently caress cancer He'll be sorely loving missed.
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Jun 10, 2013 00:35
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The Dark One posted:The only thing I can hope is that he was surrounded by his loved ones, despite the (seemingly) unexpectedly rapid progression of his disease.
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Jun 10, 2013 00:55
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Horrible news. I loved his culture novels.
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Jun 10, 2013 01:26
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Top Class
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One small nice touch is that people have been tweeting pictures of Banks's books and whiskeys they have on hand. Ian Rankin was retweeting them for a while before it got too much. I appear to be out of Macallan, which I guess he ranks highly in his book on scotch Raw Spirit. Must rectify this soon. Also, I was thinking that when Douglas Adams died suddenly, fans commemorated him a few days later with Towel Day. I don't know of any one object that has as much significance in his work (save a hat or, gods forbid, a chair), but if we could get working on International Drone Day, that would rock.
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Jun 10, 2013 03:19
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He'd probably quite like an international chair day.
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Jun 10, 2013 03:40
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International Sweet Meats day? RIP Iain, thanks for the amazing stories.
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Jun 10, 2013 03:49
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I'm going to miss miss his sense of humor the most I think. There are lots of good authors the write intelligent, thought provoking fiction but its much rarer to find ones that are also laugh-out-loud hilarious and these days I need that extra boost. gently caress cancer. RIP
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Jun 10, 2013 04:39
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Oh gently caress, this is like a punch in the loving gut; RIP El Bonko. Edit: I know we have this thread here, but I also know that celebrity deaths often get posted in GBS, anyone think it might be a good idea to post a thread over there? Maybe introduce Banks to some people who've never read him? Ataru13 fucked around with this message at 09:49 on Jun 10, 2013 |
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Jun 10, 2013 09:45
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Thank you for finding this. This has upset me much more than I thought it would. Banks was an inspiration to me, making me want to be a writer and showing me that there was a lot of time left in modern Science fiction, a lot left unsaid. When I am depressed I turn to the Crow Road and Steep Approach to give me some kind of touchstone and way of dealing with the world. I sometimes think that the shadow of death hangs over much of Iain's work and when I'm feeling bad it helps to know that it's possible toget through. Part of me feels like that certainty has been lost, but I know that in years to come we'll still have the characters and the worlds, still be able to follow up surface detail with the crow road, matter with stonemouth and link Zakalwe with Zelazny's Sam. For a long time as a teenager and beyond I used your fiction as a guide to help me through life and as an adult ill carry on using the culture as a way to understand the world today. I feel like I've written a lot of e/n stuff here, but drat, I'm really sad about this.
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Jun 10, 2013 10:49
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Iain Banks pretty much got me into reading after my english teacher suggested the Crow Road. The opening line to that book has got to go down with some of the greatest in history by the way, "It was the day my grandmother exploded.", editors face must have lit up. It was a bumpy ride at times, like when I was mildy traumatised by complicity at 13 years old, and I know from what he's written that there is a lot of things we wouldn't have seen eye to eye about, but that is part of what made reading it so challenging and enjoyable. Couldn't be more grateful, really nice bloke in person too.
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Jun 10, 2013 11:13
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Well drat. I thought he still had a few months to go. There were tears in my eyes when I caught up on the news this morning. I wish I'd taken the opportunity to get my second-hand copy of Use of Weapons signed by him when I went to see him talk about Stonemouth. I think he'd have been amused that someone used the back cover to write down what drugs their friends wanted them to get. I only recently read The Hydrogen Sonata too. It was a very fitting end to the Culture series. Out of his sci-fi books, I only have the Algebraist left to read, but I've got plenty of his mainstream stuff still to go. Wasp Factory, Complicity and Steep Approach to Garbadale were all fantastic, so I don't think I'll suffer from the lack of spaceships and pew pew laser action either. RIP Iain. If I had the money, I'd buy something suitably expensive and Scottish to toast your memory with.
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Jun 10, 2013 12:37
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Over the last few years his audiobooks have been released at a rapid rate. Treat yourself. I hope his giant list of ship names is released. I think a montage video of fans reading them out would be an a amazing tribute. Or at least come up with their own. International culture ship name day. I have mine, what's yours?
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Jun 10, 2013 13:19
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