A sad day for Science Fiction
This is kind of a personal thing but since this is my blog I figured I can indulge myself. I found out this morning that Iain Banks, brilliant author of the Culture series, has late stage cancer. He is easily my favorite author and Use of Weapons is my all time favorite book. If you have not read it I highly recommend you do.
I stumbled upon that book while looking for almost anything and the cover drew me in. It was a cool picture of a city burning, and at the time I was really into military sci fi. The story however blew my mind. Mr. Banks crafts a narrative like no other and draws you into his characters amazingly well. His books are full of cool twists and plot points, and the Culture series is a shocking rich setting. If you enjoy Use of Weapons the next two I would recommend would be the Player of Games and Consider Phlebas. Both are excellent.
His books always have a dark side which I appreciate. However if you like the darkness check out some of his non-sci fi fiction. They make his sci fi look like a Smurfs episode. The Wasp Factory is as dark and grim as anything you could consider and if that doesn’t ruin your life (in a good way) read the Crow Road.
Anyway, it is a sad day not only for sci fi but in my opinion literature. He is penultimate example of where science fiction could go with the right amount of imagination based in reality, and makes most of the amateurish work out there look like 4th grade creative writing assignments (for example the book they based the movie I last reviewed on). 
If there were a god and he loved nerds he would send a miracle to Mr. Banks.
Dave
(Nerd message courtesy of the Funny T Shirt category)
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