Books by Iain M Banks
“I read all of the Culture novels back-to-back, and this was the one that I had the most vivid and guttural reaction to. I found it really intense. It’s an extraordinary novel: absolutely terrifying, and really upsetting in many ways. The story that Surface Detail tells is about a war taking place in virtual reality, the outcome of which will decide whether societies within the Culture are allowed to create their own hell. It’s a story about how meaningful religion still is in a technological universe, and abut cultural difference, and it’s also definitely about capital punishment – and there’s never really any doubt as to which side Banks is on. And it’s also just a ludicrously readable story, because it’s constantly opening up kind of new vistas of ideas and worlds.” Read more...
The Best Science Fiction Worlds
Tom Huddleston, Novelist
“The underlying conceit is that this is a post-scarcity society where people are free from any kind of material concerns. If they want to tear down their existing planet and build a whole new one, they can just go ahead and do it. It’s quite a successful imagining of what things might be like, and how people might react to an end to scarcity.” Read more...
John Quiggin, Economist
Interviews where books by Iain M Banks were recommended
The best books on Utopia, recommended by John Quiggin
Australian economist John Quiggin, author of Zombie Economics, says we need to inspire people with a view of a better society. In short, we need a new utopia.
The Best Science Fiction Worlds, selected by Tom Huddleston
For many readers of science fiction, world building is the most important feature of their favourite books. Tom Huddleston, author of The Worlds of Dune, explains how the best fictional worlds are original and immersive—and, above all, mind-expanding. Here he introduces us to his top five sci fi worlds, and to the extraordinary thinkers who created them.
