And then I wrote to Iain. [...]
I think you're a brilliant and an honest writer, and much more importantly, because I've known lots of brilliant writers who were absolute arses, I think you're a really good bloke, and I've loved knowing you.
[...]
If you've never read any of his books, read one of his books. Then read another. Even the bad ones were good, and the good ones were astonishing.
For me, to be frank, there are several of his most mainstream books which I don't think I'll ever get through. But his more quirky stuff and especially his space opera, was in a class of itself. For example, the term "space opera" doesn't cover his SF by a long shot. Surface Detail took place partly in artificial, computer-generated virtual realities, which got as weird as anything I've read. One of them was a highly controversial Hell Reality, which was just like a very imaginative mind could imagine Hell to be. Many wanted it deleted, but the conservative/religious forces on the planets involved kept it going. For moral and social purposes, you understand, not because of basic sadism... Two of the main character voluntarily goes in there to report of the horrors. But as you may imagine, that world is not exactly designed to be easy to get out of...
There are enough great ideas in Surface Detail alone that many authors would have gotten 8-10 books out of it. But Banks' problem didn't seem to be getting enough ideas, more how to get them down fast enough.
There are enough great ideas in Surface Detail alone that many authors would have gotten 8-10 books out of it. But Banks' problem didn't seem to be getting enough ideas, more how to get them down fast enough.
The only things that I sometimes have trouble with in his SF are the conversations between ships. I find it difficult to keep track of who is what kind of ship, and sometimes skip to the next section in the hope that it will eventually become clear. Excession is a good example.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just a lazy reader...
ReplyDeleteI think I managed to follow it.
I think he threw in a lot of nonse code and such just for background coloration. You’re not supposed to read it and understand it, like the headers in email.
I think it’s inspired particularly by newsgroups/bulletin boards before the web.
Speaking of Neil Gaiman, his latest book The Ocean at the End of the Lane is excellent. Surprisingly so, given that it is from the perspective of a 7 year old.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ken, I'll definitely get it. Some of his work is outstanding.
ReplyDeleteArticle in this weekend's Calgary Herald by James Kerridge, lifted from the Telegraph, may be of interest to you (perhaps you saw it). Can forward it to you if you can't find it . . . The headline here is 'Final novel resonates with wit, compassion'.
ReplyDeleteFor example, the term "space opera" doesn't cover his SF by a long shot.
ReplyDeleteWell, it does - because "space opera" doesn't mean poor quality. It just means a disregard - but with its own internal consistency - of the impossible. Just as in Star Trek, where they don't worry too much about the impossibility of warp drive or transporters. Apart from that there's no difference as far as what you can talk about, and in what level of complexity, from "hard" sf or "mainstream" novels.
oooodu 15
Huh.
Well, I think it transcends the genre. For me, traditional space opera is like EE Doc Smith's Lensman series... space police, fast spaceships, bigger and bigger explosion, etc.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what you mean by that. To me, he worked within the conventions of the genre of space opera but took it to a much higher level. Maybe you mean that there's no real difference between his science fiction and mainstream books, that the science fiction aspect is immaterial - not what the book is about whereas with Lensman type stuff, the science fiction is what it's about... I don't know. Is that on the right track?
ReplyDelete"To me, he worked within the conventions of the genre of space opera but took it to a much higher level."
ReplyDeleteYes, that's about what I tried to say.
I don't think he transcended it, he worked well within it, didn't rise above its conventions, etc. I read each of theCulture novels but wouldn't read them again - like, say, Cussler they're entertaining but forgettable.
ReplyDelete