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A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

littlebrown.co.uk

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Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#241

Post by tjic »

xradionut wrote: post #203
pavel_lishin wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the only novel of his I read was Finity, and that kind of turned me off.

Not all of his work is great, but the "Thousand Cultures" series and "Century Next Door" series are the great reads. Note: The dark anti-hero in "Kaleidoscope Century" is probably the reason he hasn't won many major awards. You can't write such a character and not piss off the various sci-fi author and fandom cliches.

Agreed. Barnes can go dark - REALLY dark.

The Directive 51 universe is really dark, but has a ton of great ideas and great writing.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#242

Post by thebooktocome »

Jach wrote: post #211
thebooktocome wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hanson's estimate is no better than the Drake equation. Everyone assigns different numbers to the various probabilities, multiplies them together, and gets a different result.

Sure, though the more important part of the exercise is the analysis. Same thing with the Drake Equation. And in both cases the terms aren't immune to new information, nor can you expect to honestly get away with assigning anything you want. You might have a different list of criteria or different probabilities, but the point is to lay them down and give a reason why you think it's unlikely enough not to pay the smal…

> And in both cases the terms aren't immune to new information, nor can you expect to honestly get away with assigning anything you want.

Actually, you can get away with assigning anything you want. That's hidden in the assumption that the criteria he lists are more-or-less independent.

> You might have a different list of criteria or different probabilities, but the point is to lay them down and give a reason why you think it's unlikely enough not to pay the small sum of money.

You've got the burden of proof backward. The cryonics advocates are the ones trying to argue that cryonics will work with sufficiently high probability to make investing in it worthwhile. The grandparent cited 5% as if that figure had even one significant digit -- which it doesn't, by Hanson's own calculation.

> It also lets others argue with you over your estimates, because they might have information you don't, now or in future years.

It also lets others argue even if they don't have new information, which just wastes everyone's time. The same phenomena also occurs with the Drake equation.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#243

Post by jacquesm »

mikeash wrote: post #230
jacquesm wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> enjoys broad popularity in the UK. I think he enjoys broad popularity just about everywhere in SF fan circles.

Perhaps, although he doesn't seem as well known, even among SFists, in the US as some other authors. However, when I say broad popularity in the UK, I mean in the entire literate population, not just SF, as his non-SF books are also highly regarded there, while fairly unknown in the US. If you go into an American book store, you may find a couple of Banks books in the SF section, if it's a large and intelligent store…

> you'll generally find his entire bibliography, SF and non.

Ditto in my bookcase, and I'm in NL, not the UK...

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#244

Post by xradionut »

abraininavat wrote: post #236
xradionut wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Player of Games is one of the few sci-fi books I recommend to readers interested in the genre.

To everyone who enjoyed Player of Games, I ask.. why? I'm not suggesting your opinions are wrong , of course, but I had a much different impression. Obviously Player of Games is well regarded by many people, so I'm curious to know what I missed. --- SPOILERS BELOW --- My general impression was that the Empire of Azad was that its conception lacked imagination. The peculiarities of the species (the three sexes, the so…

The point of the book is obvious, once completely read. In fact it's wickedly delightful and has nothing to do with Azad.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#245

Post by pavel_lishin »

xradionut wrote: post #203
pavel_lishin wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the only novel of his I read was Finity, and that kind of turned me off.

Not all of his work is great, but the "Thousand Cultures" series and "Century Next Door" series are the great reads. Note: The dark anti-hero in "Kaleidoscope Century" is probably the reason he hasn't won many major awards. You can't write such a character and not piss off the various sci-fi author and fandom cliches.

Thank you, I'll check them out

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#246

Post by Domenic_S »

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #216
adventured wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cancer isn't even remotely exclusive to western society. You don't think there's a cancer cost to the fact that 36% of Japanese men smoke? In Japan, their cancer rate per 100,000 is 1/4 lower than in the US, but that isn't close to the claimed exclusivity. 220 per 100k in Japan versus 300 per 100k in the US. In S.Korea, it's 260 per 100k, for a mere 13% variance. How come the Chinese live seven years less than the su…

Your right. I shouldn't have said "exclusive". I shouldn't be posting when I'm sick. Mea culpa . Instead, what I should have said is, cancer rates are significantly higher in "western" countries and certain kinds of cancers have seen dramatic increases, such as breast cancer[1] and prostate cancer[2], as countries have "westernized". As countries westernize, rates of these cancers increase. 1. http://www.independent.…

Or perhaps western medicine is better at detecting those diseases.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#247

Post by CoffeeDregs »

Very sad news indeed. Just introduced the works of Iain M. Banks to a friend, so something happy does come from sad news.

Also, if you're a fan of the Culture universe and want a smile, have a gander at a list of Culture ship names @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Cultu...

  "Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The"
  "Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again"
  "Lapsed Pacifist"
  "Subtle Shift In Emphasis"
I read science fiction to wonder at new ideas, concepts and their effects. But the Culture sounds like an incredible place to live. It's incredible that Banks could invent, create and hold the entirety of the Culture in his head.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#248

Post by Tycho »

ceejayoz wrote: post #77
StavrosK wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which Banks book should I start with? I was going to start with the Player of Games after your comment, but it turns out it's part of a series, and Consider Phlebas is the first one. Does it matter?

No, it doesn't really matter. Each of the Culture novels is basically standalone. They occasionally reference events amongst each other, but more in an "this is an interesting story too" manner.

It's quite an interesting concept... Instead of having a recurring character in a series of standalone novels, have a recurring culture.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#249

Post by Florin_Andrei »

jbattle wrote: post #214
swombat wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you LOVE science fiction already, I'd go straight for the jugular and start with Excession. It's hardcore, it's full of awesome technology, it will blow your mind and forever seduce you into the world of the Culture. If you're just a normal science fiction fan, start with Use of Weapons. It's complex and sci-fi-ish enough, but not as hardcore as Excession. The plot is amazing. To me it is one of the most memorable…

Thanks for this - I read Consider Phlebas and was very underwhelmed by it. Just now I struggled to remember much of the plot even though I read it less than a year ago. I'll check out some of your other recommendations.

> I read Consider Phlebas and was very underwhelmed by it.

Huh. Same here. I've only read CP and I honestly could not tell why everyone is so excited about Banks.

Okay then, I'll add a few more titles to my wish list. Thanks!

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#250

Post by nawitus »

mryan wrote: post #218
mryan wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

alphaoverlord understands the point I was making. Both of these things are impossible, at the current level of tech. One or both of them might become possible through the use of sufficiently advanced technology. > On the other hand, it's pretty reasonable to assume that a cryopreserved brain preserves a lot of the information in the brain. See, I don't think it's reasonable to assume this. I believe that both of thes…

nawitus, I can't reply to your other comment, which is probably a good thing :-) You are taking me literally, when you shouldn't - I was being flippant. Of course it is unlikely we will ever make the technology that can take the dust that, decades ago, used to make up a human brain, and somehow retrieve information from it. The point I am making is that you said: > On the other hand, it's pretty reasonable to assume…

>I flippantly argued that if your argument is "it's reasonable to assume science will solve the problem for us", you could apply that to essentially anything.

Well, I don't believe that anything is reasonable, that applies merely to reasonable things.

>I do think that "it's reasonable to assume" is faulty logic when talking about something that is beyond the current reach of science, and should be questioned at every possible opportunity.

Just because it's beyond the reach of technology, doesn't mean it's faulty to talk about it. It's clear that it will be possible in principle to travel to other planets, cure aging etc., but we don't have the technology for that yet.

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