Iain Banks

“It was the day my grandmother exploded.”

The Crow Road by Iain Banks

August 23, 2025 by bjornsnipe Leave a Comment

The Crow Road is about about Prentice McHoan’s preoccupation with death, sex, his relationship with his father, unrequited love, sibling rivalry, a missing uncle, cars, alcohol and other intoxicants, and God, against the background of the Scottish landscape. And doesn’t that just sound like so much fun? Or maybe just a Scottish take off on Nine’s “Folies Bergeres” Necrophorus: The trouble with Contini, he’s the king of mediocrities, A second-rate director who believes that he is Socrates. He never makes a “movie” or a “picture?” […]

Inside the mind of madness

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

July 4, 2025 by NatalieH Leave a Comment

I love Iain Banks’ Science Fiction Culture novels, so at some point in the past, I picked up his debut novel The Wasp Factory, released in 1984. It’s not my usual genre (sort of a psychological horror, I think? It’s somewhat hard to pin down), so it’s languished on my shelves for quite some time. I’ve been making a concerted effort to cut down on my physical TBR this year (down to 300ish from 400ish at the beginning of January!) and this is a short […]

A space game that’s not Ender’s.

July 16, 2015 by Fiat.Luxury Leave a Comment

This is one of those books that has just kind of stuck with me. The story arc is straightforward and not super exciting on the surface: man who is good at playing games plays a really hard game. The writing wasn’t bombastic; I wasn’t marveling at all the well-turned phrases. I didn’t particularly care for the main character until about halfway through, and the only other characters I sort of cared about were the droids. But…it has taken me about three weeks to sit down and […]

A thoroughly enjoyable disturbing novel!

December 31, 2014 by AamilTheCamel Leave a Comment

Fifty-first book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. This book is not for the faint-hearted. It isn’t for those who can’t stand gore and animal cruelty and the death of children. But in its own way, this is one of the best books I have ever read. This is the story of Frank, a 16 year old living with his Father on an island. His brother, Eric, has just escaped from a mental asylum and for the major part of the book, Frank is […]

Sci-fi as Literature: Matter by Iain Banks

January 21, 2014 by BB-8 1 Comment

It often takes only a few interesting elements to make a science fiction story successful

narfna
on “Feral, for all the wildness it implies, just means that an animal was abandoned by the system that created it.”
I see her pretty frequently in town and I always have to be like, don't be a creep. She doesn't...
jomidi
on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
Really enjoying this comment discussion. So many suggestions. Since I love fairy tale retellings and YA fantasy, lots of good...
Malin
on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
In my book club, when we have pretty much come to the agreement that if the protagonists are still teenagers...
katie71483
on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
Like so many others here, I'm a sucker for Tamora Pierce. Is Robin McKinley YA? Because I love her books,...
Tracy
on Interesting From an Intellectual Standpoint
I didn’t find it funny, and I’m not sure if my sense of humor doesn’t mesh with his or if...

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