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Iain Banks
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 5:40 pm
by Graham Kennedy
There's been some discussion of Iain Banks and the Culture novels here. I've been a fan of his for a very long time, ever since I picked up Consider Phlebas in a library and thought the cover art made it look interesting. Now today,
this...
Author Iain Banks has revealed that he has late stage cancer and is unlikely to live for more than a year.
The Scottish writer posted a message on his official website saying his next novel The Quarry, due to be published later this year, would be his last.
The 59-year-old's novels include The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road, Complicity and the Culture series.
The statement said his health problems came to light when he saw his doctor, suffering from a sore back.
He was diagnosed with jaundice, before further tests established the full extent of his illness.
In the personal statement on his website, Banks said he had asked his partner Adele to marry him and was now on a short honeymoon.
Fellow Scottish author, Ian Rankin, said the news of Banks' terminal cancer was "just awful".
He Tweeted: "Typical of Iain to propose marriage to his partner Adele with the words 'Will you do me the honour of becoming my widow?"
Banks, who lives in North Queensferry, Fife, said he had cancelled all future public engagements.
He said: "The bottom line now, I'm afraid, is that as a late-stage gall bladder cancer patient, I'm expected to live for 'several months' and it's extremely unlikely I'll live beyond a year.
"So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last."
Truly a sad day.
Re: Iain Banks
Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 10:49 pm
by Captain Seafort
And this a sadder day. 
If he isn't remembered in the same breath as Clarke and Asimov then there's no justice in the world.
Re: Iain Banks
Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 12:02 am
by Mikey
I just heard a few hours ago. Truly, a great voice in modern literature - not just SF - has been silenced.
Re: Iain Banks
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 9:27 pm
by Mikey
Has anybody read The Hydrogen Sonata? It's sort of a Culture book, though not quite set in the Culture per se. It was published in 2012, IDK if that makes it Banks' last novel. Anyway, I'm only two chapters in so far, and I'm enjoying it quite as much as Excession and considerably more than The Use of Weapons.
Re: Iain Banks
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 9:54 pm
by Captain Seafort
Mikey wrote:Has anybody read The Hydrogen Sonata? It's sort of a Culture book, though not quite set in the Culture per se.
Not yet - I've got it on my "to get" list.
It was published in 2012, IDK if that makes it Banks' last novel.
His last 'M' novel, but not quite his last - that's just come out. The Quarry. From what I've heard it's basically about a bloke who's dying of cancer, mostly written before Banks discovered he was ill.
Re: Iain Banks
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 6:43 pm
by Mikey
Captain Seafort wrote: mostly written before Banks discovered he was ill.
You just can't make shit like that up.
Re: Iain Banks
Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 11:03 pm
by RK_Striker_JK_5
Mikey wrote:Captain Seafort wrote: mostly written before Banks discovered he was ill.
You just can't make shit like that up.
That's just a damned punch to the gut.