our first image from the cultural universe of iain mbanks is a man drowning in sewage: a clear precedent of what was to come. And 30 years after its first publication, Consider Phlebas remains a novel that is grimly opposed to the glittering rockets and stunts of most space operas. banks broke the genre apart and, with a little inspiration from m john harrison and ursula le guin (and some outright theft from larry niven), created a series of space opera novels that remains unmatched.
but for all his mastery of high-octane action sequences and the sheer invention of his big dumb objects, banks’ sci-fi (credited to mbanks, his fiction without the middle initial) has endured because his deft balance of galactic reach with stories on a human scale. stories of loss, grief, rebirth, and self-discovery are at the core of the best cultural novels. he did not write literary and science fiction novels: he was a master of storytelling that combined both.
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These are my top five cultural novels, but I wish I had included at least five more. he would use weapons at six, which could perplex bank fans at their most enthusiastic. seven would be a collection of short stories about the state of the art, containing only brief glimpses of the culture. matter (eight), inversions (nine), and surface detail (10) all have their own strengths, but lack the genius of banks at their best, which I think you’ll find here:
five: the hydrogen sonata
The last cultural novel published was a return to best form for banks. The gzilt are ready to “sublimate” to the next plane of existence. but first there are some old scores to settle. It is the most overtly satirical of all of Banks’ science fiction novels, offering an angry critique of “Third Way” liberal leaders like Tony Blair. but the star of the show is the bug, no, a culture ship of a “non-standard” type, that is, with a lot of high-level weaponry. shows exactly how tough utopian culture can be.
four: excess
Minds (intelligent, thinking computers) are the secret stars of cultural novels, but here they take center stage. what do super-intelligent, virtually immortal ais do for fun? among other things, they represent decades-long plots to overthrow less developed and more barbaric civilizations. but even minds sometimes face opponents they cannot outwit. Featuring outrage, a race literally named for how outrageously evil they are, these are banks at their funniest, most comical, and most inventive.
three: consider phlebas
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After nearly drowning the hero in sewage in its opening scene, the first published culture novel embarks on a roaring murder spree across major landmarks in the Banksian universe. space pirates, circle worlds, cannibalistic cultists, a lethal card game and a planet of the dead… the culture is shown through the eyes of those who hate and fear this machine-run society, creating, by far , the darkest science fiction of all banks. typing.
two: the game player
Both a love poem to the joy of gaming and a warning against gamer psychology, the story of the culture’s best gamer, who is on a quest to compete against an alien society where games decide the hierarchies of the world real. , is the most complete and accessible book in the culture series. This makes it a good starting point for the iain m banks neophyte, and also the first book I recommend to non-sci-fi readers curious about the genre.
one: look to windward
I suspect looking upwind was iain banks showing the peak of his talent, and what a great show he is. the meddlesome culture has accidentally triggered a caste war in a civilization they were trying to liberate. a highborn young officer, maimed in battle and wracked with grief, is manipulated into committing a retaliatory terrorist attack on the culture. Meanwhile, an exiled composer creates a symphony to mark the light of an ancient supernova, seen at two points and six centuries apart, by the immortal mind that blew up the star. the fact that half the cast are six-limbed tiger-like predators somehow only adds to the poetry. Look to Windward is where Banks’s interplay of science fiction imagery and literary themes reaches its own symphonic climax, making it not only the best cultural novel, but perhaps the best science fiction novel ever.
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- what are your favorite iain m banks novels? let us know in the comments below.