RIP Iain Banks

waylander · Jun 9, 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22835047

This is so sad.

Cyia · Jun 9, 2013

Ruth2 · Jun 9, 2013

I am so sorry to hear this. RIP, Iain Banks.

sarahdalton · Jun 9, 2013

This is the first time the passing of someone I don't personally know has made me want to cry. His books are very special to me.

Sophia · Jun 9, 2013

I'm very sorry. This is such sad news. Rest in peace, Iain Banks.

ellio · Jun 9, 2013

Can't imagine how difficult that must be for his friends and family. He only found out he had cancer two months ago or so. Christ.

What a sad loss for literature.

bearilou · Jun 9, 2013

amergina · Jun 9, 2013

fking cancer.

Bufty · Jun 9, 2013

Wow - that is sudden. Sincere condolences to family and friends. RIP Iain.

eyeblink · Jun 9, 2013

Sad news indeed. I met him once, when we were both on an Eastercon panel three years ago. I'd been in the same room as him before at previous Eastercons. He struck me as a very down to earth, genuine guy and comments from people who knew him better than me bear that out.

RIP.

dondomat · Jun 9, 2013

Argh, so soon!

He only announced he had inoperable cancer like two months ago. Dammmit. This is a weird year. James Herbert gone, now Banks. Tom Piccirilli is struggling with cancer too.

Iain was the best writer of his generation, both high lit and space opera. In fact, he is generally acknowledged to have single-handedly kick-started the new wave of space opera. Jokingly. As an aside, almost.

He was, in my opinion, a better lit writer than Martin Amis or the various Delillos, and a top-notch space fantasy writer second to no one. His last book, the Hydrogen Sonata, was up there with Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time.

He was a writer of infinite elegance, boundless imagination, and supreme self-confidence.

RIP

dpaterso · Jun 9, 2013

Well dammit.

-Derek

gothicangel · Jun 9, 2013

Just had post this Auden poem:

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Thank you Iain, for leaving us the gift of your words. You where the first of the alumni of Stirling University, and the best of us.

Shakesbear · Jun 9, 2013

R I P

Mayfield · Jun 9, 2013

Very sad. His books have meant so much to me over the years. My deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.

Thank you, Mr. Banks. Wishing you peace.

aliceshortcake · Jun 9, 2013

What a huge loss.

Scott Kaelen · Jun 9, 2013

It's difficult to know what to say.
I thought I'd read an update by Iain only a week or two ago that there might have been a possibly of chemo . . .
Very sad. Another of the greats gone. I only ever got around to reading several of Iain's novels, but I have a friend to whom Banks was an idol (as the late Asimov was to me) who'll likely be drowning his sorrows in a pint or ten of real ale later, I'm sure.

I feel selfish for saying it, but it's news like this that scares the hell out of me.

Snowstorm · Jun 9, 2013

What a loss. I read one book of his not long ago and really want to return to his series. I'm sorry for the loss to his family, friends, and the world.

Paint it Pink · Jun 9, 2013

I liked Iain, didn't know him well, but met him a few times at cons. Words fail me.

AVS · Jun 9, 2013

Terribly saddened by this. He was one of my heroes from The Wasp Factory onwards. Makes me want to shake my fist pointlessly at the appalling randomness of it all.

Thanks Iain for years of enjoyment.

Filigree · Jun 9, 2013

I've been a fan of his work for years. Not only because he was a great writer, but a fellow humanist.

Manuel Royal · Jun 9, 2013

dondomat said:
His last book, the Hydrogen Sonata, was up there with Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time.

That's high praise. I look forward to reading it.

He made good use of his time in the world, and left behind words that people not born yet will read and enjoy. I hope we can all do as well.

ETA: Damn! I went to look at Iain Banks' entry in the online Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, and saw that Jack Vance died two weeks ago! Had no idea.

triceretops · Jun 9, 2013

What a damn shame and a loss. Loved his SF stuff--really inspired me--him and Alan D. Foster.

tri

onesecondglance · Jun 9, 2013

My thoughts are with his family. Very sad news.

seun · Jun 10, 2013

Very sad news. I read Walking On Glass when I was about 17. The inspiration of wanting to write something that imaginative, interesting and just plain cool is still with me.

RIP Iain Banks

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