Iain Banks dies of cancer, at age 59

[Veho]

Acclaimed Scottish author Iain Banks has died at the age of 59, two months after announcing he had terminal cancer. In an announcement made April this year, Banks revealed he was in terminal stages of gall bladder cancer, with predictions of "several months left". Following the announcement, Banks withdrew from the public in order to spend his remaining time with his family and friends.

Iain Banks is best known for his science fiction novels under the name Iain M. Banks, most notably the Culture series, and also his weird, awesome and quite sick debut novel, The Wasp Factory. He has won numerous literary awards. I heartily recommend everything he has ever written.

His publisher Little, Brown Book Group released a statement:

"On behalf of Iain's wife, Adele, it is with enormous sadness that Little, Brown announces the death of Iain Banks.
"Banks has been one of the country's best loved novelists for both his mainstream and science fiction books.
"After his own recent announcement of his cancer Iain Banks was hugely moved by the public support for him via his website.
"Just three weeks ago he was presented with finished copies of his last novel, The Quarry and enjoyed celebration parties with old friends and fans across the publishing world.
"Iain Banks' ability to combine the most fertile of imaginations with his own highly distinctive brand of gothic humour made him unique. He is an irreplaceable part of the literary world."

Rest in peace, Iain.

Source

 

[Ray Lewis]

Always a tragedy. Thanks for giving him a tribute.

 

[mameks]

I genuinely teared up when I read this before.
I'd hoped he had longer left than this, but obviously not...
RIP Ian.
in memoriam gravitas

 

[IBNobody]

Was he any good?

Jack Vance died last month, too, but he was 96.

 

[mameks]

Was he any good?

Jack Vance died last month, too, but he was 96.

quite honestly he was one of the best (if not the best, depending on your opinion) hardSF writers of the past however many years, and his mainstream fiction is like nothing else. his ideas and mastery of storytelling made some of my favourite novels of all time.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

To be honest, when I first read this, for some reason I read "Briana Banks", that hot pornstar. I was like "NOOOO" then I read it again and was like "Thank goodness!:

 

[IBNobody]

quite honestly he was one of the best (if not the best, depending on your opinion) hardSF writers of the past however many years, and his mainstream fiction is like nothing else. his ideas and mastery of storytelling made some of my favourite novels of all time.

But he never won a Hugo or Nebula? I saw that he was nominated for one Hugo, but he never won it. The Hugo award significantly leans toward Hard SF, too.

 

[omegasoul6]

To be honest, when I first read this, for some reason I read "Briana Banks", that hot pornstar. I was like "NOOOO" then I read it again and was like "Thank goodness!:

You're saying thank goodness he died...?

 

[mameks]

But he never won a Hugo or Nebula? I saw that he was nominated for one Hugo, but he never won it. The Hugo award significantly leans toward Hard SF, too.

he won surprisingly few awards, true. but his culture novels are without doubt amongst the best hard SF out there.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

You're saying thank goodness he died...?

That's a negative on that 10-4 there Delta.

 

[IBNobody]

he won surprisingly few awards, true. but his culture novels are without doubt amongst the best hard SF out there.

I'll give him a shot, then.

 

[Frank Cadena]

I've always wanted to give his books a try so hearing this sad news reminded me that I still haven't read any of his books. So next week, since I'm going on vacation, I'm going to go and borrow a few of his books from the library and bring it with me to read in lieu of my handhelds. If I like the books well enough, I might just go book hunting during my vacation and see if I can't buy any.

 

[Mushkin]

my respects :/