Time to Rank His Books

[gully_foyle]

Allegra, have you read Look to Windward yet? There is a sub theme about musical composition and performance that would probably strike a chord with your interests (yes! terrible pun intended!). Not many people rate it particularly highly, but I loved it.

[Allegra]

That's my next Culture to read, gully! I read some reviews that mentioned the music part and yes, it did strike a chord to make me promptly clicked on 'buy'. I'd have bought it anyway. Now I can safely say for myself all the Culture books are a must to be read and some re-read.

I wonder what's brewing currently in Banks' m...Mind? Hope it's going to be a new Culture!

[Allegra]

Must've been spoilt by previous Banks' books I've read (last one to be Look to Windward and loved it), I found Inversions quite disappointing. It's very not Culture though it is; and it's very not Banks' usual brilliant style. I mean, where are the depth of the charaters, the layers of plots and that wry humour? It's artfully constructed, The Dortor and The Bodyguard are interesting enough. But that's about it. The storyline moves slowly and uncompelling. If not because it's a Banks and Banks' endings are not to be missed I'd have dropped it half way. No wonder it's not ranked high here.

[AE35Unit]

Originally Posted by Allegra

I found Inversions quite disappointing. It's very not Culture though it is; and it's very not Banks' usual brilliant style. I mean, where are the depth of the charaters, the layers of plots and that wry humour? It's artfully constructed, The Dortor and The Bodyguard are interesting enough. But that's about it. The storyline moves slowly and uncompelling. If not because it's a Banks and Banks' endings are not to be missed I'd have dropped it half way. No wonder it's not ranked high here.

I've read many similar reviews of this book on Library Thing too-it seems no-one likes it!

[Rodders]

I don't think that Inversions is disappointing, just different and not what i would have expected at all. When i think of a culture book, i think of the Ships minds and a sweeping galactic stage and not a medieval tale.

[bobbo19]

1.The Player of Games
2.The Algerbraist
3.Consider Phelbas
4.Look to Windward(controversially placed above Excession!)
5.Excession
6.Matter
7.Use of Weapons(only reason being i did not stand out as much as the other)

This list as many of you have said will most likely change, and it was very difficult placing the top 3 especially. The Player of Games has to be the best for me though.Blew me away!

[Rodders]

Good to see someone else appreciate the Player of Games. A truly superb book and one that deserves to be considered classic IMO.

[Rackon]

It's always interesting to me, who just started delving into Bank's Culture/SF novels last year, to see how long time readers rank the books.

So far, I would recommend any of them to the thoughtful reader of SF. And unlike some others, I don't have a clear preference for Culture vs non-culture novels. In fact, the first Banks I ever read 10 years ago was The Bridge, which is not that far from the most recently read, Transition.

I'm currently re-reading Feersum Endjinn, which I like a lot. Amog the "M" novels still to be read: Look To Windward, Excession, Inversions and Against A Dark Background. I enjoyed the Iain Banks novels The Crow Road, Whit, Espedair Street and, of course, The Bridge, the best non M book IMO. Don't know quite what I think about The Wasp Factory, a sublimely nasty, if brilliantly written, little tale if ever there was one.

I concur with others that Player Of Games is probably the easiest for the Banks novice to start with, and an excellent introduction to the Culture universe in general.

These are simply my favorites of the moment...like you all, the order of this list changes from day to day, depending on what I've read last, and what I've had for breakfast.

1. Use Of Weapons
2. The Algebraist
3. Feersum Endjinn
4. Transition (It's an M novel in this country)
5. Player Of Games
6. Consider Phlebas
7. Matter

[Vertigo]

Sorry to ressurect an old(ish) thread but I'm still a newbie .

One thing that keeps popping out of various mentions of Banks throughout Chrons and made me go looking for a thread like this one, is that fans of Banks seem to have more varied opinions of his books that almost any other author I have come across. With most authors there is generally fairly consistent agreement on the best and worst of their works. But with Banks it seems to vary considerably. Most seem to put Player of Games and Consider Phlebas up quite high but after that there is huge variety. Some examples:

Some people seem to find The Algerbraist one of the best, others one of the worst. The same for Look to Windward and again for Feersum Endjinn.

Not quite sure what that says about Banks but I sort of instinctively feel it is good.

I really wouldn't like to try and rank them myself without going back and having a marathon re-read of them all together. I find my ranking of anything is always very heavily biased (for good or bad) by how recently I have read it.

[bobbo19]

@Vertigo attempted a re-read marathon and since have placed Look For Windward above Cosider Phlebas. IMO LTW is underrated. Player Of Games has to remain up there as the top for me, was just as good a read the second time round

[Vertigo]

I keep thinking about emabrking on a re-read but it is a rather scary thought, also I rarely re-read books unless a couple of decades have gone past. However the biggest stopper is simply how many new books I have waiting to be read for the first time and since joining this forum that list seems to be growing faster than I am reading... help!

[gully_foyle]

I quite enjoy a Banks re-read. So far have read The Algebraist, Excession and Consider Phlebas. I think a re-read is something you do when you don't want to stretch your mind on some weighty tome or plain just don't want to chance it with a new book. A re-read also helps enforce the story in your memory and allows you to pick up on the subtleties you may have missed the first time. However, whilst The Algebraist and Excession were confirmed as excellent books, I am with Bobbo19 (what happened to 1 to 18?) in that Consider Phlebas slipped a little in my rankings after a second read.

[clovis-man]

I'm reading Raw Spirit right now. It doesn't fit in with any of his fiction (SF or otherwise) but it sure displays his sense of humor. A really fun read, but I would not try to rank it.

[Vertigo]

Originally Posted by clovis-man

I'm reading Raw Spirit right now. It doesn't fit in with any of his fiction (SF or otherwise) but it sure displays his sense of humor. A really fun read, but I would not try to rank it.

Yeah I was given it as a present by a friend who knew I liked his SF books and that I was into my whisky. I wasn't too sure what I would make of it, being well outside my normal reading material, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. And yes you do really get a feel for his sense of humour and I particularly liked the rather wry amusement with which he seemed to view himself. The book certainly made me warm to him as a person which was further reinforced when I saw him in a number of interviews and even once IIRC on a University challenge special.

[Thadlerian]

My ranking of the Culture books:

1: The Player of Games - This one ranks so far, far above the rest. After rereading this summer, I've found it one of my overall favourite novels. It's the one that feels the most like a complete story, a novel in its own right. The Game of Azad is wonderfully described, without going in any actual detail on how it works. Gurgeh's trip into the Ghetto was haunting, and the scene where Flere-Imsaho shows him the encrypted Azadian channels is very strong and moving, without digressing into this excessively graphic violence that Banks seems so fond of. Also, Gurgeh's growing friendship with Flere-Imsaho is very beautiful, though it would have been even better if Banks had spared himself the ending revelation.

2: Look to Windward - Also very good. Far more of the whimsical comedy that marks out the Culture books. The eccentric ships, the Chelgrian's dry comments on that lava river boat ride, the guy floating around the gas giant, losing his pen, and so on. Much laughter contained in this book.

3: The State of the Art (novella) - My first Culture book. Crazy ship, comments on contemporary Earth, nice and quiet storyline - what's not to like about this one? A bit short, though.

4: Excession - The Affront and their antics were awesome. Some of the ships as well. But the book dragged, and the ending was very disappointing. Essentially, it went along the lines of "This could have been awesome, but you weren't ready. Oh well."

5: Matter - What is it about acclaimed writers and editing? Banks, Pratchett, Rowling, Martin - the more famous, the more excessive they get word-wise. Matter is a 200-page plot in a 700-page brick. Why did I have to read about Oramen every third chapter, when he had no significance in the plot resolution whatsoever? Not to mention hundreds of pages about Sarl and tyl Loesp and this detour to visit Xide Hyrlis. Otherwise, the book had some sweet scenes that effectively conveyed the size of things: Syaung-un, and Sursamen core.

6: The Use of Weapons - I read this one three years ago, and I can't remember a thing.

7: Consider Phlebas - I read this one after TSotA, LtW and PoG, and expected it to be similar. My disappointment was great when I found it to not even closely resemble the three aforementioned books. This book had some truly appalling scenes of gratuitous and graphic violence, with the cannibals on Vavatch orbital standing out the most vividly.

In short, the Culture books seem to climb high and sink deep.