[DanaC]

The Wasp Factory is one of my all time favourite books ever. My bro got it whne it first came out (80s) and it did the round o fthe whole family.

It was Banks's debut novel. My God, what an opening salvo.

I hope you haven't been given The Twist yet. Avoid any and all spoilers, because I never saw it coming :p


You can tell which of his are sci-fi and which are 'straight' novels (though many of his straight novels have elements of magical realism to them) by how his name is presented on the book: Iain Banks = straight novel, Iain M Banks = sci-fi.

I haven't really got into his sci-fi (I started Consider Phlebus years ago and didn't click with it), I may give them another go, they're highly respected amongst the sci-fi literati apparently.

Here are a couple of recommendations though for his straight novels:

The Bridge. This has influenced quite a few authors and tv makers over the years. I think Life on Mars may have taken some of its influence from there. A very strange and slightly disturbing book. It all takes place on a giant bridge into which are built apartments and offices and a whole community. Very bureacratic, with importance given to which level you live and work on. There is no end to the Bridge, it just goes on. The main protagonist awakes to find himself there with no memory of before.

Walking on Glass: Again very strange book. This was his second outing, released not too long after Wasp Factory. It contains one of my favourite ever literary devices, which I won;t detail in case it spoils it for you:p It is made up of three separate but ultimately connected story strands, with one of them taking place in a bizarre old castle. Like the Bridge this seems to exist outside of time and reality as we understand it. The occupants engaged in a never ending series of games. My recollection of the other two strands is a little hazy, but something about the couple in the castle just stays with me.

I'm probably not doing it justice, but it really is worth reading.

Espedair Street is also brilliant, but much more of a straight story. It doesn't have the gothic horror of Wasp Factory and Walking on Glass.

The Crow Road is really good, and was adapted into a tv series. I always loved the main character Prentice.

Complicity is an intriguing murder mystery but also a delving into human nature and sin. Be warned, it gets very dark.

A Song of Stone was a return to the slightly bizarre, magical realism of his earlier work. Again quite disturbing in its own little way :P



I am halfway through Transitions, which is his most recent novel. It really is very good. Compelling characters, intrigue and plotting, a kafkaesque agency, and a strange and twisted love story played out across multiple versions of reality.