‘WE'LL PROBABLY BE A TINY, TINY l’()(3flrll()1FIE Ill liliiiFCJIRif'
“Elli-t.
‘I get my ideas from class
A drugs,’ quips lain Banks
Ding the math
He may have reached his half century but IAIN BANKS continues to produce timeless works. Doug Johnstone finds him with his sci-fi hat on and a belly full of fire.
cience fiction is the sole preserve of geeky computer programmers. isn't it'.’ Well no. as it happens. it's not. The best science fiction writers can tackle topical ideas about today‘s society and the full breadth of the human condition in a way that can leave mainstream fiction in its wake. Iain Banks is just such a writer. Although better known for his non-genre work. Banks' sci-fi output is as impressive as his more conventional novels. giving him more freedom to tackle ‘the big ideas‘. ‘In science fiction you can he more didactic.
because you can set up an entire society of
civilisations from the ground up to talk about one single issue.’ he says. "l‘hat gives you enormous scope to be able to make the setting part of the argument. We can't do that with mainstream fiction: reality just is and that‘s what you've got to work with. Science fiction is more about trying to make points. but doing it in a much tnore subtle way.‘ Banks has done this in the past often enough. building a number of his sci-fi novels around a civilisation called the Culture. a fully functioning techno-socialist utopia.
His latest offering. The .-llge/2ruis1. is not a Culture novel. Instead Banks has created a complex. Byzantine and power hungry civilisation called the Mercatoria that is almost the antithesis of the Culture. ‘I wanted to write something that was really different from the Culture to avoid getting typecast.~ he says. 'lt‘s a different kind of society. one that's quite similar to ours in terms of the power politics and the capitalist ethos behind it. It‘s the opposite of the Culture. but it's just as useful; it's examining aspects of society from a different perspective.’
For all the high ideas and underlying themes. The
.-\/g('liruist is. at heart. a massive. romping space opera of a book. There are huge battles between good guys and bad guys. a hero. a quest story and Banks‘ usual dizzying array of mind-bending alien species. planets. spaceships. technology and generally highly inventive madness. Banks claims the question he gets asked most is where he gets his ideas from ('(‘lass A drugs.' he quips). and his imagination is certainly extraordinary. ()ne of the best things about Banks' sci-fi writing is where he chooses to place the human race in the scheme of things. A lot of sci-fi is essentially imperialist in nature. dealing with how the universe will be taken over. but Banks likes to portray us humans as somewhat less significant players.
‘A lot of my science fiction is a reaction against other science fiction.‘ he says. ‘l‘ve read so much egotistical. self-aggrandising stuff: “Aren't we humans wonderful". that sort of thing. As if the
universe has just been waiting for its to bestow our
fucking wonderfulness on it. l-‘uck off. I don‘t think so. If there is civilisation out there. we're going to be late on the scene: we are not particularly nice and we‘ll probably be a tiny. tiny footnote in historyf
At 50 years old. Banks has clearly not lost the fire in his belly that was so evident in his 20-year-old debut. The Wasp l-ku‘torv. lle's hardly growing old gracefully either. having recently ripped up his passport in protest at the war on Iraq. and he's currently taking fiying lessons. With plans for more mainstreamand sc-fi books in the pipeline. Banks is unlikely to be a footnote in Scotland's literary history.
The Algebraist is published by Orbit on Thu 7 Oct.
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THE BEST BOOKS
* Iain M Banks Everyone's favourite sci-fl writer (aside from all those who prefer someone else) gets it on with The Algebraist, his first genre tome since Look to Windward four years ago. Dial M for Massive sales. See preview. Waterstone’s. Glasgow, Mon 11 Oct; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 12 Oct; Orbit.
=i= Simon Singh The popular science scribe explodes one or two theories about the Big Bang in his latest intelligently readable publication. Oddly, it's also titled Big Bang with the subtitle of ‘The Most Important Scientific Discovery of All Time and Why You Need to Know About lt'. See review. Fourth Estate.
Brian Walker The Comics Before 1945 may be a pretty clunky title but it accurately describes this selection of profiles and reprints from some of the pre-war comics masters. See review. Abrams.
>2: Chris Reynolds Surreal sci- fi is the order of The Dial's day as we delve into this Scottish writer- artist's Kafkaesque mindscapes. See review. King/y Books.
9.: Jacqueline Wilson The popular kids author loved equally by adult readers introduces her new book, The Diamond Girls. She’s got an OBE. you know. Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Mon 71 Oct; Waterstone's, Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh, Tue 72 Oct.
=i< Jamie Oliver The naked chef (pictured. chomping away) drops by for a wee bit of a chat in between signing copies of his latest tasty tome. Jamie ’s Dinners. Pukka. obviously. Waterstone '3, Ocean Terrninai, Edinburgh, Thu 74 Oct.
7—2‘ 92'. 2’, .‘1 THE LIST 31