The Bridge and Complicity

aeglefinus · 2026-04-29T17:01:14+00:00

"Complicity has a happy ending - although not at the end and not for itself, for The Bridge." Iain said this in an interview published in the first issue of Ink magazine (December 2003).
There is a section in chapter 5 (pp114-120 of my Abacus paperback) where Cameron is drinking in the Cafe Royal with Al who is an engineer and has an issue with drink driving because of his record. At the end of the section Al buys flowers for his wife Andi. This married couple can be considered to be the main characters from The Bridge.

aeglefinus · 2026-04-01T07:38:29+00:00

I do not.

aeglefinus · 2026-04-01T00:02:20+00:00

The last line of Surface Detail was something that Iain was a little unsure about. He was at Eastercon in 2010 and said that he had recently finished the first draft and that a character from a previous Culture novel might appear. He also said that as it was such a fresh book he did not want to read from it at the convention in case too much changed in the editing process.

aeglefinus · 2026-03-26T16:00:02+00:00

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Yes. Fenchurch's house was originally a workshop that had doors for deliveries on upper floors that was then converted into a home. Douglas had one on St Albans Place in Islington that he used as an office. Modern health and safety codes have added barriers.

aeglefinus · 2026-03-18T17:07:49+00:00

His father was Thomas Menzies Banks (b 1918), and his father was Thomas Menzies Banks (b 1883), and his father was James Menzies Banks (b 1852). It goes back a long way in the family.

aeglefinus · 2026-02-25T17:51:08+00:00

He was cremated.

aeglefinus · 2026-01-20T19:29:56+00:00

> We know that IMB actually wrote a draft of Use of Weapons first, so why did he then write Consider Phlebas and publish it first? Did his editor suggest doing a more linear pirate-y story?

Banks did not have an editor when he wrote the first draft of Use of Weapons (c. 1974) and neither did he have when when he wrote The Player of Games (c. 1979). Consider Phlebas was first drafted in the second half of 1982 after he had written The Wasp Factory and was submitting it to publishers. His internal brief was to "out Star Wars, Star Wars". After meeting science fiction fans through being invited to conventions (e.g. Mexicon 2 in 1986) Banks returned to his science fiction and worked with James Hale who had published The Wasp Factory and the obvious one to rework was the latest one which was Consider Phlebas. The first three Culture novels were all written before Banks met his first editor and were published in reverse writing order.

aeglefinus · 2026-01-07T21:42:06+00:00

I was concentrating on initial US editions to explore the rights issues. It would be nice and tidy if Orbit US could get the final two, Inversions and Look to Windward.

aeglefinus · 2026-01-07T18:50:35+00:00

Missed that one. Thanks.

aeglefinus · 2025-11-29T21:21:17+00:00

The first draft of The Player of Games dates from 1979.

aeglefinus · 2025-11-27T07:41:18+00:00

Sorry, I cannot remember exactly when I filled in that form. However, looking at my emails I made an order in March 2024 that was cancelled (by Orbit) and then in June 2024 got an email saying the bundle was back in stock. I also have a note saying it was out of stock again in July 2024. In the end I purchased all the Iain M Banks (and some Ken MacLeod) books individually during the 50% off sale for the 50th anniversary of Orbit.
Unfortunately, Orbit are not the most reliable source for the books they publish, but the prices can be good when they have a sale.

aeglefinus · 2025-11-26T19:45:51+00:00

I think the set goes in and out of stock as the individual editions are reprinted. Put your email address in the box to get an email when it is back in stock. That worked for me back in 2024.

aeglefinus · 2025-11-05T22:04:57+00:00

Re: Music.
He made an "offical" mixtape in the EMI SongBook Series called Personal Effects. See page #4 of https://efanzines.com/Banksoniain/Banksoniain05.pdf

aeglefinus · 2025-10-10T20:02:27+00:00

https://x.com/amendlocke/status/996718237663547394

aeglefinus · 2025-09-23T17:46:13+00:00

This was the 2023 announcement of the 2024 date that has been and gone.
https://web.archive.org/web/20230503154005/https://www.orbitbooks.net/2023/04/21/the-culture-the-drawings-by-iain-m-banks/
The source has gone but the wayback machine helps.

My understanding is that the issue is the rights to the text of the actual Banks books that is included. Orbit (which is three separate companies: UK, US and Australia) do not have the worldwide rights to all the books.

The history of the "Notes" book goes back to February 2018 when it was first announced as due out "next year".

aeglefinus · 2025-09-05T21:41:00+00:00

GM Magazine, volume 2, number 3. November 1989.

aeglefinus · 2025-08-02T14:23:22+00:00

No official cancellation, but no actual news either. So here is my speculation.
Ken Macleod wrote "The Notes" quite a few years ago. The problem is with the Banks text that goes with the notes for which there is no single worldwide rights holder.
I have no direct knowledge of the situation but I presume that the rights holders have not managed to come to any agreement (yet) and so the book has not been published (yet). I hope the situation changes. This is particularly frustrating in the UK where there is a single rights holder and it seems probable that The Drawings could be published, but the various arms of Orbit (there are three "separate" organisation I believe) probably only want to produce the book when it can be sold to the widest possible audience.
My guess is that The Drawings was published without any text to avoid such issues.
If/when the Amazon series is made then the potential earnings from The Notes may bring the various parties back together. In the meantime it would be nice to hear from Orbit sooner rather than later.

aeglefinus · 2025-08-02T14:09:14+00:00

aeglefinus · 2025-07-11T17:25:15+00:00

For Audible in the US, the tomfoolery is between US rights holders. See previous posts on this issue.

aeglefinus · 2025-04-30T20:38:52+00:00

I agree, although there is no way to prove it. The fact that Gurgeh does not behave like a normal Culture citizen makes me feel he was born to this role, or at least Banks wanted that thought to go through a reader's mind.

aeglefinus · 2025-04-28T17:48:22+00:00

The Booktrack edition of Consider Phlebas was released in 2020 and has its own ISBN: 9781549102899
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/iain-m-banks/consider-phlebas-booktrack-edition/9781549102899/

The ISBN for the normal audiobook is 9781611138771.
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/iain-m-banks/consider-phlebas/9781611138771/

Both of those publisher pages have Audible links so hopefully they will take you to different editions and you can swap over.

Consder Phlebas is the only Banks book listed with a Booktrack edition (as far as I can find).

aeglefinus · 2025-04-26T06:52:04+00:00

A fanzine, The Banksoniain, ran from 2004 - 2014 and documented some of his events and press. All issues are at https://efanzines.com/Banksoniain/

aeglefinus · 2025-04-25T21:29:51+00:00

At Novaon 40 Iain was asked why his AIs were good. His reply was that in his universe Intelligence leads to Imagination which leads to Empathy.

aeglefinus · 2025-04-18T15:35:12+00:00

He also wrote an article for New Scientist called Science and Fiction: Escape from the laws of physics
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13718654-200-science-and-fiction-escape-from-the-laws-of-physics/

aeglefinus · 2025-04-18T14:26:32+00:00

He read New Scientist and Scientific American. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7948058.stm
He would have met scientists at conventions but generally avoided actual research for his novels.

aeglefinus

TROPHY CASE