RIP Iain Banks

[mongers]

A sad loss, a great writer and too sudden a way to go. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22835047

Iain Banks dies of cancer aged 59

Author Iain Banks has died aged 59, two months after announcing he had terminal cancer, his family has said.

The Scottish writer revealed in April he was suffering from terminal gall bladder cancer and was unlikely to live for more than a year.

He was best known for his novels The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road and Complicity.

In a statement, his publisher said he was "an irreplaceable part of the literary world".

Little, Brown Book Group said the author was "one of the country's best-loved novelists" for both his mainstream and science fiction books.

"Iain Banks' ability to combine the most fertile of imaginations with his own highly distinctive brand of gothic humour made him unique," it said.

After announcing his illness in April, Banks asked his publishers to bring forward the release date of his latest novel, The Quarry, so he could see it on the shelves.

On Sunday, it was revealed the book - to be released on 20 June - would detail the physical and emotional strain of cancer.

It describes the final weeks of the life of a man in his 40s who has terminal cancer.

"Just three weeks ago he was presented with finished copies of his last novel and enjoyed celebration parties with old friends and fans across the publishing world," Little, Brown said.

Banks had described being "hugely moved" by the public support for him through his website.

"Still knocked out by the love and the depth of feeling coming from so many people; thank you, all of you," he wrote on Banksophilia last month.

The Wasp Factory, Banks' first novel, was published in 1984 and was ranked as one of the best 100 books of the 20th Century in a 1997 poll conducted by book chain Waterstone's and Channel 4.

The writer also wrote sci-fi titles under the name Iain M Banks. His most recent book, The Hydrogen Sonata, was released last yea

[Josephus]

 

[Scipio]

Wow.  Scottish literature just lost its greatest writer ever.

[Zanza]

  Too bad, read like 10 books of him. Great writer.

[mongers]

An obituary:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22015717

.....
In May, the author said he did not have many regrets in his life.

"I've had a brilliant life and I think I've been more lucky than unlucky, even including the news of the cancer. I've written 29 books. I'm leaving a substantial body of work behind me. Whether that'll survive, who knows, but I can be quite proud of that and I am," he said.
....

That's a modest, confident and true testament.

[grumbler]

Wow. 

Wasn't wow'ed by his SF (which was very good) so much as by his fiction.  Huge loss. There were lots more great works in there.  You could tell.

[PRC]

Sad to hear.  Read plenty of his fiction and SF books and enjoyed most of them.

[Richard Hakluyt]

A fine writer, pity he died so young 

[Warspite]

A real loss. He had great ideas and concepts for his books, but also a wonderful ability to translate them into extremely readable prose. 

[mongers]

His last interview:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b02z40z8/The_Review_Show_Iain_Banks_Raw_Spirit_A_Review_Show_Special/