75 min listen
The thematic genius of Iain M Banks
FromScience Fiction
ratings:
Length:
34 minutes
Released:
Jan 23, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
This episode of the Science Fiction podcast is re-published from an original video essay first published in September 2018.
I spent years searching, after I first read the Culture novels of Iain M Banks, for other space opera novels that equalled them. And this is what I discovered. Nothing else in the space opera genre even comes close to the Culture. Nothing. Zip. Nada. As Theodore Sturgeon said, 90% of everything is crap. But as a young reader I wondered why, with all these books marketed as space opera, did none read like the Culture? The answer is – theme.
Science fiction tends to obsess over concepts, but almost entirely ignore themes. Scifi is full of big ideas about the nature of reality or the physics of space travel. But scifi that deals with the basic themes of human life is a rare, rare thing. Banks was a genius at weaving high concept scifi stories together with great thematic depth.
In this episode I look at the opening chapter of what is, arguably, Banks’ most thematically complex novel – Excession.
Read the full novel – Excession by Iain M Banks: https://amzn.to/2p9ZFOf
Watch the original video essay - https://youtu.be/vjsYz-Xv5lo
Become a member of the Science Fiction podcast - https://damiengwalter.com
I spent years searching, after I first read the Culture novels of Iain M Banks, for other space opera novels that equalled them. And this is what I discovered. Nothing else in the space opera genre even comes close to the Culture. Nothing. Zip. Nada. As Theodore Sturgeon said, 90% of everything is crap. But as a young reader I wondered why, with all these books marketed as space opera, did none read like the Culture? The answer is – theme.
Science fiction tends to obsess over concepts, but almost entirely ignore themes. Scifi is full of big ideas about the nature of reality or the physics of space travel. But scifi that deals with the basic themes of human life is a rare, rare thing. Banks was a genius at weaving high concept scifi stories together with great thematic depth.
In this episode I look at the opening chapter of what is, arguably, Banks’ most thematically complex novel – Excession.
Read the full novel – Excession by Iain M Banks: https://amzn.to/2p9ZFOf
Watch the original video essay - https://youtu.be/vjsYz-Xv5lo
Become a member of the Science Fiction podcast - https://damiengwalter.com
Released:
Jan 23, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (50)
There Is No Antimemetics Division – an interview with Qntm: It's logical that the best science fiction being written today has its origins online and in collaborative forums. There Is No Antimemetics Division began life as part of the SCP Foundation wiki, a collaborative writing project with thousands of participants. There Is No Antimemetics Division - https://amzn.to/3AcTDPx Discuss the book on the Science Fiction community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/posts/1218266291928956/ Join the course in Scifi and Fantasy writing on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-science-fiction-fantasy/?referralCode=B7B13C5C3D413999ED95 Subscribe monthly via Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3pO6pPV by Science Fiction