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The Banksoniain #11 an Iain (M.) Banks Fanzine February 2007

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The Banksoniain #11 an Iain (M.) Banks Fanzine February 2007 The Banksoniain #11 An Iain (M.) Banks Fanzine February 2007 Editorial Banks’s Next Book This issue focuses on the new Banks‟s novel, If we take The Steep Approach to Garbadale The Steep Approach to Garbadale, as well as as his current book, the next one is an „M‟ and looking back at Against A Dark Background, definitely a Culture book which he is writing there is a whole slew of media appearances to at the moment and plans to have the first draft report on in the Media Scanner columns, and finished by the end of April, publicity for forthcoming personal appearances to list, so a Garbadale permitting. nice short editorial this issue. Titles under consideration for the next book Thanks for this issue go to Peter Kenny for include; The Integrity of Objects, The the interview, the gang at the Iain Banks Expeditionary, or even Matter (just to confuse Forum for their encouragement, and, as everyone as that was a possible title for always, Iain Banks himself. Garbadale). Those second of those titles would seem to indicate that we are out on the Look out for Banksoniain #12 in August, fringes of the Culture again where the hopefully it will be out in time for Mecon 10. interesting things happen. The book, whatever it ends up being called, is tentatively Broadcast Banks listed for publication by Orbit in February The Culture Show: Peter Capaldi 2008. By then, of course, we should have a (interviewed in the last Banksoniain) will be new Prime Minister at Westminster and so the interviewing Iain for a segment of programme next publicity tour will probably include the first overseas trips for a while. six in the current run on BBC2 at 18:55 on Saturday 24th February (repeated at 00:05, so Sunday 25th really). Banks Live The Book Show: The Artsworld literature Tickets for alt.fiction, the one day science show hosted by Mariella Frostrup features fiction writing event at Assembly Rooms in Iain Banks on show #15. This will be first Derby on Saturday 28th April, are now broadcast at 19:00 on March 1st, and then available from http://www.assemblyrooms- repeated over the following week, including derby.co.uk. The event begins at 12:00 and an outing on Sky Three at 16:00 on March 4th. runs until 21:00 with many writer, as well as publishers and agents, taking part in readings, World Book Club: Iain will be recording a workshops, discussions and book launches. radio programme for the BBC World Service Guests include: Iain Banks, Harry Harrison, at the beginning of March. He will be talking Graham Joyce and Ramsey Campbell. about The Wasp Factory to Harriett Gilbert in front of an audience who have all provided Mecon 10 (aka Mecon X), the Northern Irish questions. Questions can also be sent via Science Fiction convention, runs from Friday email to worldbookclub @ bbc.co.uk. The 3rd to Sunday 5th August in Belfast and has programme should be broadcast on the World Iain Banks as its guest of honour, with Paul Service at the end of March, and will also Cornell, Ian McDonald, Leah Moore, Alistair available from streaming from the website: Reynolds, John Reppion and Michael Scott http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programm Rohan as other guests. es/world_book_club.shtml See http://www.mecon.org.uk/ The Banksoniain Issue #11, Page #1 Media Scanner The Steep Approach to Garbadale has its own Martin Amis at #2, but included The Wasp publicity article later in the issue so there are Factory at #15. no spoilers for the book in this section. Andrew Cave reported on the phenomenon of The Night Shade Books newsletter reports Bookcrossing – leaving books in public that they have had to do a second printing of places for others to take and read and then The Algebraist, “since the first ten thousand tracking them on the Internet via copies sold out quite a bit quicker than we‟d http://www.bookcrossing.com. He picked up imagined”. on the fact that a copy of The Bridge was initially left on the Millennium Bridge in July 2006 saw the publication by Tor of an London. anthology entitled: The Space Opera Renaissance (ISBN: 0765306174), edited by The „Shelf Life‟ series in Scotland on David G. Hartwell, Kathryn Cramer. It covers Sunday (17/09/06) looked at the reading 8 decades through 32 stories, over 941 pages, habits of the broadcaster and author Billy arranged chronologically and thematically, Kay. Asked which authors he most admired including A Gift from the Culture by Iain M. the list consisted of: James Robertson; Irvine Banks in Section III: „Transitions/Redefiners Welsh; Matthew Fitt; Willie McIlvanne; (late 1970s to late 1980s)‟. James Meek; Iain Banks, Michel Houellebecq “and a wheen ithers”. Peter Millar‟s “top six satires on despotism” was a recent „Critic‟s Chart‟ in The Times Another month, another book survey; this (26/08/06) included Consider Phlebas, and time the Financial Mail, booksofcourse.com described it as: “Iain M. Banks Galactic war and NatWest generating a list of 50 “must- between materialist culture and fanatically read” books for students. The results were religious three legged Idirans –a poignant take reported in The Mail on Sunday (05/11/06), on the „clash of cultures‟.” and the list was headed by George Orwell‟s 1984. The article went onto state “modern The Digital TV Pick Of The Day in The favourites, including Terry Pratchett, Iain Observer (03/09/06) by Sarah Hughes was Banks, Stephen King and Stephen Hawking, the More4 documentary Gunner’s Palace, were not forgotten” about the American 2/3 Field Artillery unit that moved into a Palace in Iraq formerly The Hearld has an article series called „What occupied by Uday Hussain. Her description I Spend My Money On‟. When Donald Shaw included the following: “At times – notably of Capercaille was the subject (03/11/06) the scenes of the weary soldiers hanging when he got to books he commented: “I enjoy around Uday‟s endless empty rooms – this quite dark stuff such as Cormac McCarthy, film is more reminiscent of a novel than and I like Iain Crichton Smith, Sorley reality (Iain M Banks‟ Use of Weapons MacLean and Iain Banks.” springs to mind) but that simply adds to the The BBC4 Science Fiction Britannia season compelling nature of what we see.” included a three part history of British science Luiza Sauma‟s profile of Jeremy Warmsley in fiction called The Martians and Us, that The Independent on Sunday (03/09/06) had incorporated contributions from Iain Banks in him citing his inspiration as “the mix-tapes the second programme that was subtitled: given to him by an older friend, as well as „Trouble in Paradise‟, and looked at Iain Banks‟s Espedair Street, a novel about an dystopias. Covering reasonably similar infamous rockstar.” ground to the radio series Imagining Albion, there is little actual Banks content, but it is an The Observer reported on a “best book of the interesting series worth watching. last twenty-five years” survey that had Disgrace by JM Coetzee at #1, and Money by Tom Little discussed the television drama output of BBC Scotland in an article in The Banksoniain Issue #11, Page #2 Scotland on Sunday (19/11/06). He looked Banks novels” as one of the “abysmal back at programmes such as Tutti Fruti and Sandford coppers”. The Crow Road, and that seeing the first two A short questionnaire type article appeared in parts of the latter on BBC4 “reminded me of the Saturday magazine of The Independent the brilliance of not just the source material (17/02/07). Banks confirmed that he now but also those who translated this most drives a Lexus Hybrid SUV [If you want complex of tales to television”. He asked more detail it is an RX400h]. Despite the where the production of such programmes selling of his other vehicles he said that the” were coming from now, and compared the best invention ever” was “the wheel”, but also success of BBC Wales, with programmes mentioned “word processors and spell- such as Life on Mars and Dr Who with BBC checks”, having admitted that he is quite bad Scotland, and concluded that Scottish licence at spelling, but good at letting off fireworks. fee payers are being short-changed. Iain‟s idea of movie heaven; “is subtitles. I Steven Poole in the Guardian (27/01/07) like oldish French films with subtitles. I also discussed the impact of immortality on the like ancient Marx Brothers films.” The human condition in the light of recently seemingly odd answer was “All my money published science books on and commented goes on ... exotic carpets”, although a recent on that science fiction had already examined communication from Gary Lloyd concerning the such questions through the “colourful, his work on the Espedair Street album scholarly, serially monogamous existences of mentioned recording in Iain‟s “newly very long-lived humans in the novels of Iain redesigned music room which features a M Banks or Peter F Hamilton”. plethora of Persian rugs and plenty o‟ technology.” Banks reiterated his debt to On Wednesday 31st January there was a Joseph Heller and Hunter S Thompson, by literary evening at The Savoy hosted by its answering the question about “A book that new writer-in-residence, Michael Morpurgo changed me” with Catch 22 and Fear and OBE. The theme of the evening of words and Loathing in Las Vegas. Interestingly a few music was „The Pursuit of Happiness‟, and weeks before Banks the photographer John Jenny Agutter read “from Shakespeare, Emily Rankin Waddell answered the same question Bronte, Roger McGough, William Blake, with: “The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks.
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