On 13 May 2019, the Five Deeps Expedition broke the deepest ocean dive record in the DSV Limiting Factor. [66] The support ship was named DSSV Pressure Drop. Both vessels were named after ships in the Culture series, which is much admired by the explorer Victor Vescovo, also the financial sponsor behind Limiting Factor 's design and construction. [67] Awards and nominations [ edit ] Arthur C.Clarke Award Shortlists". The Arthur C Clarke Award. 2012. Archived from the original on 6 January 2013 . Retrieved 6 April 2013.

A word of warning to teenagers who can't wait to find out about the thrills of drinking : alcohol may seriously impair you muscle coordination: Iain M. Banks – Award Bibliography". isfdb database. Al von Ruff. 1995–2011 . Retrieved 6 April 2013. I am! Angry that I read this book! The vulgarity of the world makes me angry. We have abolished Ancient Roman gladiator games and Medieval public executions, only to find ourselves being completely absorbed by morbid stories, psychopaths and their victimization. I am angry! I've had enough!" Are you a schizophrenic if you are capable of self-analyzing your emotions, yet feel no impulse to mend your ways? I finally got around to a book that is considered a modern classic by many. Trust me, my 3-star rating was a surprise to even myself.Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies ( / ˈ m ɪ ŋ ɪ z/ ⓘ). After the success of The Wasp Factory (1984), he began to write full time. His first science fiction book, Consider Phlebas, appeared in 1987, marking the start of the Culture series. His books have been adapted for theatre, radio, and television. In 2008, The Times named Banks in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". [5] Of course, I know how small a piece of land my island is; I’m not a fool. I know the size of the planet and just how minuscule is that part of it I know. I’ve watched too much television and seen too many nature and travel programmes not to appreciate how limited my own knowledge is in terms of first-hand experience of other places; but I don’t want to go farther afield, I don’t need to travel or see foreign climes or know different people. I know who I am and I know my limitation. I restrict my horizons for my own good reasons; fear--oh, yes, I admit it--and a need for reassurance and safety in a world which just so happened to treat me very cruelly at an age before I had any real chance of affecting it.”

this is some hard stuff, and by "hard" i mean Hard Like the Marquis de Sade Is Hard. do not read this if you cannot stomach depictions of animal torture. do not read this if you cannot stomach the murder of children. this one was hard for me to read at times, and i read some pretty terrible things. McDermid, Val (2017). "Banks, Iain (1954–2013), author and composer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (onlineed.). Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/106888. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)a traumatic early childhood accident that left Frank with an unmentionable disability of his sexual organs When one of the three murders is committed by Frank, you can see his deductive reasoning there. But the author’s idea of putting an adder in a child’s prosthesis left me spell-bound and I actually laughed to my shame.

The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia, the 2016 graphic biography of Louise Michel by Mary M. Talbot and Bryan Talbot, is "Dedicated to the memory of Iain (M) Banks, friend and sorely missed creator of socialist utopias." [64] the Wasp Factory from the title, an artefact built by Frank and imbued with mystical, prophetic powers.Francis Cauldhame is a monster, a sort of teenage Hannibal Lecter. He is also the narrator of this deranged fairytale, casually mentioning to the reader that he became a serial killer before his tenth anniversary... Lord of the Flies meets American Psycho on the Moray Firth. Frank, a teenage lad with no official record of his existence, lives with his father in an isolated dune land cottage. He spends his time killing birds and other small animals. Occasionally he kills people. His principle hobby is bomb-making, at which he excels. Frank’s half-brother Eric is on the run from a psych-ward. While on the lam he kills and eats dogs. Even Frank considers Eric nuts. But blood is blood, even if it’s diluted and most of it has been spilled. Their father, Angus, lives in a lost world of sixties hippiedom with a basement full of decaying, and therefore dangerous, Army surplus cordite. The biker-mother, Agnes, hasn’t been seen for years. Banks's next work of literary fiction was The Steep Approach to Garbadale (2007), a return to the territory of The Crow Road. Banks's protagonist, Alban McGill, struggles to prevent his family's company from being taken over by a US giant, occasioning diatribes against American capitalism and American foreign policy that seem straightforwardly authorial. Frank’s troubling behavior and emotional issues are deeply rooted to his manhood and sexuality: “ I am not a full man, and nothing can ever alter that; but I am me, and I regard that as a compensation enough”. Masculinity is linked to violence and domination as the only outlet to deal with problems. His deep-seated anger and misogynistic attitude, connected to his childhood traumatic experiences with his father's abuse: “women.. are weak and stupid and live in the shadow of men and are nothing compare to them”, and “ both sexes can do one thing specially well; women can give birth and men can kill.” Gerard Earley (3 October 2012). "Iain M. Banks became President of Science Fiction Book Club, London England". London: Web.

The wasp factory itself is a combination Tarot/Ouija which gives advice in a manner worthy of Poe or Lovecraft. Frank wants to know the best way to defend himself from Eric. In a family like his, tensions go deep. How these tensions get resolved can’t be described as conventional. Except perhaps as conventional ghoul-porn. Frank started as a disgusting and devious teenager for me with his day to day activities which were very repulsive, a heartless boy. But as the story progressed, he told us about his childhood, and of course, the murders that he had committed before he even turned 15. Those were an indication of how deceptive, patient, well planned, and cruel he could be. As if things couldn't be more dense and bad, story turned really dark once Eric escaped hospital. Caroti, Simone (26 July 2018). The Culture Series of Iain M. Banks: A Critical Introduction. McFarland. p.24. ISBN 978-1-4766-2040-4– via Google Books. Banks published work under two names. His parents had meant to name him "Iain Menzies Banks", but his father mistakenly registered him as "Iain Banks". Banks still used the middle name and submitted The Wasp Factory for publication as "Iain M. Banks". Banks's editor inquired about the possibility of omitting the 'M' as it appeared "too fussy" and the potential existed for confusion with Rosie M. Banks, a romantic novelist in the Jeeves novels by P. G. Wodehouse; Banks agreed to the omission. After three mainstream novels, Banks's publishers agreed to publish his first science fiction (SF) novel Consider Phlebas. To create a distinction between the mainstream and the SF, Banks suggested returning the 'M' to his name, which was then used in all of his science fiction works. [9] [18] Banks book signing at the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005Banks met his first wife Annie in London before the 1984 release of his first book. [31] They lived in Faversham in the south of England, then split up in 1988. Banks returned to Edinburgh and dated another woman for two years. Iain and Annie were reconciled a year later and they moved to Fife. [43] They were married in Hawaii in 1992, [31] but in 2007, after 15 years of marriage, they announced their separation. [44] a b c d e f g h Stuart Jeffries (25 May 2007). "A man of culture". The Guardian . Retrieved 6 April 2013. HOWEVER, despite the positive aspects of casually dating a fictional sociopath or psychopath, it is still important to exercise caution when deciding to court (or allow oneself to be courted by) one of these individuals as there are some very troubled individuals that it is best simply to avoid. Therefore, as a public service I have been maintaining a list of these “DO NOT TOUCH” individuals and now need to make an addition to the list.