Chaos Reading discussion

As Whitney posted in the "About Authors" folder, Iain (M.) Banks has recently announced that he is officially "Very Poorly", battling late-stage gall bladder cancer. Here's the discussion thread with linked article: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Amid this very sad news, and knowing that several members are admirers of his work, I thought it might be a good thing for us to show our support for him by basing the next Group Read on one of his books. I've started a poll with all of his books, written as either Iain Banks or Iain M. Banks (his sci-fi novels).

You can vote on the next group read book here: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/81...

It's quite a quick turnaround time, so please remember to get your vote in well ahead of the 10 April deadline (allowing for any time zone issues).

I haven't sent invites to all group members, as I don't want to spam everyone all the time, so I've sent invites out to a random few. Please feel free to invite friends to participate if they might be keen on joining in. As always, please be prepared to participate should your book get chosen.

Thanks all!

It is a lovely idea. I was given the Hydrogen Sonata for Christmas as I am a fan of the Culture series but I'd like to read some of his other books

Susan wrote: "It is a lovely idea. I was given the Hydrogen Sonata for Christmas as I am a fan of the Culture series but I'd like to read some of his other books"

I've had the Culture series on my TBR list for awhile. I voted for Player of Games in the poll because I heard it was one of the better ones, although it is the second in the series. Do you think it's necessary (or even preferable) to read them in order and start with Consider Phlebas?

Whitney wrote: "Susan wrote: "It is a lovely idea. I was given the Hydrogen Sonata for Christmas as I am a fan of the Culture series but I'd like to read some of his other books"

I've had the Culture series on my..."

I have read them totally out of order and haven't read Consider Phlebas or some of the others, so I'm not the one to ask. I didn't find it a problem being out of order. As far as I can see they are basically discrete stories. The Player of Games is a good one though and I will eventually track the others down and read all of them
I'm afraid I read them for his sense of humour which I will miss.

Susan wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Susan wrote: "It is a lovely idea. I was given the Hydrogen Sonata for Christmas as I am a fan of the Culture series but I'd like to read some of his other books"

I've had the Cult..."

Thanks, Susan. I was going to ask the same question about reading that series in order.

Thanks for the replies, Susan and Philip, very helpful. I will keep The Player of Games at the top of my list.

Hi, I'm May and I'm new here, so, hello.
I finished reading The Wasp Factory last week. It was the first book by Iain Banks I've read and it was really interesting and creative in a disturbing way. The person who recommended it to me said it was "The Catcher in the Rye for serial killers" (so I guess it makes Catcher in the Rye the coming-of-age book for occasional murderers?)
Anyway, I really liked his style, so any other recs aside the Culture series, please?

Great idea!

May wrote: "Hi, I'm May and I'm new here, so, hello.
I finished reading The Wasp Factory last week. It was the first book by Iain Banks I've read and it was really interesting and creative in a disturbing ..."

Hi May. I had a similar experience. The Wasp Factory was my first Iain Banks book, and I was really taken with it. Oddly, it's also the only of my Iain Banks books that I didn't own a copy of. Until today :)

I started my experience with Iain M.Banks Culture with "Use of Weapons" which got me hooked instantly. I've consumed a few other Culture novels before moving to "Player of Games" which frankly speaking I relly had to struggle to read. But this is just my personal experience.

The Wasp Factory was my first Iain Banks book as well -- a friend's uncle lent it to me while we were visiting Glasgow; I read it before coming home, whenever I got a chance from the sight-seeing & pub crawling (it was a trip to Glasgow after all). Made an immediate impact on me.
I'd love to read it again as part of a group.

Looks like you'll get your chance. It's leading the group poll, and there are only hours to go until it closes..

The Group Read will be The Wasp Factory! Details have been posted in the new group read thread..