A Timely Reform by Ian Ridley

Iain M. Banks

I went to my first ever book signing on Friday. Iain M. Banks was at the Phoenix Square in Leicester as part of a mini-tour to launch the paperback of his novel Surface Detail.

It was great timinng for me as I’d finished the book a few days ago, just as a friend alerted me to the event on Facebook. I love most of Iain M. Banks’ science fiction novels and keep meaning to read more of his non-science fiction work.

The evening, organised by alt.fiction included a reading from the novel by Iain followed by a Q & A session. He came across as a personable and engaging speaker and it was interesting to hear his responses to various questions about the Culture, science fiction and writing in general.

You can listen to a podcast of the evening thanks to the nice people at Un:Bound.

Just finished The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks. Not quite as sharp as most of his other books but the concepts and storytelling still made it a page turner. 4/5

I also got half-way through If Only by Geri Halliwell. OK so I needed a break from the heavy sci-fi and I usually dip into biographies for this. I found her early life interesting – upbringing, trying out different careers and wanting to make it big. After the Spice Girls signed their first record deal it seemed to be getting predictably celeb infested. 3/5 for the first half and 1/5 for the second half.

I’m now just beginning Newton’s Wake by Ken Macleod. Although the concepts are good I often find his narrative can be a bit plodding. Here’s hoping for something better.

Other stuff I want to read:
Pandoras Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton. These look much better than the disappoiting follow-ups to the Night’s Dawn Trilogy, which in any case suffered from a dodgy ending.
Dark Light and Engine City by Ken Macleod. I read all but the last couple of pages of Dark Light but lost the book!
Some recent books by Larry Niven, which seem to have passed me by.