Iain M. Banks - Sci-Fi Author

[Bromptonboy]

Some horrible news about one of my favorite authors - genre and other:

http://www.littlebrown.co.uk/a-personal-statment-iain-banks.page
A PERSONAL STATEMENT FROM IAIN BANKS
Little, Brown Book Group Author


I am officially Very Poorly.

After a couple of surgical procedures, I am gradually recovering from jaundice caused by a blocked bile duct, but that - it turns out - is the least of my problems.

I first thought something might be wrong when I developed a sore back in late January, but put this down to the fact I'd started writing at the beginning of the month and so was crouched over a keyboard all day.  When it hadn't gone away by mid-February, I went to my GP, who spotted that I had jaundice.  Blood tests, an ultrasound scan and then a CT scan revealed the full extent of the grisly truth by the start of March.

I have cancer.  It started in my gall bladder, has infected both lobes of my liver and probably also my pancreas and some lymph nodes, plus one tumour is massed around a group of major blood vessels in the same volume, effectively ruling out any chance of surgery to remove the tumours either in the short or long term.

The bottom line, now, I'm afraid, is that as a late stage gall bladder cancer patient, I'm expected to live for 'several months' and it's extremely unlikely I'll live beyond a year.  So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last.

As a result, I've withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I've asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry - but we find ghoulish humour helps).  By the time this goes out we'll be married and on a short honeymoon.  We intend to spend however much quality time I have left seeing friends and relations and visiting places that have meant a lot to us.  Meanwhile my heroic publishers are doing all they can to bring the publication date of my new novel forward by as much as four months, to give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves.

There is a possibility that it might be worth undergoing a course of chemotherapy to extend the amount of time available.  However that is still something we're balancing the pros and cons of, and anyway it is out of the question until my jaundice has further and significantly, reduced.


Lastly, I'd like to add that from my GP onwards, the professionalism of the medics involved - and the speed with which the resources of the NHS in Scotland have been deployed - has been exemplary, and the standard of care deeply impressive.   We're all just sorry the outcome hasn't been more cheerful.

A website is being set up where friends, family and fans can leave messages for me and check on my progress.  It should be up and running during this week and a link to it will be on my official website at www.iain-banks.net as soon as it's ready.

- Iain Banks

[Feathers]

Shocking news.

His SF work in recent years has been exemplary.

[Bromptonboy]

Gentile or Jew
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22835047
Iain Banks dies of cancer aged 59

Iain Banks was best known for his novels The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road and Complicity
Continue reading the main story
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Author Iain Banks has died aged 59, two months after announcing he had terminal cancer, his family has said.

The Scottish writer revealed in April he was suffering from terminal gall bladder cancer and was unlikely to live for more than a year.

He was best known for his novels The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road and Complicity.

In a statement, his publisher said he was "an irreplaceable part of the literary world".

Little, Brown Book Group said the author was "one of the country's best-loved novelists" for both his mainstream and science fiction books.

"Iain Banks' ability to combine the most fertile of imaginations with his own highly distinctive brand of gothic humour made him unique," it said.

After announcing his illness in April, Banks asked his publishers to bring forward the release date of his latest novel, The Quarry, so he could see it on the shelves.

On Sunday, it was revealed the book - to be released on 20 June - would detail the physical and emotional strain of cancer.

It describes the final weeks of the life of a man in his 40s who has terminal cancer.

"Just three weeks ago he was presented with finished copies of his last novel and enjoyed celebration parties with old friends and fans across the publishing world," Little, Brown said.

Banks had described being "hugely moved" by the public support for him through his website.

"Still knocked out by the love and the depth of feeling coming from so many people; thank you, all of you," he wrote on Banksophilia last month.

The Wasp Factory, Banks' first novel, was published in 1984 and was ranked as one of the best 100 books of the 20th Century in a 1997 poll conducted by book chain Waterstone's and Channel 4.

The writer also wrote sci-fi titles under the name Iain M Banks. His most recent book, The Hydrogen Sonata, was released last year.

[Meds]

Another sad loss. Massive sad face