In late 2004, Banks was a prominent member of a group of British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence. The argument that an economy of abundance renders anarchy and adhocracy viable (or even inevitable) attracts many as an interesting potential experiment, were it ever to become testable. He lived most recently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.Īs with his friend Ken MacLeod (another Scottish writer of technical and social science fiction) a strong awareness of left-wing history shows in his writings. However, he announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated. He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife.īanks met his wife Annie in London, before the release of his first book. Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. Banks is a pseudonym of Iain Banks which he used to publish his Science Fiction.īanks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. Cossont must discover the truth before she's exiled from her people and her civilization forever - or just plain killed.

Aided only by an ancient, reconditioned android and a suspicious Culture avatar, Cossont must complete her last mission given to her by the High Command - find the oldest person in the Culture, a man over 9,000 years old, who might have some idea what really happened all that time ago.

Lieutenant Commander (reserve), Vyr Cossont, appears to have been involved, and she is now wanted - dead, not alive.

Now they've made the collective decision to follow the well-trodden path of millions of other civilizations they are going to Sublime, elevating themselves to a new a almost infinitely more rich and complex existence.Īmidst preparations though, the Regimental High Command is destroyed. An ancient people, they helped set up the Culture ten thousand years earlier and were very nearly one of its founding societies, deciding not to join only at the last moment. They are, truly, probably, the End Days for the Gzilt civilization.

The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks