Breaking Into Banks
Hello.
Are you completely new to Iain and his work? Or did The Wasp Factory put you off for life? Don’t worry, it’s easily the most gruesome (though if it did put you off your chips, maybe skip Complicity...)
Perhaps you’re wondering what to pick up next. Well, we’re here to help.
Fiction
Two things to know about Iain’s fiction...
First, Iain didn’t write sequels so no matter how much you love a character, you only get one adventure with them.
Second, these are books for people who can cope with stories chock-full of excellent swearing, wild sex, deranged violence, rubbish families, epic drug-taking, some frankly quite tricky relationships and a wickedly morbid sense of humour.
If any of that is making you think twice, other writers are available.
Science Fiction
Two things to know about Iain’s science fiction...
First, yes, the names are slightly unpronounceable. This is a common feature of science fiction. It is not a reason to turn away from some of the most incredible stories you will ever read.
Second, Iain didn’t write sequels. Most of his science fiction novels are set in The Culture. These novels are all set in the same universe, but at different points in its history. Or its future. Or both.
Everyone who reads about The Culture wants to live in The Culture. Try it, you’ll see...
If you really don’t think SF is your thing but you hate missing out on anything that Iain wrote, then we have a brilliant suggestion: why not start at the very beginning with a read-along in the company of the Culture Books Podcast? John and Sheridan (a devotee and a reluctant newbie respectively) will take you through the books chapter-by-chapter – it’s gentle, helpful and hilarious.
In a very Eric Morecambe way, and paraphrasing freely, it’s possible to read all the novels, just not necessarily in the right order, so here’s a handy guide to what’s what.
All titles in chronological order
In some years, two titles were published
1984 The Wasp Factory
1985 Walking on Glass
1986 The Bridge
1987 Espedair Street / Consider Phlebas
1988 The Player of Games
1989 Canal Dreams
1990 Use of Weapons
1991 The State of the Art
1992 The Crow Road
1993 Complicity / Against a Dark Background
1994 Feersum Endjinn
1995 Whit
1996 Excession
1997 A Song of Stone
1998 Inversions
1999 The Business
2000 Look to Windward
2002 Dead Air
2003 Raw Spirit
2004 The Algebraist
2007 The Steep Approach to Garbadale
2008 Matter
2009 Transition
2010 Surface Detail
2012 Stonemouth / The Hydrogen Sonata
2013 The Quarry
2015 Poems
2023 The Culture: The Drawings
If there’s just no dragging you to the dark side, here’s how that all breaks down...
For lots of information on each and every title, please visit The Works
Just the Literary Fiction
The Wasp Factory
Walking on Glass
The Bridge
Espedair Street
Canal Dreams
The Crow Road
Complicity
Whit
A Song of Stone
The Business
Dead Air
The Steep Approach to Garbadale
Stonemouth
The Quarry
Just the Culture Science Fiction
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
Short Fiction & Non-Culture SF
The State of the Art
(a collection of short stories, a couple of them set in the Culture)
Against a Dark Background
(SF but not Culture)
Feersum Endjinn
(SF but not Culture)
The Algebraist
(SF but not Culture)
Transition
Non-Fiction
Raw Spirit
(sort-of-autobiography about whisky)
Poems
The Culture: The Drawings