{"id":786,"date":"2013-04-03T11:19:39","date_gmt":"2013-04-03T16:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/?p=786"},"modified":"2013-04-03T11:19:39","modified_gmt":"2013-04-03T16:19:39","slug":"ian-m-banks-thank-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/2013\/04\/03\/ian-m-banks-thank-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian M. Banks – Thank You!"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are even a casual fan of science fiction, then you should know the name Ian M. Banks.\u00a0 If you don’t know him, then go out and every one of his books right now<\/a>!<\/p>\n

And then be prepared to be very sad.\u00a0 Mr. Banks has been diagnosed with late stage gall bladder cancer and his doctor’s estimate is that he won’t live out the year.\u00a0 His final book “The Quarry” will be his last.\u00a0 There’s a website everyone can leave a comment for him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He is an amazing author.\u00a0 His culture series epitomizes the space opera.\u00a0 I seriously doubt there will be another author who can take galaxy spanning civilizations and still make them personal and engaging with deep topics like hell, death, betrayal, and ambition.<\/p>\n

The Player of Games<\/a> is arguably my favorite as the lead character is a gamer who gets what he wishes for.\u00a0 This is almost the ultimate expression of “be careful what you wish for, you just might get it”.<\/p>\n

Another favorite is Excession<\/a>, in which a galaxy spanning civilization with tens of thousands of 30-kilometer starships runs into something that it’s just not prepared to deal with.\u00a0 We also find that the AIs controlling these massive ships, who can talk to millions of people at one time, literally think faster than light, and can read a mind from parsecs away is still subject to petty human emotions like shame and anger.<\/p>\n

I rarely laugh out loud when reading, but I do reading his books.\u00a0 I rarely cry… when reading… but I do reading his books.<\/p>\n

I will miss him and I’m somewhat ashamed to say it’s because no more new books will appear.<\/p>\n

I’ve been reading his books for decades and they have helped me through some rough times.\u00a0 Just being able to submerge myself in a world that is so much more interesting and, yes, better, than one we live in now was a welcome break from reality.<\/p>\n

I suppose I should talk about death for a minute.\u00a0 It’s not a rebirth.\u00a0 It’s not the beginning of the next stage.\u00a0 Death is the end.\u00a0 It’s all over, except for one’s body being a nutrient source for a variety of organisms.\u00a0 And that, I think, is a good thing.\u00a0 Without death, there is no place for life.\u00a0 Everything needs something else to live and to die.\u00a0 It is a cycle of life on our planet.<\/p>\n

However much humans may wish for life after death or immortality, we won’t get it anytime soon.\u00a0 And even if we do, it will be because of technology, not religion that gets us there.<\/p>\n

I will never have a chance to meet Mr. Banks and tell him, in person, how amazing his work is.\u00a0 I won’t see him in heaven and his soul will not live on in the next life.\u00a0 He will not be reborn into a new body.\u00a0 He will be gone and it will be final.<\/p>\n

And, you know, I’m OK with that.\u00a0 Mr. Banks’ has influenced millions of people with his work.\u00a0 We will remember him.\u00a0 His loved ones will remember him.\u00a0 He won’t live on, but his work will.\u00a0 I’m sure he put a lot of effort into those novels and that effort was not wasted.<\/p>\n

I have his books and I will remember him every time I read one.\u00a0 And I will read them… often.<\/p>\n

Thank you Ian, I wish you and your family the best.\u00a0 You will be missed.\u00a0 And we will remember you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are even a casual fan of science fiction, then you should know the name Ian M. Banks.\u00a0 If…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,44,36],"tags":[31,371,372,342],"class_list":["post-786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-culture","category-life","tag-cancer","tag-ian-m-banks","tag-novels","tag-science-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/smilodonsretreat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}