big_old_dave's picture
big_old_dave from Watford, about 20 miles outside London, Uk June 9, 2013 - 8:42am

A real shame, far too young.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22835047

Adam Jenkins's picture
Adam Jenkins from Bracknell, England is reading RCX Magazine (Issue 1 coming soon) June 9, 2013 - 9:22am

Big loss. Some of his books are among my favourites. Very sad to see him pass.

Renfield's picture
Renfield from Hell is reading 20th Century Ghosts June 9, 2013 - 10:16am

I'm not huge into hard sci-fi but his books always seemed to fit stuff in there that's completely breathtaking. Very sad.

Adam Jenkins's picture
Adam Jenkins from Bracknell, England is reading RCX Magazine (Issue 1 coming soon) June 9, 2013 - 10:53am

If you aren't keen on sci fi, his other books are great. Wasp Factory is well loved, my favourites are Espedair Street and The Crow Road.

Chacron's picture
Chacron from England, South Coast is reading Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb June 9, 2013 - 1:52pm

Reading Banks's Complicity was why I started writing in the first place, when I was fourteen. What a loss. Inversions was also one of the first sci-fi books I ever picked up. Any man who can write a work as clever as that one really is gone too soon at any age.

Michael J. Riser's picture
Michael J. Riser from CA, TX, Japan, back to CA is reading The Tyrant - Michael Cisco, The Devil Takes You Home - Gabino Iglesias June 9, 2013 - 2:28pm

The Wasp Factory remains all of his that I've read, but there are others on the list. Very sad news... I have every intention of picking up some of his sf at some point because I really don't have a lot of that, and he seems like more than a solid bet as a good place to get some more. Glad to hear at least that his passing was easy.

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig June 10, 2013 - 12:44pm

It's very sad. The release he wrote when he came forward about his cancer was absolutely heartbreaking, but it seemed that he and his new wife were at peace with what was to come. Its a big loss. I've never read his sci-fi (though Bang is always pushing it on me, and I have intended to for awhile) but The Wasp Factory and Espedair Street are just fantastic novels, and he took a totally different approach to writing, that made me have to think about those books for a long time before making decision about how I felt about them-- in a good way.