| Iain M. Banks and Ray Bradbury are two very | | | | especially this one. The storyline is very complicated, |
| different Science-fiction writers of the 20th century, | | | | taking the reader all over the place. Inevitably it bored |
| and novelists that I have actually read! I distinctly | | | | me to tears. Too much description and little dialogue in |
| remember seeing Scottish writer Iain Banks first novel | | | | some chapters, eventually led to me just switch off. |
| in a bargain-basement bin at Woolworths back in the | | | | This is why I enjoy reading some of American writer |
| late 80s. The novel was called 'The Wasp Factory' | | | | Ray Bradbury's short stories. They are as descriptive |
| (1984), and it had a yellow cover with lots of black | | | | as is necessary, to the point, and full of understandable |
| shadowy wasps walking (like tiny humans) over a | | | | language. His story, 'A Sound of Thunder' (1952), is the |
| clock-face. At least that's how I remember it. I didn't | | | | most re-published science fiction story of all time. He is |
| buy it, my younger brother did, and it still sits on the | | | | also responsible for 'The Martian Chronicles' (1950). The |
| bookshelf back home in England, unread. I know the | | | | book was published in the U.K. under the title 'The |
| reason why I didn't read it is because of that horrible | | | | Silver Locusts' (1951).This is a wonderful science-fiction |
| cover. Perhaps it had put other people off too? But | | | | short story collection that was serialized for television |
| looking into the history of this novel I found out that it | | | | back in 1979. It consists of several stories about the |
| has been listed as one of the 'top 100 books of the | | | | colonization of Mars by the remnant of humanity after |
| 20th century'. | | | | a nuclear war. So it's what you might call a |
| More recently a friend gave me the heads-up on 'a | | | | 'post-apocalyptic tale' setting out mankind's future path, |
| great science fiction writer' called Iain M. Banks. It turns | | | | from 1999 to 2057 to be precise. The story began as |
| out that these writers are one and the same! 'Against | | | | a series of shorts, written back in the 1950s, and over |
| a Dark Background' (1993), was the novel she | | | | time Bradbury's full works were collected up and |
| recommended. As I started to read it I remembered | | | | re-published as one epic novel. His writing is widely |
| why I just didn't like this writer. The main | | | | available on many Internet forums, and if you enjoy |
| bone-of-contention with me is his use of too many | | | | science fiction and strange tales, then I would |
| overly long sentences, not to mention the silly names, | | | | recommend reading 'A Sound of Thunder' as an |
| as well as the depressingly dark tone of his stories; | | | | introduction. |