New Releases by Iain Banks

Pochmurný příběh šestnáctiletého chlapce z dysfunkční rodiny, který si vytváří svérazný magický svět. Šestnáctiletý Frank žije na skotském ostrově jen s otcem, vzpomíná na bratra Erika, který skončil v blázinci, a většinu času tráví podivnými rituály a stavbou hrubých zbraní, kterými zabíjí drobná zvířata. Jeho největším vynálezem je ale Vosí továrna, záhadný přístroj podobný bludišti, do něhož Frank vpouští vosy a z jejich pohybu věští věci budoucí. Nyní se duševně nevyrovnaný Erik vrací na ostrov a Frank se snaží proniknout do věčně zamknuté otcovy pracovny. Jak dopadne vzájemné střetnutí a jaká rodinná tajemství vyplavou na povrch? Nakladatelská anotace. Kráceno.

Eine Reise an die Grenzen des Vorstellbaren In einem entlegenen Sektor des Weltraums taucht eines Tages ein rätselhaftes Artefakt auf – eine riesige schwarze Kugel, die sich allen Kontaktversuchen verweigert. Messungen ergeben, dass das Objekt tausend Milliarden Jahre alt sein muss, älter also als unser Universum. Doch wie ist das möglich? Und wer oder was steckt dahinter?

Kenne deinen Feind! Der idiranische Krieg treibt seinem Höhepunkt entgegen: Als Rache für die Niederlagen, die ihnen die KULTUR beigebracht hat, planen die Chelgrianer einen Anschlag auf das Masaq‘-Orbital, ein künstliches Gebilde von drei Millionen Kilometern Durchmesser, bewohnt von fünfzig Milliarden Menschen. Zwar wird das Orbital von einer KI geleitet, die Jahrhunderte lang an Raumschlachten teilgenommen hat – doch wie soll sie einen Gegner erkennen, der eine unsichtbare Waffe in sich trägt?

Alte Feinde Auf einem fernen Planeten widerstehen die Bewohner seit Jahrhunderten den technischen Errungenschaften der Zivilisation und halten an ihrer uralten Gesellschaftsform fest. Es ist eine archaische, raue Welt, die jedoch zahlreichen „Aussteigern“ aus allen Teilen des Universums – vor allem aus der KULTUR - als Refugium dient. Solange sie sich ruhig verhalten, werden sie von den Einheimischen geduldet – doch wehe, sie mischen sich in die politischen Geschicke dieser Welt ein ...

Der letzte Ausweg Die meisten Menschen haben die Erde verlassen, als sie erkannten, dass das Sonnensystem eine Dunkelwolke durchqueren und die Erde von der aufgeblähten Sonne verschlungen werden würde. Geblieben sind ein paar Menschenabkömmlinge, einige in virtueller, andere in biologischer Form. Schließlich wird auch ihnen klar, dass sie die Katastrophe nicht überdauern können. Nun suchen sie ratlos in den uralten Resten einstiger Größe nach einer rettenden Möglichkeit: der „förchtbar Maschien“. Aber die technische Zivilisation ist längst zu Staub zerfallen, und die Funktionen ihrer seltsamen Relikte sind nur schwer zu greifen ...

Leichen im Keller Cheradenine Zakalwe ist Spitzenmann der KULTUR-Spionage, ein Söldner, der die Drecksarbeit erledigt. Diesmal ist er auf einer Sondermission, auf der er Diziet Sma begegnet, der Frau, die ihn einst aus der Versenkung geholt und ihm zu einer Karriere als Spezialagent verholfen hat. Wie jedes Mal verlangt Zakalwe für seinen Einsatz neben einem kleinen Vermögen Informationen über den Aufenthaltsort seiner Schwester, und wie jedes Mal versucht Diziet Sma, herauszubekommen, welches dunkle Geheimnis in Zakalwes Vergangenheit verborgen liegt. Und diesmal scheint sie endlich Erfolg zu haben ...

Iain Banks is celebrated as a novelist and science fiction writer. It is less well known that his first published work was the poem ''041'', in New Writing Scotland in 1983. Like the poems that appeared within his novels, this was selected from the many he had written between 1973 and 1981. Banks took his poetry seriously and worked on it assiduously, but showed it mostly to friends. He first thought of publishing his poetry late in 2012, though insisted it be a joint collection with his life-long friend Ken MacLeod. The two writers were working on this project when Banks learned of his terminal diagnosis, and continued thereafter. He made his final revisions just days before his death. Readers of Iain Banks'' novels will find in the poems a further affirmation of the humane, sceptical and clear-eyed sensibility that informed all his work, shot through as ever with a dry wit that continues to disturb and delight. Ken MacLeod edited and introduces this collection.

A fascinating journey through Scotland''s famous distilleries with legendary author Iain Banks No true Scotsman can resist the allure of the nation''s whisky distilleries. In an absorbing voyage as interesting to non-drinkers as to true whisky connoisseurs, sci-fi and literary author Iain Banks explores the rich heritage of Scottish whisky, from the largest and most famous distilleries to the smallest, most obscure operations. Whisky is more than a drink: it''s a culture, a binder that joins together people, places and products far across Scotland''s rugged terrain. Switching from cars to ferries to bicycles, Banks crisscrosses his homeland, weaving an engrossing narrative from the strange people, fascinating traditions, and downright bizarre places he encounters on his journey down Scotland''s great golden road.

Eighteen-year-old Kit is weird: big, strange, odd, socially disabled, on a spectrum that stretches from "highly gifted" at one end, to "nutter" at the other. At least Kit knows who his father is; he and Guy live together in a decaying country house on the unstable brink of a vast quarry. His mother''s identity is another matter. Now, though, his father''s dying, and old friends are gathering for one last time. "Uncle" Paul''s a media lawyer now; Rob and Ali are upwardly mobile corporate bunnies; pretty, hopeful Pris is a single mother; Haze is still living up to his drug-inspired name twenty years on; and fierce, protective Hol is a gifted if acerbic critic. As young film students they lived at Willoughtree House with Guy, and they''ve all come back because they want something. Kit, too, has his own ulterior motives. Before his father dies he wants to know who his mother is, and what''s on the mysterious tape they''re all looking for. But most of all he wants to stop time and keep his father alive. Fast-paced, gripping and savagely funny, "The Quarry" is a virtuoso performance whose soaring riffs on the inexhaustible marvel of human perception and rage against the dying of the light will stand among Iain Banks'' greatest work.

A desperate young man becomes entangled with a Scottish crime family in this “brilliant, irresistible” novel from the author of The Wasp Factory (The New York Times). Stewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth, Scotland. An estuary town north of Aberdeen, Stonemouth has a beach that can be beautiful on a sunny day. But on a bleak day, Stonemouth seems to have nothing to offer but fog, cheap drugs, and gangsters—and a suspension bridge that promises a permanent way out. Stewart got out five years ago. He didn’t jump, he just ran—escaping the Murstons, a local family of mobsters. But now their patriarch has died, and in an uneasy truce, Stewart has returned home for the funeral. His long exile has also kept him away from Ellie Murston, and if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll avoid a reunion—and the topic of his old classmate Callum Murston’s untimely death. But once he’s back, Stewart steps squarely into the minefield of his past, and as he wrestles with feelings of guilt and loss, he makes some dark discoveries and his homecoming takes a lethal turn. A quick drop into the cold, gray Stoun is starting to look like an option worth considering. The basis for a BBC series, Stonemouth is a darkly witty, “beguiling” tale of warring clans, broken hearts, brotherhood, and the long, hard process of growing up—if you can stay alive long enough to try (The Guardian).

Seit Jahrzehnten tobt ein Krieg, der über das Leben nach dem Tod entscheidet Wenn der Tod nicht mehr das Ende ist, weil jedes Bewusstsein digital gespeichert wird, wenn die Massenspeicher von Himmel und Hölle zum Angriff rüsten, wenn eine junge Frau für ihre Rache die Grenzen zwischen Raum und Zeit überwindet und nur ein Mann die größte aller Schlachten verhindern kann – dann entbrennt ein Krieg, der die Grenzen zwischen Realität und den digitalen Welten verschwimmen lässt, bis Leben und Tod an Bedeutung verlieren.

Um die riesigen Distanzen im All zu überwinden, wurde ein Netzwerk aus Wurmlochkanälen geschaffen, und nur wer den Algebraisten - die Formel für die Wurmlochverbindungen - besitzt, kontrolliert dieses Netzwerk. Kein Wunder also, dass etliche Völker versuchen, den Algebraisten in ihren Besitz zu bekommen ... Spannende Action vor einem mehr als epischen Hintergrund - Bestsellerautor Iain Banks stellt ein weiteres Mal unter Beweis, dass er die grosse Science Fiction unserer Zeit schreibt. Iain Banks, geboren 1954 in Dunfermline, Schottland, schrieb 1984 in London seinen ersten Roman ''Die Wespenfabrik'', der in 20 Sprachen übersetzt wurde und ihn auf einen Schlag weltberühmt machte. Seither folgten mehr als ein Dutzend erfolgreicher Romane, von denen ''Verschworen'' wochenlang auf Platz Nr. 1 der britischen Bestsellerliste stand. Unter dem Namen Iain M. Banks schrieb er auch Science-Fiction-Romane. Er lebte in der Nähe von Edinburgh. Am 9. Juni 2013 starb Iain Banks im Alter von 59 Jahren.

''Establishes beyond doubt that Iain Banks is a novelist of remarkable talents'' Daily Telegraph Graham Park is in love. But Sara Fitch is an enigma to him, a creature of almost perverse mystery. Steven Grout is paranoid - and with justice. He knows that They are out to get him. They are. Quiss, insecure in his fabulous if ramshackle castle, is forced to play interminable impossible games. The solution to the oldest of all paradoxical riddles will release him. But he must find an answer before he knows the question. Park, Grout, Quiss - no trio could be further apart. But their separate courses are set for collision. Praise for Iain Banks: ''The most imaginative novelist of his generation'' The Times ''His verve and talent will always be recognised, and his work will always find and enthral new readers'' Ken MacLeod, Guardian ''His work was mordant, surreal, and fiercely intelligent'' Neil Gaiman ''An exceptional wordsmith'' Scotsman

''A stunning book. Banks'' powerful imagination is joined to a rare ability to be truly funny while exploring a nightmare world'' Sunday Times A man lies in a coma after a near-fatal accident. His body broken, his memory vanished, he finds himself in the surreal world of the bridge - a world free of the usual constraints of time and space, a world where dream and fantasy, past and future, fuse. Who is this man? Where is he? Is he more dead than alive? Or has he never been so alive before? Praise for Iain Banks: ''The most imaginative novelist of his generation'' The Times ''His verve and talent will always be recognised, and his work will always find and enthral new readers'' Ken MacLeod, Guardian ''His work was mordant, surreal, and fiercely intelligent'' Neil Gaiman ''An exceptional wordsmith'' Scotsman

''Banks once again demonstrates his extraordinary dark powers of imagination'' Sunday Times Hisako Onada, world-famous cellist, refuses to fly. And so she travels to Europe as a passenger on a tanker bound through the Panama Canal. But Panama is a country whose politics are as volatile as the local freedom fighters. When Hisako''s ship is captured, it is not long before the atmosphere is as flammable as an oxy-acetylene torch, and the tension as sharp as the spike on the cello... Praise for Iain Banks: ''The most imaginative novelist of his generation'' The Times ''His verve and talent will always be recognised, and his work will always find and enthral new readers'' Ken MacLeod, Guardian ''His work was mordant, surreal, and fiercely intelligent'' Neil Gaiman ''An exceptional wordsmith'' Scotsman

''Fierce contemporaneity, an acrobat imagination, social comment, sardonic wit... the peculiar sub-culture of cult religion is a natural for Banks'' The Times A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing... Innocent in the ways of the world, an ingenue when it comes to pop and fashion, the Elect of God of a small but committed Stirlingshire religious cult, Isis Whit is no ordinary teenager. When her cousin Morag - Guest of Honour at the Luskentyrian''s four-yearly Festival of Love - disappears after renouncing her faith, Isis is marked out to venture among the Unsaved and bring the apostate back into the fold. But the road to Babylondon (as Sister Angela puts it) is a treacherous one, particularly when Isis discovers that Morag appears to have embraced the ways of the Unsaved with spectacular abandon... Praise for Iain Banks: ''The most imaginative novelist of his generation'' The Times ''His verve and talent will always be recognised, and his work will always find and enthral new readers'' Ken MacLeod, Guardian ''His work was mordant, surreal, and fiercely intelligent'' Neil Gaiman ''An exceptional wordsmith'' Scotsman

''Charming, sad, comic... the funniest, truest rock biopic yet'' Observer Daniel Weir used to be a famous - not to say infamous - rock star. Maybe still is. At thirty-one he has been both a brilliant failure and a dull success. He''s made a lot of mistakes that have paid off and a lot of smart moves he''ll regret for ever. He has gone from rags to riches and back, and managed to hold on to them both, though not to much else. His friends all seem to be dead, fed up with him or just disgusted - and who can blame them? As he contemplates his life, Daniel realises he has only two problems: the past and the future. He knows how bad the past has been. But the future - well, the future is something else. Praise for Iain Banks: ''The most imaginative novelist of his generation'' The Times ''His verve and talent will always be recognised, and his work will always find and enthral new readers'' Ken MacLeod, Guardian ''His work was mordant, surreal, and fiercely intelligent'' Neil Gaiman ''An exceptional wordsmith'' Scotsman

Dark family secrets, a long-lost love affair and a multi-million pound gaming business lie at the heart of Iain Banks'' fabulous new novel. The Wopuld family built their fortune on a board game called Empire! - now a wildly successful computer game. So successful the American Spraint Corp wants to buy the Wopulds out. Young renegade Alban, who has been evading the family tentacles for the last few years, thinks Spraint should be treated with suspicion - but he also has other things on his mind. What drove his mother to take her own life? And is he yet over Sophie, his bewitching cousin and teenage love, who''ll be present at the forthcoming family gathering - part birthday party, part Extraordinary General Meeting - at Garbadale, their highland castle?

"Fielding expects his cousin to help convince the rest of the Wopulds not to sell their shares, but Alban knows that his first obligation at Garbadale, the family''s Scottish Highlands estate, is to confront two painful events from his past: his ill-fated love affair with his beautiful cousin Sophie and his mother''s suicide. An unexpected revelation by Grandma Win, however, will forever alter Alban''s perspective."--BOOK JACKET.

La guerra se recrudece a lo largo de la galaxia. Las lunas, los planetas y las mismas estrellas se enfrentaron a una destrucción a sangre fría, brutal y, lo que es peor, aleatoria. Los Iridanos luchan por su fe; la Cultura, por su derecho moral a existir. No hay lugar para la rendición. En medio del conflicto cósmico, en las profundidades de un Planeta de los Muertos, yace una Mente fugitiva. Los rumores dicen que Horza el Cambiante, y su horda de mercenarios impredecibles, humanos y máquinas, se embarcaron en su propia cruzada por encontrarla... solo para hallar su propia destrucción.

"Classic Galmour Photography" takes you behind the scenes of a fascinatingorld to reveal the secrets of the world''s top professional glamourhotographers. Glamour photography is one of the most popular genres todaynd many professionals have made their reputation in this field. The purposef this book is to examine the work and creative processes of the classiclamour photographers and then to explain what equipment, approach, settingsnd techniques are required to follow in their footsteps.

In Scotland, a self-appointed executioner dispenses justice to fit the crime. Thus the lenient judge who let a rapist go is punished by being raped, while a man who killed is killed in turn. By the author of The Wasp Factory.

Iain Banks'' daring new novel opens in a loft apartment in the East End, in a former factory due to be knocked down in a few days. Ken Nott is a devoutly contrarian vaguely left wing radio shock-jock living in London. After a wedding breakfast people start dropping fruits from a balcony on to a deserted carpark ten storeys below, then they start dropping other things; an old TV that doesn''t work, a blown loudspeaker, beanbags, other unwanted furniture...Then they get carried away and start dropping things that are still working, while wrecking the rest of the apartment. But mobile phones start ringing and they''re told to turn on a TV, because a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Centre... At ease with the volatility of modernity, Iain Banks is also our most accomplished literary writer of narrative-driven adventure stories that never ignore the injustices and moral conundrums of the real world. His new novel, displays his trademark dark wit, buoyancy and momentum. It will be one of the most important novels of 2002.

In this work, 20 leading Scottish authorities and new researchers on the Iron Age provide a wide-ranging account of our present knowledge of the period.

Sur l''orbitale Masaq'' s''est réfugié Ziller, un compositeur chelgrien dont le peuple a été récemment vaincu par la Culture, cette société galactique tolérante, anarchiste, cynique et par-dessus tout hédoniste. Ziller, le plus fameux musicien de son temps, a fui les mondes chelgriens pour des raisons politiques : il ne supportait plus le système de castes de sa patrie, raison même du conflit entre Chelgria et la Culture. Il compose, à la demande de Masaq'', un opéra symphonique en souvenir d''une guerre ancienne entre la Culture et les Idirans durant laquelle ces derniers ont fait exploser des étoiles huit cents ans auparavant. La symphonie de Ziller doit être jouée au moment précis où la lumière fulgurante de ces nova atteindra Masaq''. Un émissaire chelgrien, Quilan, est envoyé sur l''orbitale pour tenter de convaincre Ziller de revenir dans sa patrie. C''est la partie officielle de sa mission. L''autre est plus ténébreuse. Comme toujours avec Iain M. Banks, le plus brillant des auteurs anglais de sa génération, les choses ne sont pas ce qu''elles semblent et il convient de prendre le sens du vent. Un nouveau volet du cycle de la Culture, qui a renouvelé la science-fiction.

Imaginez passer six mois dans un coma profond, à la suite d''un accident de voiture sur le pont qui enjambe les eaux du Forth. Six mois durant lesquels, s''il vous reste la capacité de rêver à partir de ce qui subsiste de votre identité, vous pourrez construire un monde métaphorique. Un gigantesque pont, par exemple, un univers en soi, avec ses habitants, ses stratifications, ses rituels. Vous y serez un amnésique traité par le bon docteur Joyce, auquel vous raconterez vos rêves, effectifs ou forgés de toutes pièces. Vous y rencontrerez un barbare truculent, un inquiétant liftier, de joyeux ivrognes et surtout, surtout, la belle Abberlaine, dont les bas résille reproduisent à l''infini les entrecroisements métalliques du pont.