I very much miss new novels from the author Iain M Banks, who unfortunately died too young a few years ago. I miss his invention, his style, his characterisation, I miss everything about his work, particular his Culture novels.
I’ve been missing the Culture, and know that I’ll never read a new Culture novel from the author himself. But there is another way …
Fanfiction (e.g. here & here) are stories in the style of an author, in the worlds created by an author, written by someone else. Often, these other people are aspiring authors, practising their trade. Also, too often, these pieces are porn, not what I’m looking for. These pieces are of … um … varied quality, ranging from the dire to the brilliant. Most, IMHO, fall on the dire end of the scale. But I also know of gifted writers, who produce superb literature, who write fan fiction. So, quite obviously, brilliant fan fiction is perfectly possible.
Unsurprisingly, there is Culture fan fiction out there. Furthermore, there is Culture fanfiction that is crossover with other fictional worlds, such as Harry Potter growing up in the Culture.
Thus you can understand why I’ve been looking at Culture fan fiction. Some of it is, well, horrible. Some of it is experimental, experiments that I don’t get. Too much of it is unfinished. Some of it is pretty good.
I’ve not read Iain M Banks novels for a few years, so the gnarly detail of his style has worn away in my head. This makes it easier for a fan fiction author to produce a Culture piece that convinces me.
So I’m happy to say I’ve found a good source: Trevor Hopkins. He exhibits an Iain M Banks gestalt. His short stories may be imperfect, but they’re always good, indeed I’ve not found anything better. They contain some very nice touches indeed (I’m not going to tell you what they are; go read!).