[geeks] books for fun?

[alex j avriette]

> Iain M. Banks is an author a buddy of mine put me on to.  VERY good
> stuff.  Although some of it is VERY dark.  Really.  Said friend lent
> me "Against a Dark Background" with the warning of "It's very dark."
> Heck, at halfway through, I thought that.  It got worse.

been meaning to read another of his. finished _excession_ a few months 
back, followed by _the wasp factory_. TWF was ... interesting. i read a 
usenet review of his book that made the valid point "i no longer trust 
authors who kill the main characters or protagonist of the book." i'm 
not sure whether i want to get into another book where the characters 
i'm interested in keep getting offed.

> exposure on this side of the pond now.  When my friend started reading
> Banks, he shopped amazon.co.uk quite a lot.

which is really the easiest/best place to get his books (and peter f 
hamilton and other uk-ish authors). i just wish amazon.com's database 
worked on amazon.co.uk.

alex