{"product_id":"the-culture-series-of-iain-m-banks-a-critical-introduction-9780786494477","title":"The Culture Series of Iain M. Banks: A Critical Introduction","description":"\u003cp\u003e This critical history of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels covers the series from its inception in the 1970s to the \u003ci\u003eThe Hydrogen Sonata\u003c\/i\u003e (2012), published less than a year before Banks' death. It considers Banks' origins as a writer, the development of his politics and ethics, his struggles to become a published author, his eventual success with \u003ci\u003eThe Wasp Factory\u003c\/i\u003e (1984) and the publication of the first Culture novel, \u003ci\u003eConsider Phlebas\u003c\/i\u003e (1987). His 1994 essay \"A Few Notes on the Culture\" is included, along with a range of critical responses to the 10 Culture books he published in his lifetime and a discussion of the series' status as utopian literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Banks was a complex man, both in his everyday life and on the page. This work aims at understanding the Culture series not only as a fundamental contribution to science fiction but also as a product of its creator's responses to the turbulent times he lived in.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSimone Caroti\u003c\/b\u003e is the course director of Science Fiction and Fantasy for the Creative Writing BFA at Full Sail University. He is a senior research scientist for the Astrosociology Research Institute (ARI), a nonprofit organization devoted to bringing the arts, humanities and social sciences into the debate on the future of humanity in space.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"McFarland \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50461048570130,"sku":"9780786494477","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_178fc799-8501-45db-860a-3bf10a469080.jpg?v=1730054349","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-culture-series-of-iain-m-banks-a-critical-introduction-9780786494477","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}