"Iain M. Banks (1954-2013), one of the United Kingdom's most popular science fiction authors, wrote such highly regarded novels as Consider Phlebas, Excession, and Inversions. Under the name ""Iain Banks,"" he also published mainstream fiction, including such novels as The Wasp Factory and A Song of Stone."
Locus Look to Windward is a serious novel [yet] levity and humor seep through the cracks... it is elegant, moral, funny. What more could a reader ask? Starburst Banks' mind-expanding future history is unrivaled for imaginative sweep, startling ideas, and savage but wry sense of humor. One of the very best just got even better. SFX A page-turner of reader's cramp-inducing intensity....A book that could only be harder to put down if it was superglued to your fingers... Look to Windward is a work of genius. The Guardian (U.K.) Like some latter-day Isaac Asimov, [Banks writes] space operas, complete with galactic civilizations, mighty spaceships, and brains the size of planets... Banks has tremendous fun....He crams in his beloved battle scenes, wickedly named space-ships (I Blame the Parents; Lapsed Pacifist; Now Look What You Made Me Do...)... and all the time Banks keeps ratcheting up the suspense. The New York Times Set in a far-future, multi-species galaxy rife with hope and despair, this sophisticated space opera deals artfully with the appeal of terrorism and the necessary dangers of a free society....Banks writes with a sophistication that will surprise anyone unfamiliar with modern science fiction.