What are your favorite novels from Mieville and Iain Banks?

[Calibandar]

I thought I might combine these two authors for no other reason that they are often mentioned, and I was wondering what novels folks here found the most interesting?

Mieville's got quite a few novels to his name now, including some YA work, so there is a good amount to choose from.

Banks obviously has a huge catalogue of work. So let's have it, rate them from 1-3 per author if you can, or otherwise just list your favourite.

[Darth Richard II]

Banks - all of them.

Mieville -none of them.

:P

(Actually reads OP)

HRmmmmm That's tough. I really do love all of Banks. I;ll go with excession for my fave but I'll have to actually think about this one a bit.

[Slick Mongoose]

Banks - Excession

Mieville - The Scar

[Seli]

I don't think I've ever managed to finish a Mieville.

Banks' space opera is great, his more literary work at times even better. It would be difficult to pick one and I am useless at lists anyway, perhaps The Wasp Factory for the WTF factor, especially considering it was an early work.

[King Tyrion I]

My post got lost.

Miéville: The City and The City

Banks: hard to pick one.

[sologdin]

iron council.

[Eponine]

The Scar

[Darth Richard II]

To be fair the only Mieville I've read is King Rat, and most Mieville fans I know admit that one kind sucked.

[Kalbear]

The city and the city is my fave, though unlundun is probably the one I enjoyed the most.

[felice]

To be fair the only Mieville I've read is King Rat, and most Mieville fans I know admit that one kind sucked.

It's not up to the standard of his later work, certainly, but it's still entertaining enough and better than a lot of stuff that gets published. The Scar is my favourite.

Probably Player of Games out of the Banks I've read, though I've enjoyed them all.

[dajamieson]

Mieville: Perdido St Station 1st, then The Scar. City & the City is pretty good too.

Banks: Any of his sci-fi. Feersum Endjinn is a little tricky to read due to the phonetics. Player of Games and Use of Weapons are probably the best overall. If you're going to read all of them, I'd suggest reading Consider Phlebas before Look to Windward as they're connected. Against a Dark Background, Feersum Endjinn and The Algebraist are non-Culture. The rest involve The Culture to a greater (Excession) or Lesser (Inversions) degree. It's all good, but maybe read The Hydrogen Sonata last.

non-sci-fi: Anything except Canal Dreams and A Song of Stone. Whether you enjoy Complicity might depend on your politics

[Datepalm]

I'd start with Perdido Street Station or The City and the City for Mieville. I'm a bit indifferent to his YA's (Railsea, Kraken, Un Lun Dun - didn't even finish the latter two.) ETA - Haven't read Embassytown though, it's a standalone too.

Where to start with Banks is a whole debate apparently - I favour Look to Windwards or Use of Weapons.

[3CityApache]

The city and the city is my fave, though unlundun is probably the one I enjoyed the most.

The city and the city is the sole reason I started and finished reading Mieville on that book. I couldn't force myself to read any of his other stuff, despite the fact I was encouraged to do so (especially Perdido Street Station and The Scar) by the people I know and whose literary taste I respect.

[Bastard of Godsgrace]

The Scar (just barely) and Use of Weapons (way above anything else, IMHO).

[williamjm]

My favourite Banks books are probably Use of Weapons and The Player of Games, I'd rank them both among the best Science Fiction novels I'd read. I'd be tempted to put Surface Detail in third because I thought it had some excellent bits, even if it had a fair number of flaws as well, I also enjoyed Feersum Endjinn a lot even if the phonetic chapters took three times longer to read than the others.

I really liked Mieville's The City and the City, the only other Mieville book I've read so far is Embassytown which I thought was reasonably good but a bit lacking in terms of characterisation.

I do intend to read more of Mieville's books and some of Banks' non-SF sometime.

[RedEyedGhost]

I've only read two Mieville books, Perdido Street Station and Un Lun Dun, and they're the only two books I plan on reading by him. His writing just doesn't do it for me at all.

One of these days I'll get around to reading Banks. I've been meaning to for ages now, but I just seem to fit him in.

[maarsen]

I tried. I really tried but I cannot get into Mieville. Iain Banks is a different story.I have read them all. Ignore the Great and Powerful Sologdin. Start with The Wasp Factory for his non-SF and Use of Weapons for his SF.

[A Song of Mice and Liars]

Have to admit I have never heard of Meiville (should I have? :blush:) but for Iain Banks my top three are The Crow Road, way way out there in the lead, I have read it at least three times, then Walking on Glass, then ummmn, either Espedair Street or The Business.

I appreciated The Wasp Factory as a superb piece of literature but the plot and the premise left me a bit cold.

I've read most of his Iain M Banks stuff but not for a long time go (must go back and re-read them), from memory, I am pretty sure I had a deep appreciation of The Player of Games.

I could not get into Feersum Endjinn at all!

[Plessiez]

I think Iron Council is my favourite Mieville but it's a bit of an acquired taste and I wouldn't recommend it as the first book of his that anybody reads. The City and the City is probably a better stand-alone book, and (the YA novel) Un Lun Dun is very good too.

I find Banks' work a lot more uneven than Mieville's. Of his SF, I really like Use of Weapons, Look to Windward and Feersum Endjinn. Outside of that, The Bridge and The Crow Road are both good.

[john]

City and the City is my favourite Mieville.

Whit is my favourite Banks. Or Use of Weapons for M. Banks.