Banks popular culture series for a potential tv show. Iain banks gave his own culture name as sunearther iain elbonko banks of north queensferry. Banks was one of the most celebrated and respected science fiction authors of all time. Amazon has acquired the rights to adapt the first installment of iain m. Banks, though many of the ship titles from those books are far too long for even eves roomy shipname field. Its a scifi game thats probably best described by the following hypothetical question. Ive found that rewriting an old book took much more effort than writing one from scratch, but i had to go back to do right by. This is a list of spacecraft found in the culture novels and short stories by iain m. Banks finest work and i have read them all, it is a true scifi masterpiece on an epic scale, the characters, both the ships ais, as well as the people, both contact and alien, are well rounded and interesting, you want to hear their stories and you are sad when the book comes to its thrilling climax.
Welcome to the culture, the galactic civilization that. Iain banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, the wasp factory, in 1984. He gained enormous popular and critical acclaim for both his mainstream and his science fiction novels. Id been saving the final book in iain banks culture sequence, the hydrogen sonata, for a while. In this setting, each culture ship, and some others, is also an artificial intelligence with a distinctive personality. Its a benign take on the concept of a galactic empire at least on the surface, a postscarcity future in which humanitys every desire, from b. Banks culture universe spaceship names concordances. Falling outside the normal moral constraints me, im counting no more mr nice guy liveware problem yes, i am carrying a big stick sleeper service and the. Spotting this trend, a number of people questioned iain m. Im mike with list25 and here are 25 coolest starships in scifi. List of spacecraft in the culture series the culture. In this setting, each culture ship, and some others, is also an artificial intelligence with a.
In february 2000 the orbit site has now published the winners and the ship names. Why was the ship the falcon landed on named of course i still love you. Iain banks 16 february 1954 9 june 20 was a scottish author. A reader named kelly sent me a list of 236 of iain m. Ship names i m going to assume that many if not most of you are familiar with iain banks the culture, and the naming system of culture ships. Mar 02, 2018 few sciencefictional settings are as intriguing as the one created across the nine novels and one novella that comprise iain m. Ship names im going to assume that many if not most of you are familiar with iain banks the culture, and the naming system of culture ships. How would it do if it was actually trained specifically on culture ships.
Banks the popular science fiction author died sunday of cancer. Sep 11, 2000 iain m banks the author of look to windward, excession, and inversions discusses the state of sf writing, the culture, and the joy of ship naming. Falling outside the normal moral constraints me, im counting no more mr nice guy liveware problem yes, i am carrying a big stick sleeper service and the full name of mistake not. Jan 23, 2015 elon musk names spacex drone ships in honor of iain m. The tenth culture book from the awesome imagination of iain m. It concerns the response of the culture and other interstellar societies to an unprecedented alien artifact, the excession of the title. Some names are actually no differeent from present day ship names naval, aero, or space esp. Jun 23, 2017 how the spacex drone ships got their scifi names. Special circumstances sc for short is a subset of contact that assigns itself the handling of unusual, tricky, secret, or otherwise special situations. Heres how elon musk comes up with the very cool but weird names for his drone ships. A few of my ships have names from the culture series of books by iain m. Welcome to the culture, the galactic civilization that iain m. Falling outside the normal moral constraints me, i m counting no more mr nice guy liveware problem yes, i am carrying a big stick sleeper service and the full name of mistake not.
As with all of the culture books, it is a standalone novel sharing only the same background and setting, with minimal references to the events of. Elon musks new drone ships pay tribute to a revered sci. Banks passed away in 20, and is widely regarded to be one of the greatest science fiction writers of his generation. Im sure it will seem much gutsier and wellplotted at that time and it is full of wonderful inventive ideas rounding out further aspects of galactic life and the culture. Banks and features in a number of his space opera novels and works of short fiction, collectively called the culture series. Ive used the book titles a bit too, as those are shorter. Feb 21, 2018 amazon has acquired the rights to adapt the first installment of iain m. A look back at what made his culture series so memorable. My ship in elite dangerous, the m v longshot is cultureishly named. Elon musks spacex named drone ships after iain banks.
Banks in banks vastly entertaining postscarcity space opera series, humanity for lack of a more accurate word has ceded control of its destiny to the minds, vast artificial intelligences that run the culture, fending off threats both internal and external while keeping the fleshandbloods fed and happy and free to pursue their. Feb 06, 2017 our first image of iain m bankss culture universe is a man drowning in sewage. Many of these ships are significant characters in the novels. Bankss culture ship names from wikipedia, and i trained the 345 millionparameter version of gpt2 on them. Musk had previously tweeted this name for the east coast ship, and a. The culture wikis page list of spacecraft in the culture series has a much more exhaustive listing, to which you can contribute freely and directly. Did gpt2 somehow have a builtin tendency to produce names that sounded like selfaware spaceships. He wrote mainstream fiction under the name iain banks and science fiction as iain m. Late last month, spacexs billionaire founder and ceo elon. He wrote mainstream fiction under the name iain banks and science f iction as iain m. Mar 05, 2018 in anticipation of the new amazon tv series adaptation of consider phlebas, heres 5 reasons to read the culture novels of iain m banks 1954 20. Banks was a character in one of his own culture science fiction novels, the shocking news that he had contracted terminal.
Bankss father was an officer in the admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. Consider phlebas, like most of bankss early sf output, was a rewritten version of an earlier book, as he explained in a 1994 interview. The smallest dragonboy story planets in science fiction. Elon musks new drone ships pay tribute to a revered scifi. Gonzo transhumanism squares off against sinister techpriests and fanatical space marines in stompy, radiationspewing power. Just as the minds inhabiting each culture ship choose their names with care, you have to imagine that musk did the same here. The robotic ships that serve as landing platforms for spacex rockets now have names that honor legendary scifi author iain m. Repairs almost done on the spaceport drone ship and have given it the name just read the instructions. Heres how elon musk comes up with the very cool but weird names for. Generally viewed with a mixture of contempt and admiration by the culture at large, sc does the dirtiest and bloodiest work that the culture in scs opinion needs doing. Feb 12, 2018 one of elon musks favorite scifi authors will release a posthumous art book entropy magazine iain m. Iain m banks sunearther iain elbonko banks of north queensferry this article was posted to newsgroup rec. Few sciencefictional settings are as intriguing as the one created across the nine novels and one novella that comprise iain m. These ships obtained their names as a result of another unnamed involved civilisation criticizing culture ship naming policy, claiming that such powerful ships ought to have names with a little more gravitas.
Elon musk names spacex drone ships in honor of iain m. Halo fans will no doubt recognise the name purity of spirit amongst the favorites. Banks s father was an officer in the admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. It is the fifth in the culture series, a series of ten science fiction novels which feature a utopian fictional interstellar society called the culture. The names arent supposed to follow any scheme, so anything is ok, i guess. If elon musk keeps naming ships in honor of iain m. Your best ship names eve general discussion eve online. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Elon musk names spacex drone ships in honor of scifi. Excession is a science fiction novel by scottish writer iain m.
The following ships have not appeared in any books, however they were named by iain m banks in an interview with the guardian. Iain banks died almost seven years ago, now god, i remember buying his first book, the wasp factory, off a spinner rack in rayleigh high street in 1984 and just being knocked flat by its mad audacity and there arent going to be any more culture books. Elon musk confirmed in a later tweet that the drone ship names were. Banks is a pseudonym of iain banks which he used to publish his science fiction. Banks, including the initial of his adopte d middle n a me menzies. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name menzies.
Update 20140212 thank you for reading culture ship names. Naheres siehe hauptartikel autonomous spaceport drone ship. Just as the minds inhabiting each culture ship choose their names with. List of spacecraft in the culture series the culture wiki. Iain m banks the author of look to windward, excession, and inversions discusses the state of sf writing, the culture, and the joy of shipnaming. Elon musk names spacex drone ships in honor of scifi legend. Excession was originally published in 1996 and is the fourth novel in iain m. Theyre hilarious, and if you ever need to name a spaceship or a boat or a car this is a good place to look for inspiration. What are the best ship names in iain banks culture novels.
Ships and minds also have a slightly distasteful view of sc procedure associated with m32, one ship mind. Most ships in this list are members of the culture, the hybrid society featured in many of these novels. And 30 years after its first publication, consider phlebas remains a novel. Iain banks celebrated by submarine named after a culture. Amazon studios is bringing the culture scifi book series. Amazon studios is adapting consider phlebas, the first novel in the epic culture book series by the late scifi legend iain m. Named by the author after the rock album clear air turbulence by the ian gillan. The droneships that elon musk keeps landing falcon 9 reusable rockets on bear these unusual names, which come from the famous. Banks s culture ship names from wikipedia, and i trained the 345 millionparameter version of gpt2 on them. The culture is a fictional interstellar postscarcity civilisation or society created by the scottish writer iain m. List of spacecraft in the culture series wikipedia republished. Two and a half millennia ago, the artifact appeared in a remote corner of space, beside a trillionyear old dying sun from a different univese.
An iain m banks can never be less than very well above average and despite the above the hydrogen sonata is too. Iain banks was educated at the university of stirling where he studied english literature, philosophy and psychology. Its better than player of games, for which i also reserve the highest honors. I think that banks was incredibly talented for creating funny, even poetic ship names in his novel. Our first image of iain m bankss culture universe is a man drowning in sewage. One of the ship names with gravitas would also be awesome. I m sure it will seem much gutsier and wellplotted at that time and it is full of wonderful inventive ideas rounding out further aspects of galactic life and the culture. Jun 29, 2017 the droneships that elon musk keeps landing falcon 9 reusable rockets on bear these unusual names, which come from the famous culture series of novels and short stories by iain m banks. After the publication and success of the wasp factory 1984, banks began to write on a fulltime basis.
After the publication and success of the w asp facto ry 1984, banks began to write on a fulltime basis. In anticipation of the new amazon tv series adaptation of consider phlebas, heres 5 reasons to read the culture novels of iain m banks 1954 20. The hydrogen sonata, iain m banks warren ellis ltd. Elon musk names drone ships fo iain m banks business insider.
Consider phlebas, like most of banks s early sf output, was a rewritten version of an earlier book, as he explained in a 1994 interview. List of spacecraft in the culture series the culture wiki fandom. Ive took the liberty as always of reprinting orbits announcement below. Late last month, spacexs billionaire founder and ceo elon musk announced that he had named the companys first spaceport drone ship just read the instructions. Id forgotten that wikipedia has a page that lists the names of all the starships that have appeared in iain m. My ship in elite dangerous, the mv longshot is cultureishly named. One of elon musks favorite scifi authors will release a posthumous art book entropy magazine iain m. Mobile habitats and or factory ships, largest culture ship type. As with all of the culture books, it is a standalone novel sharing only the same background and setting, with minimal references to the events of other books and no characters crossing over.
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