VERSION|0.5.1|NAME|theironduck|DATE|1365061427|CONTENT|Terrible news about Banks.  Obviously there are worse things going on in the world than a 58 year old man dying of cancer but this news really upset me (just as did news of Douglas Adam&#039;s untimely death).   As well as being probably my favourite author, whose early works defined my undergraduate days, he has always come across as a decent human being.

Amazon is listing his upcoming (final?) novel, The Quarry, under Iain Banks (no M) so no more Culture novels. 

Matt, I am very envious.  I met Terry Pratchett once and horrified him by asking him to sign a £5 note - I was a student and couldn&#039;t really afford it but it was the only paper I had on me.  I asked him to rubber stamp Death&#039;s head over the queen&#039;s but he was curiously anxious about it.|IP-ADDRESS|188.223.23.41|MODERATIONFLAG|