Iain M. Banks Books in Order
32 books are credited to Iain M. Banks, published between 1984 and 2023; 3 of them appeared after Iain M. Banks's death in 2013. The first book is The Wasp Factory (1984) and the newest is The Culture: The Drawings (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 32
- Published
- 1984–2023
- Confirmed
- 17 of 32 titles
- Pages on record
- 10,026 in 25 of 32 books
- Reading time
- 167–251 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 10,026 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 25 of 32 titles with a page count on record.
Iain M. Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013), born Iain Menzies Banks, was a Scottish author who published mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks. The Wasp Factory (1984), the debut novel, has sold over a million copies in 80 languages, allowed Banks to write full time, and was ranked second-best Scottish novel of all time in a 2016 BBC Scotland poll. The Times placed Banks on its 2008 list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. The catalogue of 32 books includes the Culture novels Consider Phlebas (1987), The Player of Games (1988) and Use of Weapons (1990), as well as The Crow Road (1992), and ends with The Culture: The Drawings (2023).
The Culture novels by Iain M. Banks envision a utopian, post-scarcity space civilization in which humans, aliens and advanced artificial intelligences interact. Many of the stories center on agents of Special Circumstances, a secretive branch that intervenes in less advanced societies to promote the Culture's principles.
How many Iain M. Banks books are there?
Iain M. Banks has 32 books, released between 1984 and 2023. 3 of them were published after Iain M. Banks's death in 2013. 11 of them belong to the Culture series.
Iain M. Banks Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 32 Iain M. Banks books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1The Wasp Factory1984 · 184 pages · confirmed 1/419841841/4
- 2Walking on Glass1985 · 239 pages · confirmed 1/419852391/4
- 3The Bridge1986 · 400 pages · confirmed 1/419864001/4
- 419874804/4
- 5Espedair Street1987 · 249 pages · confirmed 1/419872491/4
- 619884164/4
- 719892243/4
- 8Canal Dreams1989 · 198 pages · confirmed 1/419891981/4
- 919904804/4
- 10The Crow Road1992 · 501 pages · confirmed 1/419925011/4
- 1119936263/4
- 12Complicity1993 · 305 pages · confirmed 1/419933051/4
- 1319943113/4
- 14Whit1995 · 455 pages · confirmed 1/419954551/4
- 1519964993/4
- 16A Song of Stone1997 · 288 pages · confirmed 1/419972881/4
- 1719983523/4
- 18The Business1999 · 393 pages · confirmed 1/419993931/4
- 1920003693/4
- 20Dead Air2002 · 436 pages · confirmed 1/420024361/4
- 21Raw Spirit2003 · confirmed 1/42003–1/4
- 2220044343/4
- 23The Steep Approach to Garbadale2005 · confirmed 1/42005–1/4
- 2420086114/4
- 2520094033/4
- 2620106564/4
- 2720125173/4
- 28Stonemouth2012 · confirmed 1/42012–1/4
- 29The Quarry2013 · confirmed 1/42013–1/4
- 302015–3/4
- 312017–3/4
- 322023–3/4
Iain M. Banks series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Culture books in order 11 books
Iain M. Banks books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Iain M. Banks Standalone Novels
4 books4 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Shoreline of Infinity Science Fiction Magazine in order
2 booksStandalone books
15 books15 Iain M. Banks titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Iain M. Banks books in order?
You only need to read Iain M. Banks books in order within the Culture series, which holds 11 of the 32 Iain M. Banks books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with Iain M. Banks
Start with Consider Phlebas (1987), the first Culture book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The Wasp Factory (1984).
What is the newest Iain M. Banks book?
The Culture: The Drawings (2023) is the newest Iain M. Banks book released so far.
Is there a new Iain M. Banks book coming?
No next Iain M. Banks book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Iain M. Banks has won
Wikidata records 3 awards and 18 nominations for Iain M. Banks. The most recent 12 are listed here. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- BSFA Award for Best Novel1996Wonfor Excession
- Tähtivaeltaja Award1995Won
- BSFA Award for Best Novel1994Wonfor Feersum Endjinn
- Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2013Shortlistedfor The Hydrogen Sonata
- Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2011Shortlistedfor Surface Detail
- Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign-Language Short Story2011Shortlistedfor The State of the Art
- Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2010Shortlistedfor Transition
- Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2009Shortlistedfor Matter
- Hugo Award for Best Novel2005Shortlistedfor The Algebraist
- Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2005Shortlistedfor The Algebraist
- Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2001Shortlistedfor Look to Windward
- BSFA Award for Best Novel1998Shortlistedfor Inversions
Iain M. Banks at a glance
- Died
- Iain M. Banks died in 2013, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Iain M. Banks are still being published after Iain M. Banks's death in 2013; the newest appeared in 2023.
- Release pace
- Iain M. Banks books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 10,026 pages across the 25 of 32 books with a recorded length, a median of 403 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Iain M. Banks books, 10 of 32, were published in the 1990s.
- Corroboration
- 5 of the 32 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and 17 in at least three.
What the Iain M. Banks books are about
26 of the 32 Iain M. Banks books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: science fiction is tagged on 11 of 26. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Science fiction 11 of 26 books
- Long Now Manual for Civilization 6 of 26 books
- Science fiction & fantasy 4 of 26 books
- Space warfare 4 of 26 books
- Life on other planets 3 of 26 books
- Imaginary wars and battles 2 of 26 books
- Man-woman relationships 2 of 26 books
- Revenge 2 of 26 books
- Serial murders 2 of 26 books
Other Science Fiction authors
Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.
- Science Fiction authors and series in order
- John Scalzi books in order 75 books
- Douglas Adams books in order 32 books
- Ann Leckie books in order 15 books
- Evan Currie books in order 41 books
- Christopher Ruocchio books in order 15 books
- Cixin Liu books in order 2 books
- Douglas E. Richards books in order 38 books
- Vaughn Heppner books in order 122 books