Iain Banks (1954-2013) was a Scottish novelist who wrote science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding his middle initial, to differentiate between his regular literary fiction and his science fiction novels. He is perhaps best known for his The Culture series of books. Banks has been named one of “The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945” by The Times daily newspaper in the UK.

Banks made his debut as a published author with The Wasp Factory in 1984. Since that time, he has split his time between his Culture books (the series started in ’87) and standalone novels such as Stonemouth. Below is a list of Iain M. Banks’ books in order of publication and in chronological order:

Publication Order of Culture Books

Consider Phlebas(1987)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Player of Games(1988)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The State of the Art(1989)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Use of Weapons(1990)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Excession(1996)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Inversions(1998)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Look to Windward(2000)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Matter(2008)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Surface Detail(2010)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Hydrogen Sonata(2012)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Culture: The Drawings(2023)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Against a Dark Background(1993)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Feersum Endjinn(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Algebraist(2004)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Transition(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Anthologies

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2 Responses to “Order of Iain M. Banks Books”

  1. Felonious Monk: 9 years ago

    And let’s not forget “The State of the Art” 1993 (I think)

    Reply

  2. Jeff J: 10 years ago

    Bank’s last novel was The Quarry, published in 2013, just after his death.

    Reply

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