Iain Banks

I've heard that, too, Elegran -is it not cancer of the gall-bladder, though?

That is so sad. He is a favourite of mine and I have always enjoyed his intriguing and inventive Sci Fi which he has written in the name of Iain M Banks. He's probably responsible for the most striking opening line in fiction - at the beginning of The Crow Road: 'It was the day my grandmother exploded'.

Sadly, the cancer has spread from the gall bladder to many other organs.

A lovely man. He wrote a letter to my son when he was a teenager, in return for a request for his autograph, then when my son wrote to thank him and told him about his interest in writing, he wrote again, enouraging him to write every day, which he did. Such sad news.

I have to admit to finding 'Walking on Glass' quite baffling, but I will continue reading his work - I can never understand how anybody can be so prolific and find so many plots.

He's one of the few novelists who can surprise me with a change in the storyline. I will miss him as both a writer of mainstream novels and his Culture Sci-Fi novels.

I'm now reading what is likely to be his last Sci Fi Culture book. As involved as ever with a multitude of 'minds', humans, avatars and androids, but for fans of Iain M Banks, the Hydrogen Sonata is unmissable.

The sad news of his death came last night just as I was falling asleep. It wasn't a shock, but I think he had hoped to last a bit longer until the publication of his latest book. According to Amazon it will be available on the 20th. I will miss him as one of the most readable of present-day novelists.

Such a shame. A lovely man. My son and his friends raised a toast to him in the pub yesterday

I believe he saw a copy before he died. Ian Rankin said he would never be able to face reading it. He was such a lovley man . I loved the piece on the radio about him at a book signing and someone coming over to him saying that he must have had a very unhappy childhood to write as he did. He replied that far from it he had a lovely childhood and to prove it just go over to the little grey hair lady over the room and ask her. The lady was his mum .

A real sad loss.

A sad loss and a truly great writer. Have not read all his books yet, so treats yet to come. He wrote grippingly in the "can't out it down" way. Dead Air had me laughing at all the swearing, Canal Dreams was weird, The Firm was great but The Steep Approach to Garbadale has to be my favourite to date. His courage and attitude to his own mortality was moving to read in the weekend newspapers - so sad he didn't have as long as he'd hoped. What a great artist who leaves us a wonderful legacy in his work.