...for all its apparent speed, the ship was almost perfectly silent, and he experienced an enervating, eerie feeling, as though the ancient warship, mothballed all those centuries, had somehow not yet fully woken up, and events within its sleek hull still moved to another, slower tempo, made half of dreams.

Banks moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland living in Edinburgh and then Fife. In April 2012 Banks became the "Acting Honorary Non-Executive Figurehead President Elect pro tem (trainee)" of the Science Fiction Book Club based in London England. G.

In 2008 The Times named Banks in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". Banks including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies. Iain Banks (born on 16 February 1954) is a Scottish writer.