I really like Ian M. Banks’ writing. His genre is “space” sci-fi, and I find his novels to be wonderful subtle and complex. I am particularly fond of “Against a Dark Background” and “Excession”, the latter of which is central to his “Culture” series. What I find particularly appealing about the “Culture” books is his notion of Minds, which are the machine intelligences which inhabit and operate the great capital ships that form the basis for interstellar transport in the Culture, which is a far-future, utopian civilization that Banks has created. Just the ship names alone are worth a good laugh. “Look to Windward” (the most recent Culture book) and “Consider Phlebas” are also quite good.