Yes, but the Value of Banks' work, is the WRITING, IMHO. . . . Ok, in my NOT SO humble opinion. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" />.<br /><br />The characters are always mind blowingly good, and the idea of the culture itself is very powerful. However, I will show you what I mean, by it being the WRITING that is the ultimate good, in the stories.<br />Pick one of them up, actually hold the BOOK in your hand, and read a passage, any passage, out loud. You can do so, without once stumbling in your diction. Until you hit a word you have never seen before, the words trip smoothly over your lips, with automatic emphasis.<br /><br />And you forget what you are doing.<br /><br />Ultimate example of superb written English.<br /><br />And HOW could a scriptwriter, even one not corrupt, allow the words of another to survive in their perfection?. So the Script would be a poor copy.<br /><br />One of the most excellent books, ever written in any genre, is Excession. by him. The Ship Minds !. the little drone that COULD, and did. WOW. And a badguy/thing/allinall that just EXCEEDS anything ever imagined before. Talk about your Quantum Computers!.