Against A Dark Background

The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. With breathtaking imagination and extraordinary storytelling, they have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.''Banks is a phenomenon'' William Gibson Lady Sharrow was once the fearless leader of a combat team in one of the sporadic little commercial wars in the vicinity of the planet Golter. Now she is hunted by the Huhsz - a religious cult hellbent on assassinating her - and her only hope of escape is to ­find the last of the apocalyptically powerful Lazy Guns before the Huhsz track her down.Her journey through the exotic Golterian system is a destructive and savage odyssey into her past, and that of her family and of the system itself.Praise for the novels of Iain M. Banks:''Epic in scope, ambitious in its ideas and absorbing in its execution'' Independent on Sunday''Banks has created one of the most enduring and endearing visions of the future'' Guardian''Jam-packed with extraordinary invention'' Scotsman''Compulsive reading'' Sunday Telegraph Books by Iain M. Banks:Consider PhlebasThe Player of GamesUse of WeaponsExcessionInversionsLook to WindwardMatterSurface DetailThe Hydrogen SonataThe State of the ArtAgainst a Dark BackgroundFeersum EndjinnThe AlgebraistAlso now available: The Culture: The Drawings - an extraordinary collection of original illustrations faithfully reproduced from sketchbooks Banks kept in the 1970s and 80s, depicting the ships, habitats, geography, weapons and language of Banks'' Culture series of novels in incredible detail.