I'm not sure I can express in words how much of an effect Iain Banks' writing has had on my life. From my school English projects on some of the earlier books through to his latest work, his imagination and ability to convey those ideas in his novels are just staggering.
Such sad news. Mr Banks instantly became one of my favorite authors after I read his SF novel Player of Games. Then I read The Wasp Factory, which cemented his status on the other side of the fiction fence.
He has lived a life that almost all of the centenarians could only dream of. Age is not relevant. Not everybody has the luxury to know when the time has come...