Launched this week: Official Iain Banks iPhone App

June 28th, 2010 in Book News, Ebook News, UK-Specific

The Guardian is running a feature today on the brand new Iain Banks iPhone App that will be available to download - free of charge - from the UK Apple App Store from Thursday July 1st.

Iain's response? "My own app... how deeply cool. This pleases as much as seeing my first novel in print."

The release of the app is timed to coincide with the publication of the paperback edition of Transition and will act as a companion to the novel, offering exclusive material including: unseen chapters, character biographies, commentary from Iain and his original notes and plan for the novel.

A unique barcode printed in the back of the paperback edition will unlock the exclusive content. Just point your iPhone's camera at the code for scanning, and the companion features for the book will be transmitted to your App screen. Fans who already own the hardback edition of Transition can unlock this content as well, by following the simple instructions contained within the app.

And this App won't stop with Transition. Content and features on future titles will be added as the App develops, Banks fans will have ongoing access to the most up to date news and features.

The App has been developed for Little,Brown by New Zealand & UK based digital agency TradeMobile. Founder Jen Porter said of the project: "At TradeMobile, we believe mobile technology must enhance and enrich the user's experience. So unlocking the 'story beyond the story' with one of the world's leading publishers is an extraordinary project and a UK first that will quite simply transform the reading experience for ever."

Surface Detail Cover Launch

June 23rd, 2010 in Book News, Global

Iain M. Banks' global publisher, Orbit Books, have revealed the cover image that will grace the brand new Culture novel - Surface Detail - when it is published worldwide in print and e-book editions in October 2010.

From the Orbit announcement post: "The title is Surface Detail, which refers to a number of things, not least one of the principal characters, who is covered, externally and internally, with congenitally administered tattoos."

Here's the cover in all its glory:

And here's the back cover blurb:

It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters.

It begins with a murder.

And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself.

Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.

Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far-reaching – is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality.

It started in the realm of the Real and that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilizations, but at the centre of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether.

October 2010, folks. Don't miss it.

Edit 24.06.10

Here's the US cover variant with alternate font / logo:

Transition by Iain Banks – UK & US Covers

July 28th, 2009 in Book News, Global

Transition, the brand new novel by Iain Banks, will be published by Little, Brown in the UK on September 3rd and by Orbit in the US on September 23rd.

And here, for your visual edification, are the UK, US and UK Audio covers:

Click on a cover to see a larger image.

Announcing the title of the next Iain Banks novel

January 13th, 2009 in Book News, Global

We're pleased to announce that Iain Banks' next novel, to be published in September 2009, is provisionally entitled Transition.

More details to follow, as they become available.

Out Now: 'The Steep Approach to Garbadale' UK paperback edition

February 28th, 2008 in Book News, UK-Specific

Another official Iain Banks release date today, this time for the UK paperback edition of The Steep Approach to Garbadale, although copies may already be available in UK bookstores.

Click on the cover image to read an extract from this novel of families and the games they play:

Out Now: 'Matter' – US hardback edition

February 27th, 2008 in Book News, US-Specific

Today is the official publication date for the US edition of Matter (although there's a good chance you may already have seen copies of the book in US stores).

Click on the cover image to read an extract from the new Culture novel, courtesy of publisher Orbit Books: