The war is ending, but for the occupants of the castle, their troubles are just beginning. Armed gangs roam a lawless land, and the castle becomes the focus of a dangerous game of desire, deceit and death to one particular outlawed captain. From the author of WHIT, THE CROW ROAD and COMPLICITY.

Ken McNutt es un locutor de radio londinense que se fragua enemistades por doquier, debido a la insaciable sátira social y política que despliega a través de las ondas. En una de las muchas fiestas de la alta sociedad a las que asiste conoce a Celia, una mujer misteriosa y atractiva que le relata, entre otras cosas, un accidente que la convirtió para siempre en dos personas distintas. Poco después, se entera de que ella es una mujer casada con un mafioso, y a partir de ese momento su vida entera en una vorágine de aventuras y peligros.

Hisako Onoda, world famous cellist, refuses to fly. And so she travels through the Panama Canal as a passenger on a tanker bound for Europe. But Panama is a country whose politics are as volatile as the local freedom fighters. When Hisako's ship is captured, it is not long before the atmosphere is as flammable as an oxy-acetylene torch, and the tension as sharp as the spike on her cello…'Apocalyptic is the first word that springs to mind to describe this violent and powerful novel in which Banks once again demonstrates his extraordinary dark powers of imagination… impressive' The Times'Brilliantly crafted' Scotsman'Currents of dark wit swirl through Banks' writing, enriching its buoyancy… and, like Graham Greene, he can readily open the reader's senses to the «foreignness» of places' Scotland on Sunday'Extraordinary, brilliant, bloody' Fay Weldon

In un mondo senza tempo e senza nome, devastato da una guerra che ha rivelato il fondo barbarico della natura umana, tra cumuli di macerie e colonne di profughi in fuga, si erge un antico castello di pietra. Tra le sue austere mura vive, assieme alla sorella-amante Morgan, Abel, l’ultimo discendente di una famiglia aristocratica. Per i due giovani, quel castello sarebbe un rifugio ideale, se un giorno, a turbare la loro idilliaca «intimità», non sopraggiungesse una banda di soldati irregolari, guidati da un oscuro personaggio femminile. Stregati dal fascino magnetico e perverso di quella donna senza volto e senza anima, Abel e Morgan si trasformano ben presto nelle pedine di un sordido gioco a tre, mentre l’antica dimora diviene teatro di inaudite violenze, eccessi e distruzioni, che porteranno in un crescendo di tensione e di suspense alla catastrofe finale.

Cameron, reporter del Caledonian e maniaco di computer game, si mette sulle tracce di un nemico crudele, un uomo solo che si erge a giudice, giuria e boia di tutti coloro che hanno commesso un errore troppo grave per essere perdonato. Quale oscura complicità lega Cameron all’inafferrabile serial-killer?

n. 1. the fact of being an accomplice, esp. in a criminal actA few spliffs, a spot of mild S&M, phone through the copy for tomorrow's front page, catch up with the latest from your mystery source — could be big, could be very big — in fact, just a regular day at the office for free-wheeling, substance-abusing Cameron Colley, a fully-paid-up Gonzo hack on an Edinburgh newspaper.The source is pretty thin, but Cameron senses a scoop and checks out a series of bizarre deaths from a few years ago — only to find that the police are checking out a series of bizarre deaths that are happening right now. And Cameron just might know more about it than he'd care to admit…Involvement; connection; liability — Complicity is a stunning exploration of the morality of greed, corruption and violence, venturing fearlessly into the darker recesses of human purpose.'A remarkable novel… superbly Grafted, funny and intelligent" Times'A stylishly executed and well produced study in fear, loathing and victimisation which moves towards doom in measured steps" Observer'Compelling and sinister… a very good thriller" Glasgow Herald'Fast moving… tightly plotted" Sunday Times

Iain Banks' daring new novel opens in a loft apartment in the East End, in a former factory due to be knocked down in a few days. Ken Nott is a devoutly contrarian vaguely left wing radio shock-jock living in LondonAfter a wedding breakfast people start dropping fruits from a balcony on to a deserted carpark ten storeys below, then they start dropping other things; an old TV that doesn't work, a blown loudspeaker, beanbags, other unwanted furniture…Then they get carried away and start dropping things that are still working, while wrecking the rest of the apartment. But mobile phones start ringing and they're told to turn on a TV, because a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Centre. At ease with the volatility of modernity, Iain Banks is also our most accomplished literary writer of narrative-driven adventure stories that never ignore the injustices and moral conundrums of the real world. His new novel, displays his trademark dark wit, buoyancy and momentum. It will be one of the most important novels of 2002.

"El hombre que se despierta en el mundo extraordinario del puente sufre amnesia, y su médico parece no querer curarlo. Pero?eso importa?Explorar el puente ocupa la mayor parte de sus días. Pero por la noche están sus sueños. Sueños en los que los hombres desesperados conducen carruajes sellados a través de montañas yermas rumbo a un extraño encuentro; un bárbaro analfabeto asalta una torre encantada mediante una tormenta verbal; y hombres destrozados caminan eternamente sobre puentes sin fin, atormentados por visiones de una sexualidad que los lleva a la perdición.Yacer en cama inconsciente después de sufrir un accidente no parece muy divertido a simple vista.?Y si lo es? Depende de quién seas y de lo que hayas dejado atrás."

El hombre que se despierta en el mundo extraordinario del puente sufre amnesia, y su médico parece no querer curarlo. Pero ¿eso importa?Explorar el puente ocupa la mayor parte de sus días. Pero por la noche están sus sueños. Sueños en los que los hombres desesperados conducen carruajes sellados a través de montañas yermas rumbo a un extraño encuentro; un bárbaro analfabeto asalta una torre encantada mediante una tormenta verbal; y hombres destrozados caminan eternamente sobre puentes sin fin, atormentados por visiones de una sexualidad que los lleva a la perdición.Yacer en cama inconsciente después de sufrir un accidente no parece muy divertido a simple vista. ¿Y si lo es? Depende de quién seas y de lo que hayas dejado atrás.Iain Banks está considerado como uno de los escritores más innovadores de la narrativa británica actual. El puente es una novela de contrastes perturbadores, donde se funden el sueño y la fantasía, el pasado y el futuro.

Frank Cauldhame, il diciassettenne protagonista della Fabbrica degli orrori, è uno dei personaggi più cattivi della letteratura, non solo contemporanea. Frank uccide: a sangue freddo, minuscoli insetti e innocenti bambini. Frank odia: il padre, ex hippy con manie da scienziato pazzo; la madre, che lo ha abbandonato subito dopo averlo messo al mondo; tutte le donne, quasi tutti gli uomini e la maggior parte degli animali. Ha un fratello, maniaco incendiario appena uscito dal manicomio (le cui vittime preferite sono i cani). E ha un amico, Jamie il nano, con cui beve birra al pub. Frank non piace a nessuno e nessuno piace a lui, in realtà non piace nemmeno a se stesso, e sull’isolotto scozzese sul quale vive da recluso vive una vita scandita da complessi rituali, plasmati sulla base di una personalissima religione…Una favola inquietante di «educazione alla violenza», un romanzo micidiale che mescola l’universo giovanile a un immaginario allucinato al limite dell’incubo.

Most nie ma końca, na jego wielu poziomach żyją ludzie, a jednym z nich jest wyłowiony z rzeki John Orr. Bohater cierpi na amnezję i opowiada lekarzowi swoje dziwne sny. Jednak autor przenosi nas nagle i stajemy się świadkami życia pewnego dość przeciętnego Szkota. Cóż jest dalej? Wszystko zaczyna się mieszać i nie jesteśmy pewni o czyim śmie właśnie czytamy i co tak naprawdę jest snem a co rzeczywistością. Powieść Banks’a jest hybrydą łączącą w sobie obyczajową historię, fantastykę oraz jednocześnie jej parodię. To literacki eksperyment zabawa stylem, językiem i wyobraźnią.

Most nie ma końca, na jego wielu poziomach żyją ludzie, a jednym z nich jest wyłowiony z rzeki John Orr. Bohater cierpi na amnezję i opowiada lekarzowi swoje dziwne sny. Jednak autor przenosi nas nagle i stajemy się świadkami życia pewnego dość przeciętnego Szkota. Cóż jest dalej? Wszystko zaczyna się mieszać i nie jesteśmy pewni o czyim śmie właśnie czytamy i co tak naprawdę jest snem a co rzeczywistością. Powieść Banks’a jest hybrydą łączącą w sobie obyczajową historię, fantastykę oraz jednocześnie jej parodię. To literacki eksperyment zabawa stylem, językiem i wyobraźnią.

La historia de Pasos sobre cristal, son tres historias en realidad. En la primera tenemos a Graham, un joven artista que se dirige a casa de su amiga Sarah, acompañado de una carpeta con varios dibujos de ella. En segundo lugar está Steven Grout, un tipo verdaderamente extraño, que acaba de renunciar a su puesto de trabajo y que siempre va con casco, huyendo de sus Atormentadores. Y por último tenemos a Quiss y Ajayi, un hombre y una mujer, respectivamente, ya mayores, que están encerrados en un extraño castillo, algunas de cuyas paredes son de cristal, detrás de las cuáles hay peces luminiscentes, y donde pasan los días jugando a estrambóticos juegos de mesa con el fin de poder obtener la opción de responder a un acertijo, y así poder salir libres.

A man lies in a coma after a near-fatal accident. His body broken, his memory vanished, he finds himself in the surreal world of the bridge - a world free of the usual constraints of time and space, a world where dream and fantasy, past and future fuse. Who is this man? Where is he? Is he more dead than alive? Or has he never been so alive before?'Iain Banks of THE WASP FACTORY eclipses that sensational debut...a real dazzler' Daily Mail'Great artistry, great virtuosity ... great exuberance' New Statesman'This one's his best yet' New Musical Express'THE BRIDGE is serious, but playful; it is full of throwaway jokes, minor tangles for the reader to sort out, political/cultural references to the kind of reality that rarely gets into British literature, and nuggets of surprising truth juxtaposed with outrageous lies... convincing in a way too little fantasy or mainstream literature is' City Limits

Who Do You Work For?The Business, a nearly omnipotent enterprise, is so infinitely discreet that even its top executives are vague about its actual business. It predates the Christian church and counts among its vast riches dozens of Michelangelo's pornographic paintings and several sets of Crown jewels. The only thing it lacks is political clout, a problem the Business plans to solve by buying a nation and joining the United Nations. Kate Telman, the Business's foremost expert on emerging technologies, is chosen to lead the effort. As this beautiful, ambitious American woman pursues the ultimate prize for her highly secretive transglobal employer, Iain Banks -- whom The Times of London calls "the most imaginative British novelist of his generation" -- offers a portrait of today's ubiquitous multinational corporations. Already a bestseller in England, The Business paints a picture that is at once wickedly satirical and frighteningly familiar.

A new novel from the author of CANAL DREAMS and THE WASP FACTORY, which explores the subjects of God, sex, death, Scotland, and motor cars.

Enter — if you can bear it — the extraordinary private world of Frank, just sixteen, and unconventional, to say the least."Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim."That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again."It was just a stage I was going through."

Graham Park is in love.  But Sara Ffitch is an enigma to him, a creature of almost perverse mystery.  Steven Grout is paranoid - and with justice.  He knows that They are out to get him.  They are.  Quiss, insecure in his fabulous if ramshackle castle, is forced to play interminable impossible games.  The solution to the oldest of all paradoxical riddles will release him.  But he must find an answer before he knows the question.Park, Grout, Quiss - no trio could be further apart.  But their separate courses are set for collision..."A feast of horrors, variously spiced with incest, conspiracy, and cheerful descriptions of torture... fine writing" The Times"The author's powerful imagination is displayed again here every bit as vividly as in his debut" Financial Times"Establishes beyond doubt that lain Banks is a novelist of remarkable talents" Daily Telegraph

A little knowledge can be a very dangerous thing…Innocent in the ways of the world, an ingénue when it comes to pop and fashion, the Elect of God of a small but committed Stirlingshire religious cult: Isis Whit is no ordinary teenager.When her cousin Morag - Guest of Honour at the Luskentyrian's four-yearly Festival of Love - disappears after renouncing her faith, Isis is marked out to venture among the Unsaved and bring the apostate back into the fold. But the road to Babylondon (as Sister Angela puts it) is a treacherous one, particularly when Isis discovers the Morag appears to have embraced the ways of the Unsaved with spectacular abandon …Truth and falsehood; kinship and betrayal; 'herbal' cigarettes and compact discs - Whit is an exploration of the techno-ridden barrenness of modern Britain from a unique perspective.'Fierce contemporaneity, an acrobatic imagination, social comment, sardonic wit ... the peculiar sub-culture of cult religion is a natural for Banks, and Luskentyrianism is a fine creation' The Times'One of the most relentlessly voyaging imaginations around' Scotsman'Banks is a phenomenon ...I suspect we have actual laws against this sort of thing, in the United States, but Iain Banks, whether you take him with the "M" or without, is currently a legal import' William Gibson'Entertaining ... comically inspired' Guardian