Why sci-fi novelist Iain M. Banks was an ‘astounding’ world-builder

As a writer of space operas set in alien universes, I've always written comprehensive world-building documents, from character charts to hyper-detailed storylines to encyclopedic entries on the cultures I create. This is an important part of my process and I have studied some of the best: late Iain M. Bankswho died in 2013, was an amazing peace builder.

Best known for its Culture In the series, Banks described cultural civilization as a “secular paradise.” Its human/machine/AI population has achieved a post-resource scarcity utopia in which benevolent AIs (called Minds) manage the health and maintenance of society. Unlike other science fiction that imagines AI overlords exterminating or enslaving humanity (think Matrix), in Culture, people and machines have equal rights and have meaningful, trusting relationships. Yes, at the end of the day, the machines call the shots, but they are usually right, and their human citizens are not oppressed.

Of course, things are not always that simple. To Banks Game player (1988), the main character Gurge is bored with his ideal cultural life; when he visits the comparatively unstable Azad Empire, its inhabitants are hostile to the supposed utopia of the Culture. They have a good reason. The culture takes an ethnographic and condescending view of other civilizations. He debates whether to leave them alone or take control. In the novella Current stateMembers of the Contact Service acknowledge that the Culture's absorption of Earth will result in the deaths of billions of people, but it is acceptable if it creates something better in the long run. This tension between Culture as paradise and empire of supremacy is a well-known theme, and Banks finds fascinating ways to explore it. His worldbuilding is one of them.

As a writer obsessed with the art of world-building, I recently devoured Banks' posthumously published book. Culture: Drawings. The book reprints a large collection of Banks' drawings and notes.

There we see how he answers questions that are also important for my work: what language do the characters speak and why? What are the rules for naming people and places? How does technology affect not only broad social structures, but also the smallest details of everyday life? In Banks's drawings, he answers these questions with crude sketches of ships, intricate weapon diagrams, rows of numerical calculations, and maps labeled down to the smallest corner. These documents indicate both the idyllic nature of the Culture and its militaristic aspects. Through these details we see the complexity of Banks' writing process and how he achieved his fully developed universe and civilization.

I'm currently working on a novel that also features an advanced alien civilization. I keep coming back to Octavia Butler Lilith's Broodwhose benevolent aliens are robbing people of agency in their own lives. I also keep thinking about Jacques Sternberg's story “So Far From Home”, where an alien who visits Earth walks around it with a constant disgust for humanity. And then there is Banks, whose work serves as a guide to how I can make my world real, lived-in, accessible, although not familiar. I don't have Banks' talent for drawing, but I share his need to visualize his society, to map the blueprints of the ship everyone hangs out on, or to chart a star map of important places.

For me, that's the delicious pleasure of science fiction. Imaginary world.

But there are other, more subtle ways in which Banks builds her worlds. My entry into banks was the above. Current statethe main characters of which are alien guests on Earth. They are a likable group who approach Earth's history and culture with curiosity, if not horror at its atrocities. But while much of the story has a light-hearted tone, Banks creates ominous moments that show us the Culture's internal problems.

For example, at the end of the novella there is a dinner party scene where Lee's character eccentrically advocates the destruction of the Earth. His comrades interrupt him, but without the desperation they show towards earthly atrocities such as the Final Solution. The scene culminates with Lee presenting his guests with a dish of laboratory-grown human cells—that is, cooked human flesh. “If only they could see us now!” – one character exclaims joyfully. “Cannibals from outer space!”

This moment of world-building fascinates me.

Eating vat-grown human steaks is clearly different from the Holocaust, but both demonstrate a cavalier attitude toward human life, a humor-tinged indifference of people toward those they consider subhuman. It gives us a glimpse into the Culture that Banks's drawings of guns and superships may hint at, but don't necessarily translate to on an emotional level. In other words, the world-building in Banks' novels is about more than just geography, linguistics, and technology. It's about tone. An unsettling mixture of lightness and fear that shows that he is a master of his craft.

Anyone new to Banks should look at his drawings and technical descriptions. They provide rich insight into the process and mechanics of creating a new world. I would also encourage you to pay attention to the moments of contradiction and uncertainty that permeate the characters' dialogue and self-reflection, areas in which Banks particularly excels. Watch his tone. Watch his humor. For me, these are the most poignant lessons.

Bethany Jacobs is the award-winning author of the Philip K. K. novel. These burning stars (Orbit). Iain M. Banks Culture novel Game player (Orbit) is a reading for the December 2025 New Scientist Book Club. Register to read with us Here.