I just come up with the stories and write them as well as I can. There's not really a great deal of strokey-beard thinking going on.
Iain BanksPerdition awaits at the end of a road constructed entirely from good intentions, the devil emerges from the details and hell abides in the small print.
Iain BanksPeople can be teachers and idiots; they can be philosophers and idiots; they can be politicians and idiots... in fact I think they have to be... a genius can be an idiot. The world is largely run for and by idiots; it is no great handicap in life and in certain areas is actually a distinct advantage and even a prerequisite for advancement.
Iain Banks