Final Iain Banks novel The Quarry released

THE final novel by Iain Banks has been released to bittersweet acclaim, 11 days after the author died of the disease around which the plot revolves.

The last book of the late Iain Banks has been released. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Banks announced in April that he had been diagnosed with gall bladder cancer and had only months to live. He died on 9 June, aged 59.

He asked his publisher, Little, Brown, to bring forward the release date for The Quarry after telling fans about his illness.

The book details the physical and emotional strain of cancer and describes the final days of a man with terminal cancer, as seen through the eyes of his son.

Critics have described it as “sad” due to the subject matter and the fact it is Banks’ last novel, but it has also been praised for being “written with the life-enhancing verve characteristic of his best work”.

The Quarry has been in the top-ten best-sellers lists on Amazon and Waterstones for two weeks, due to pre-orders.

Shortly before his death, Banks said he had almost finished the novel when he was diagnosed with his illness.

He said: “I had no inkling. So it wasn’t as though this is a response to the disease or anything – the book had been kind of ready to go. And then, 10,000 words from the end, as it turned out, I suddenly discovered that I had cancer.”

A Little, Brown spokesman said: “Just three weeks ago, he was presented with finished copies of his last novel, The Quarry, and enjoyed celebration parties with old friends and fans across the publishing world.