It’s been almost two days since the death of celebrated Scottish author Iain Banks and condolences are coming in from all across the literary world. Fellow writer and Scottsman Ian Rankin led the tributes on Twitter, with a toast to the late author. He later commented for BBC News: "Even the ones that didn't drink were putting a wee bottle of water or a soft drink in their pictures," he said.

"It was a lovely sort of communal thing to do to celebrate his life."

Van McDermid, another author and friend of Banks was among those to toast his life and work, "for all the hours of delight and provoked thought.”

Banks died early in the morning on June 9th, after a being diagnosed with cancer several months prior. Tragically, he didn’t live to see the release of his final book, The Quarry, the publication date for which was moved up to June 20 at his request. Coincidentally, the book details the struggles and daily life of a man living with cancer. According to statements by Banks himself, he began writing the story quite a while before he was diagnosed with gall bladder cancer. Rankin thinks that the author’s best work may have still been ahead of him: "The writing still excited him, the ideas still excited him, there was no shortage of ideas, he wasn't coming to the end of his time as a writer," he said.