Just picked up the earthsea books (with pictures!) by Le Guin and am having a blast diving back in. I hadn’t read this in a long time, having a great time.

I am 3/4 with the books you mentioned so you appear to be a kindred spirit. Haven’t read Iain M Banks.

I’ll be interested to hear what you think on how Deadhouse Gates comes together. Have fun!

Killing Comendatore by Murakami. It’s late here and I always like reading his stuff at night.