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Ilium (Ilium series Book 1) Kindle Edition
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The Trojan War rages at the foot of Olympos Mons on Mars -- observed and influenced from on high by Zeus and his immortal family -- and twenty-first-century professor Thomas Hockenberry is there to play a role in the insidious private wars of vengeful gods and goddesses. On Earth, a small band of the few remaining humans pursues a lost past and devastating truth -- as four sentient machines depart from Jovian space to investigate, perhaps terminate, the potentially catastrophic emissions emanating from a mountaintop miles above the terraformed surface of the Red Planet.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperCollins e-books
- Publication dateOctober 13, 2009
- File size1017 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
On Earth, a post-technological group of humans, pampered by servant machines and easy travel via "faxing," begins to question its beginnings. Meanwhile, a team of sentient and Shakespeare-quoting robots from Jupiter's lunar system embark on a mission to Mars to investigate an increase in dangerous quantum fluctuations. On the Red Planet, they'll find a race of metahumans living out existence as the pantheon of classic Greek gods. These "gods" have recreated the Trojan War with reconstituted Greeks and Trojans and staffed it with scholars from throughout Earth's history who observe the events and report on the accuracy of Homer's Iliad. One of these scholars, Thomas Hockenberry, finds himself tangled in the midst of interplay between the gods and their playthings and sends the war reeling in a direction the blind poet could have never imagined.
Simmons creates an exciting and thrilling tale set in the thick of the Trojan War as seen through Hockenberry's 20th-century eyes. At the same time, Simmons's robots study Shakespeare and Proust and the origin-seeking Earthlings find themselves caught in a murderous retelling of The Tempest. Reading this highly literate novel does take more than a passing familiarity with at least The Iliad but readers who can dive into these heady waters and swim with the current will be amply rewarded. --Jeremy Pugh
From Publishers Weekly
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About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B000FC129Q
- Publisher : HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
- Publication date : October 13, 2009
- Language : English
- File size : 1017 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 752 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 0380978938
- Best Sellers Rank: #111,258 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
![Dan Simmons](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/21rLSUBT0qL._SY600_.jpg)
Dan Simmons was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1948, and grew up in various cities and small towns in the Midwest, including Brimfield, Illinois, which was the source of his fictional "Elm Haven" in 1991's SUMMER OF NIGHT and 2002's A WINTER HAUNTING. Dan received a B.A. in English from Wabash College in 1970, winning a national Phi Beta Kappa Award during his senior year for excellence in fiction, journalism and art.
Dan received his Masters in Education from Washington University in St. Louis in 1971. He then worked in elementary education for 18 years -- 2 years in Missouri, 2 years in Buffalo, New York -- one year as a specially trained BOCES "resource teacher" and another as a sixth-grade teacher -- and 14 years in Colorado.
His last four years in teaching were spent creating, coordinating, and teaching in APEX, an extensive gifted/talented program serving 19 elementary schools and some 15,000 potential students. During his years of teaching, he won awards from the Colorado Education Association and was a finalist for the Colorado Teacher of the Year. He also worked as a national language-arts consultant, sharing his own "Writing Well" curriculum which he had created for his own classroom. Eleven and twelve-year-old students in Simmons' regular 6th-grade class averaged junior-year in high school writing ability according to annual standardized and holistic writing assessments. Whenever someone says "writing can't be taught," Dan begs to differ and has the track record to prove it. Since becoming a full-time writer, Dan likes to visit college writing classes, has taught in New Hampshire's Odyssey writing program for adults, and is considering hosting his own Windwalker Writers' Workshop.
Dan's first published story appeared on Feb. 15, 1982, the day his daughter, Jane Kathryn, was born. He's always attributed that coincidence to "helping in keeping things in perspective when it comes to the relative importance of writing and life."
Dan has been a full-time writer since 1987 and lives along the Front Range of Colorado -- in the same town where he taught for 14 years -- with his wife, Karen. He sometimes writes at Windwalker -- their mountain property and cabin at 8,400 feet of altitude at the base of the Continental Divide, just south of Rocky Mountain National Park. An 8-ft.-tall sculpture of the Shrike -- a thorned and frightening character from the four Hyperion/Endymion novels -- was sculpted by an ex-student and friend, Clee Richeson, and the sculpture now stands guard near the isolated cabin.
Dan is one of the few novelists whose work spans the genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror, suspense, historical fiction, noir crime fiction, and mainstream literary fiction . His books are published in 27 foreign counties as well as the U.S. and Canada.
Many of Dan's books and stories have been optioned for film, including SONG OF KALI, DROOD, THE CROOK FACTORY, and others. Some, such as the four HYPERION novels and single Hyperion-universe novella "Orphans of the Helix", and CARRION COMFORT have been purchased (the Hyperion books by Warner Brothers and Graham King Films, CARRION COMFORT by European filmmaker Casta Gavras's company) and are in pre-production. Director Scott Derrickson ("The Day the Earth Stood Stood Still") has been announced as the director for the Hyperion movie and Casta Gavras's son has been put at the helm of the French production of Carrion Comfort. Current discussions for other possible options include THE TERROR. Dan's hardboiled Joe Kurtz novels are currently being looked as the basis for a possible cable TV series.
In 1995, Dan's alma mater, Wabash College, awarded him an honorary doctorate for his contributions in education and writing.
Customer reviews
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Customers find the book imaginative, fascinating, and hard to put down. They also describe the writing quality as well-written, realistic, and a pleasure to read. Readers find the characters interesting and funny. They describe the humor as believable, entertaining, and likeable. Opinions are mixed on the plot, with some finding it interesting and great, while others say it dribbles off.
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Customers find the book imaginative, fascinating, and hard to put down. They also describe the story as amazingly complex, unique, and detailed. Readers say the author does an excellent job of re-invigorating Homer's epic. They mention that the book is a fabulously realized page-turner that is reminicent of Roger Zelazny's.
"...All of this is heady, exciting stuff. I only wish Simmons had taken more time to plot this out, so that he could resolve it in the concluding volume." Read more
"...Indeed, Greek mythology is as bizarre and entertaining as anything science-fiction has to offer...." Read more
"...If you like hard scifi woven into a detailed, unique, literary, and hugely surprisingly inventive universe, Ilium will not disappoint." Read more
"...The science is both complex and riveting because, although Simmons makes it approachable, he doesnt dumb it down for us, he leaves it there in all..." Read more
Customers find the writing quality of the book well written, intelligent, and audacious. They also appreciate the realistic descriptions of places and people, deep conversations, epic scenes, and thrilling action. Readers also mention that the portrait of Ulysses is unforgettable.
"...bizarre, but it rolls along effortlessly not only because it is well-written, but also because of the author's splendid ability to create dramatic..." Read more
"Ilium is a book I am amazed to see poor reviews about. It is very literary, with many allusions to the Iliad, and discussions about Shakespeare and..." Read more
"Book number one of a two book science fiction series. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Harper Torch in 2005 that I bought..." Read more
"...an excellent job of re-invigorating Homer's epic, providing enough detail of the original through the scholic's thoughts and dialogue to actually be..." Read more
Customers find the characters interesting, funny, and weird.
"...and discussions about Shakespeare and Proust, and has a very large cast of characters; perhaps all that put some readers off...." Read more
"...of awesomeness in Hockenberry and Daemon, the characters in ILIUM are believable, entertaining, and likeable...." Read more
"...A broad story that takes a bit to get going, but the characters are interesting, the ideas novel, and plenty of sci fi to bind it all together...." Read more
"...it did in Simmons' other books, and as a result the characters seem to be ill-defined sketches, only minimally fleshed out when it's convenient to..." Read more
Customers find the humor in the book entertaining and likeable. They also mention that the War part is enjoyable and even humorous.
"...No, it's not great literature; it's not meant to be. But it does entertain and perhaps the purpose of inserting the many literary references is to..." Read more
"...Fans of classical literature will find this novel particularly entertaining, with sentient robots debating the merits of Shakespeare and Proust,..." Read more
"...is very distinct and original enough to keep readers interested and entertained...." Read more
"...It's imaginative, fascinating, funny, and hard to put down. Simmons is a very accomplished writer...." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the plot. Some find the varied storylines interesting and the fusion of historical fiction and science fiction excellent. However, others say the story dribbles off after a big climax and seems disjointed and perplexing through most of the book.
"...All of this is heady, exciting stuff. I only wish Simmons had taken more time to plot this out, so that he could resolve it in the concluding volume." Read more
"...This is one of the (maybe THE) best science fiction I've ever read and highly recommend it." Read more
"...It is quite bizarre, but it rolls along effortlessly not only because it is well-written, but also because of the author's splendid ability to..." Read more
"...The story itself isn't so bad, although the writing pace seems a bit rushed--some of the 60-odd chapters are so short and unnecessary to the story..." Read more
Customers are mixed about the beginning. Some mention the pacing of the story is spot on, with no slow spots in this 700 plus page volume. Others say there are parts that are a little slow to get going.
"...too disappointed--the concept is interesting, and the plot itself is executed fairly well--but the novel leaves plenty to be desired in writing style..." Read more
"...Starts out a bit slow, but turns into a real page turner that Simmons is so well known for!" Read more
"...The plot keeps moving with very few slow spots..." Read more
"...Though slow paced in places and a little confusing it rolls along pretty well and finishes set up for the next text which is even better...." Read more
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![A masterwork of speculative science fiction.](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/transparent-pixel._V192234675_.gif)
A masterwork of speculative science fiction.
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It is not a complete work, and while it starts a great story and sets up several puzzles and mysteries, the book's sequel, 'Olympos,' is an almost unsalvagable mess. I enjoyed 'Illium' even more than 'Hyperion' (which I LOVE), but while the mysteries and storylines of 'Hyperion' were satisfactorily resolved in its sequel, 'The Fall of Hyperion,' the great promise of 'Illium' is not fulfilled in its sequel. I say this as a warning to readers who, like me, are likely to have their expectations dashed if they dive into this epic.
With that warning, let me add a few others:
More than any of his previous works, 'Illium' is what my professors in college called an 'intertextual' novel, a work that relies on the reader's understanding of other works. While 'Illium' can be read without being familiar with Shakespeare, Proust, Nabokov, Homer, Virgil, and H.G. Wells, it is probably not going to make as much sense, and the cleverness of it is likely to be lost on the reader. I know that I missed several allusions and some of the meaning in the Ada/Daeman/Harman storyline because I am not familiar with Nabokov's 'Ada or Ardor' novel.
Pay close attention! What is happening, where it is happening, and when it is happening can easily become lost. One spoiler I'll offer just to be helpful - While the gods may reside on Olympos Mons on Mars 3,000 years in our future, the Trojan War is NOT taking place on Mars, and it is not exactly taking place simultaneous to the adventures of the Moravecs from Jupiter and the "old-style" humans on Earth. I did not pick up on these facts of the timeline and geography until later in the story, not long before Hockenberry realized it.
Yes, there's a lot of sex, violence and vulgar imagery in this novel. If that offends you, you've been warned.
Ignoring the unignorable fact of 'Illium's inadequate sequel, however, the novel is an excellent adventure and an even more excellent contemplation of reality and consciousness. How much of reality is Newton, Copernicus, and Einstein and how much of it is mankind's own imagination? How much power do we have to affect and create the universe others inhabit?
All of this is heady, exciting stuff. I only wish Simmons had taken more time to plot this out, so that he could resolve it in the concluding volume.
It's actually quite fun, and is comprised of three separate narratives which eventually merge. The first is narrated by a "scholic," who was a present-day Homeric scholar but is now resurrected from the dead in order to observe and report on the Trojan war--taking place on a futuristic Mars--in order to report his knowledge of it to the Greek gods residing there. The second has to do with an eloi-like, earth-bound human race, several members of which break out of their lethargy to explore the bizarre planet they now live on. The third is the story of four little robots, who on their mission to Mars to investigate the strange energy forces emanating from there, spend their time discussing Shakespearean sonnets and Proustian philosophy.
It is quite bizarre, but it rolls along effortlessly not only because it is well-written, but also because of the author's splendid ability to create dramatic tension. The end of every chapter leaves you gasping for more, as when our scholic friend is called in for a visit with Aphrodite, given a Hades helmet, and told he is to assist her in murdering Athena! If you have any knowledge of Greek mythology whatsoever, you'll have an idea as to what a momentous--and dangerous--undertaking this might be.
But despite the presence of ancient Greek gods, the description of the Trojan war as originated by Homer, and the discussions of Shakespeare and Proust by the zany robots, a knowledge of Greek mythology, Shakespeare or Homer is really not necessary to enjoy this. Above all, it's plot-driven, weird science-fiction, one that takes place in the future and involves strange and terrifying places, fantastic creatures, and astonishing revelations.
No, it's not great literature; it's not meant to be. But it does entertain and perhaps the purpose of inserting the many literary references is to pique ones interest in the classics. Indeed, Greek mythology is as bizarre and entertaining as anything science-fiction has to offer.
I myself was intrigued by two of the characters inhabiting the "p" ring surrounding earth, Caliban and Prospero. Turns out that they are characters in the Shakespeare play, "The Tempest," which I had never read. I certainly will now. That the book gives one a brief introduction to great literature gives it some value beyond mere entertainment.
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