Ilium

Rating:
Summary: pompous and inept
Review: Ilium mixes boring, irritating characterization, incorrect notions about quantum physics, and pointless, self-indulgent trivia about Homer's Iliad. If you want smart sci-fi, try Gene Wolfe; but avoid this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Cluttered, but Ultimately Somewhat Enjoyable
Review: In the far, far distant future, a lot of things are happening all at once. (Actually, part of the point of this book is that everything is always happening all at once in some respect, but never mind.) The gods of ancient Greece--or beings so like them as to make little difference--are hovering over the Trojan War, using reconstituted 20th century professors as their agents. Jupiter and Jovian space are populated by sentient semi-organic robots, who are on a seemingly kamikaze mission to Mars. Earth is a much different place than we know it now, with "old-style" humans enjoying a certain level of technology that no one understands yet having no artistic culture. By the end of the book all these stories will have come together--somewhat--to prepare the way for the NEXT book. So that makes _Ilium_ essentially a great big 500-odd page introduction.

It's a fairly interesting introduction, particularly as far as character development. These characters--except, perhaps, the eternal gods--live and grow in ways both drastic and believable. The process is aided by that age-old classical theme of Man's struggle against Fate; everyone here is raging against stricture and convention, whether he knows it or not. Also appropriate, since a major theme of _The Iliad_ is the devastating and world-changing effect of rage. As a backdrop and mirror of the action, Simmons uses Homer exceptionally well most of the time, although I don't personally agree with some of his interpretation; in my opinion he doesn't take a wide enough view or veer enough from rather straight-laced academia in his interpretation of the Ancient Greeks, with the notable exception of Odysseus and perhaps Helen. Of course Hector is the true hero of _The Iliad_ and it isn't at all merely the modern "politically correct" view that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers. Ancient Greece, hello??

But anyway for all the enjoyable stuff, I found the story itself remarkably cluttered. For one thing, Simmons did that thing he does where he talks at length about societies and technology using a lot of big words, some of which he may have made up, without really explaining anything, so it takes a long time before you get a decent feel for what is going on. I don't generally mind this technique, but in this case it seemed like I was halfway through the book before I really felt I had a handle on things. Some of the questions--like, who are the post humans and why should I care?-- don't even begin to be answered, and that really bothered me.

For another, it seemed to me that there was too much diverse thematic content. There's meat enough in _the Iliad_ without bringing in Prospero's Island and all its inhabitants and the Wandering Jew legend too! All those disparate elements clashed in my head. I completely didn't appreciate the lengthy discussions of Shakespeare and Proust between the robots; it added nothing to the story and I found the literary criticism sophmoric.

The first 150 pages of this book were a real struggle to get through and I almost didn't bother going on. After that things picked up. I would have appreciated more resolution in this volume--some hint as to why all those elements were necessary would have raised my opinion a great deal. The sequel will show whether Simmons can ultimately pull off what he's attemtpting, but I'm afraid a lot of readers won't bother.

Rating:
Summary: A true Homeric Epic!!
Review: Usually, when one reads the praise of other authors on the back jacket, you take it with a grain of salt. On the back of Ilium, is a quote from Stephen King which reads, "I am in awe of Dan Simmons." After reading this book, so am I. For once, the praise of another author is well-deserved and accurate. I truly loved this book. It's just as good. if not better, then Hyperion, which is one of my all time favorite Sci-Fi books and a true classic in the genre. Finally, a science fiction book which takes into account the reader's intelligence, which puts together an interesting and original plot and hooks you from the first chapter. I will say this about the book. It does require a passing familiarity with the events of Homer's epic poem, the "Iliad" and it helps to know a little Shakespeare and Proust, as well. However, just as he did for Keats in Hyperion, Simmons will make the reader long to explore the works of these great authors. It is rare that you can find a book that pays homage to great authors of the past, yet clearly does not rely on that praise in order to tell a great story.

If you want a plot description, read what's written above. However, this will not do the book justice. The book has three seemingly unrelated subplots, which merge into a single story, more or less, in the end. To Simmons credit and skill as an author, the most "human" of his characters are two robots (for lack of a better word) that spend their time discussing the relative merits between Shakespeare and Proust, all the while displaying emotions and character traits that the other actual human characters in the novel must learn as they go along. This subplot is the link between the other two, which makes the entire story flow right along to a very satisfying and exciting ending.

There will evidently be a sequel, for which I eagerly await. If it's half as good as this one, it'll still be quite a book.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Simmons So Far; Enjoyed it more than "Hyperion"
Review: Dan Simmons is not an easy writer to pigeon-hole. Fantasy, horror, science fiction, mystery; he refuses to let himself be stuck into a particular category. As an abstract thing, I admire that very much. However, for a lover of SF, it's sometimes frustrating. I loved Simmons' "Hyperion;" it was without question one of the best, most moving science fictions novels I have ever read. And yet I like this one better.

Please note that I don't necessarily think this is a "better" novel than "Hyperion" by some objective standard of "better;" I just enjoyed it more. "Citizen Kane" is unquestionably a better film than "The Matrix" (despite "The Matrix'" good qualities); I enjoy "The Matrix" more.

Enought preamble. This is a wonderful read. It moves fast, it has interesting characters, and the various story lines and allusions are blended in to the main action of the novel with wit, fun, and style. And the book has dimension; if you are familiar with Greek history, or with Homer's "Iliad," you will get even more from this book. There's history, science fiction, sociology; it's a blast.

And what was most interesting for me: (very minor spoiler ahead) my favorite characters were not even people. I just loved the picture of the future history of the artificial lifeforms occupying the asteroids and outer portions of our solar system. They are drawn with care, sympathy, and great good humor.

If you like Simmons, and if you like science fiction, I think you'll love this book. Interesting characters (with the unfortunate but typical usual collection of science fiction cardboard characters--you can't have everything), a quick-moving, interesting plot, interesting settings...I really couldn't ask for more. I was looking forward to this book from Simmons, and I was not dissapointed. Buy, read, and enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Sing to me, O Quantic Muse, Achilles' grim wrath...
Review: I strongly advise you to read H.G. Wells and Homer instead of this ponderous pap. Nothing in it makes the teensiest bit of sense. Why post-apocalyptic superhumans would waste their time messing whit the Trojan war? Why bored Eloi on Earth and mechanoids on Jovian Moons would go to Mars to join the absurd developments brought about by the logic-unwarranted acts of a twenthiet century homeric scholar recalled to life by those posthumans? Who cares anyway what happens in the next volume?
Last notation for the homophobes: an ancient Greek civilization's scholar would have no surprise and no qualms discovering that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers, I think.

Rating:
Summary: Four and a half Lapis Lazulis
Review: Ilium is a wild story with alarmingly low Lapis Lazuli count. When I pick up a Dan Simmons book I expect no fewer than ten Lapis Lazulis, but Ilium weighs in at a paltry four an a half (there is one blasphemous instance of a Lapis sans Lazuli!).

Past Simmons' works featured Lapis Lazulis on nearly every page--a sumptuous feast by comparison. If we cannot depend on Mr. Simmons to supply us with our LL, where are we to turn? There will be chaos.

I finally Looked it up. IT'S BLUE! Lapis Lazuli is freakin' blue.

Rating:
Summary: Truly extraordinary
Review: I loved this book. Science fiction isn't my prefered genre, but this is an exception. Dan Simmons has created a novel with as much scope and depth as Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. I can't begin to describe the story; it has characters from the Iliad (Hector, Achilles, etc.), "moravecs" (sentient partially organic machines that were "seeded" throughout our solar system), normal humans, Greek gods, and more. Oh, and much of the story takes place on a newly-terraformed Mars. This is one of those stories that seems to tell 3 separate tales until suddenly you find these vastly different storylines intersecting.
My only complaint is the way the book stopped. Not ended. Stopped. Another novel is supposed to follow, but the end of "Ilium" is still a bit abrupt.

Rating:
Summary: Hyperion Reloaded
Review: Prior to his foray into hackish mystery novels, Dan Simmons was one of those authors whose every novel and short story and collection was on my shelf. He put something out, I bought it and loved it. Then came the disappointing "Crook Factory" next the dismal "Darwins Blade" and it was all downhill from there. I had hope for the update on "Summer of Night" - "A Winter's Haunting" but that was boring and tired. Now comes Ilium -- any good? Well, compared to Darwin's Blade it is a freakin' masterpiece; compared to Hyperion - it's okay. Especially since it is so reminiscent in tone and style and theme to Hyperion. It's every page forces you to think "what does this remind me of? oh yeah the shrike, or, oh yeah those cruciform guys" Are their original ideas here - yes, many to be sure. But if someone other than Dan Simmons had written this, the howls of Hyperion rip-off would be ringing through the land. Is it worth reading this Iliad on Mars, this multiverse tale that has Odysseus flying spacecraft to do war with mysterious androidesque/organic servitors to the Eloi-like human remnant? Yes -- but wait for the paperback or buy it used and cheap. Actually, since the last 75 pages or so make up for the boredom of the first 100 I would wait until Olympus is out (and perhaps even that in paperback) and read them both in sequence. Will I read the next? Yes. Will I buy the next one quickly as soon as it comes out, like I did with the Dan Simmons of old? No way.

Given that there are at least two Odysseus' (Odysseii?) in this tale I think that we will have another two books set in this universe dealing with their/his journey after Olympus - Hyperion-Endymion and the Iliad and Odyssey. (Endymion Revolutions anyone?) This book either signals a welcome upswing for Dan Simmons or a brief spark in the discouraging flameout. I hope for the former and look forward, begrudgingly, to the next work.

Rating:
Summary: An unfinished tale that may be some of Simmons' best work
Review: A number of people have observed that the science fiction of the 1960s and 1970s was, at its core, optimistic. Although nuclear war lurked in the background, there was an optimism in the work of writers like Arthur C. Clarke and Theodore Sturgeon. Mankind was evolving toward something better. Our current stage of aggression and war was a childhood that, if we survived, we would outgrow. In the 1980s science fiction started to turn inward. William Gibson's Neuromancer was set is a distopian future, the work of an angry young man (according to Gibson's description). Dan Simmons became famous with his book Hyperion, in which millions of humans were enslaved in a distant future, while in the current time of the plot people were hunted by a killing machine called the Shrike.

Dark futures could be seen as a hallmark of Dan Simmons work. Literary allusion is another theme. In Hyperion there are allusions to the work of the romantic poet Keats. Dan Simmons book Ilium is heavily based on Homer's Iliad, the story of the Trojan war. The Iliad is itself a dark tale. Troy is destroyed, many of its men killed, its women raped and sold into slavery. The war did not turn out well in the end for many of the Greeks. Agamemnon, the Greek king who defeats Troy, returns home, fated to be murdered by his wife, Clymenestra (although this is not part of Homer's tale).

Ilium is beautifully written and Simmons' story is compelling. In Ilium the Greek Gods watch (and sometimes meddle) as the Trojan war unfolds. The Gods have resurrected various classic scholars from the twentieth and early twenty-first century whose job it is to record the Trojan war. The war as it plays out on the plains of Troy largely follows the story Homer related, but the scholars are forbidden to tell anyone, even the Gods, of Homers account before the events have come to pass. The book weaves together three plots lines. The story of the Trojan war is told by an early twenty-first century classics scholar named Hockenberry. In Ilium much of humanity has been wiped out by the "Rubicon virus" while other humans have evolved through technology into post-humans. "Old-style" humans remain on earth and one plot line in Ilium relates to them. The final plot line involves Moravecs (biomechanical sentient beings, named after Hans Moravec). The Moravecs have been "seeded" throughout the Jupiter system and the asteroid belt. A group of Moravecs has been sent on a mission to Mars by their government, which is concerned that massive quantum disturbances on Mars imperil the solar system.

Ilium is set in the same "universe" as Simmons short story The Ninth of Av which was published in his story collection Worlds Enough and Time. One of the characters in this story, a woman named Savi, plays an important part in Ilium.

Ilium is a book for the patient reader. The constant switching back and forth between the three story lines can take concentration and at times I found that I had to flip back to a previous section to find a detail I had forgotten. The structure and reasons behind the story line are revealed slowly as well. The Greek Gods reside on Olympus Mons, on Mars. At first I thought that Troy and the Greeks were somehow also on Mars. It was not until the end of the book that I understood the spatial and temporal relationship between the Gods and the Trojan war. Ironically, some of the later arriving characters in the story were confused as well ("How did we end up on Earth?").

In reading Simmons' work I have sometimes wondered if he knew in advance how the story would unfold. In reading the Hyperion books I wondered if Simmons knew, even in broad outline, how this long complex story would evolve when he wrote the first book.

Ilium is the first book of a two part story, which is supposed to be finished in Olympos, so the complete story cannot be judged at this point. As with most Dan Simmons books the story is compelling, but there have been cases were the plot of a compelling Dan Simmons story fell apart at the end (for example, his book Summer of Night). If Olympos is as good as Ilium and Simmons manages to pull all the plot lines into a profound whole these books will be some of Simmons best work.

Rating:
Summary: and then...
Review: This book had me absolutely riveted. OK, the discussions about Proust and Shakespeare at the beginning were dull and I'm still not entirely sure why we were treated to them, but the book postulates a fascinating universe with post-humanity, moravecs and, yes, gods and the Trojan War. Put all of this into one book and I was enthralled with it.

Enthralled, that is, until I got to the ending and realized that this was not a stand alone novel but was in fact the first volume of a much larger work.

I probably should have expected it, particularly from Simmons (the mind behind the hodgepodge that was Hyperion/Endymion), but it was a tremendous disappointment. I wanted a self-contained story and found instead that I had just read a bloated prelude to a bigger story and, quite frankly, that turns me off completely from whatever comes next.

Which leaves me a bit of a conundrum since I really did enjoy Ilium tremendously up until the cliffhanger and thus can't simply dismiss the book. By the same token, however, I can't justify purchasing it either. If you like Simmons, no doubt you've already read it and probably loved it. If you're looking for a fascinating story that begins and ends in the covers of one book, you might be better served elsewhere.