Ilium - Softcover

Simmons, Dan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0575083301 ISBN 13: 9780575083301

Publisher: Gollancz, 2009

Synopsis

Taking the events and characters of the Iliad as his jumping- off point, Dan Simmons has created an epic of time travel and savage warfare. Travellers from 40,000 years in the future return to Homer's Greece and rewrite history forever, their technology impacting on the population in a godlike fashion.

This is broad scope space opera rich in classical and literary allusion, from one of the key figures in 1990s world SF. Ilium marks a return to the genre for one of its greats.

About this title

Review:

Genre-hopping Dan Simmons returns to science fiction with the vast and intricate masterpiece Ilium. Within, Simmons weaves three astounding story lines into one Earth, Mars and Jupiter-shattering cliffhanger that will leave readers aching for the sequel.

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, Amazon.com

Review:

"[Ilium] will leave most readers waiting breathlessly for the next installment...utterly addictive."--Kirkus Reviews

[Ilium] will leave most readers waiting breathlessly for the next installment...utterly addictive. --Kirkus Reviews"

-[Ilium] will leave most readers waiting breathlessly for the next installment...utterly addictive.---Kirkus Reviews

About this edition

• Publisher: Gollancz
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0575083301
• ISBN 13: 9780575083301
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 640