Ilium

Book Description

Critics

• If the Prophet had not lived...

  Ilium by Dan Simmons 352pp, Gollancz, £10.99 Roma Eterna by Robert Silverberg 384pp, Gollancz, £10.99 There's a big morphic resonance from the classics breaking out all over science fiction at the moment. On the top of the tide comes Dan Simmons's Il ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

• Ilium By Dan Simmons

  Dan Simmons is not one to turn from a challenge and in Ilium, he takes on the task of rewriting the Iliad not retelling it, rewriting it. In science fiction, Simmons is best known for his massive Hyperion series, which won the Hugo Award and cemented ... (read full critics)

  bookpage published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

5 Reviews

• 

  Indomitable

  As other reviewers have said, it has its quirks (academic meanderings, lack of originality in the genre) but this is a great story. I have been trying to figure out what sort of story though since I finished it. In part I have hesitated since in some ways it is very 'Boy's Own' (http://en.wikipedia. ... (continue)

  As other reviewers have said, it has its quirks (academic meanderings, lack of originality in the genre) but this is a great story. I have been trying to figure out what sort of story though since I finished it. In part I have hesitated since in some ways it is very 'Boy's Own' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy's_Own_Paper), a bit blokey with its warfare and heroes, not to mention its conclusion. But in the end it's less partisan than I first thought: in my view, it's a great testament not to testosterone but comradeship - as much between sexless androids as between homo-erotically charged Greek figures of legend, and about the capacity and circumstances in which comradeship can emerge and flourish.

  Most of all though I like Simmons humour and his ability to draw character; it's no mean feat to create so many different characters one feels a great natural sympathy for - you root for them all. For all its depiction of fighting, this is a very life, existence-affirming tale, and a very well-told one, too.

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  OwnedLibrarian said on Jul 23, 2010 | Add your feedback

• A bit too sci-fi for me.

  I'm a classics fan. This is definitely one for the hardcore sci-fi fans and I don't particularly like this genre. I got about 100 pages in and knew it wasn't working for me, but that's not to say it's a bad book - just not my cup of tea.

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  Athene1710 said on May 8, 2008 | Add your feedback

• 

  I personally found this perhaps the best SF novel ever written by Simmons. I even find it superior to the Hyperion and Endymion novels. The storytelling is cinematic and breathtaking. The characters are greatly rounded. Adventurous and intense. It sometimes suffers from little academic wanderings bu ... (continue)

  I personally found this perhaps the best SF novel ever written by Simmons. I even find it superior to the Hyperion and Endymion novels. The storytelling is cinematic and breathtaking. The characters are greatly rounded. Adventurous and intense. It sometimes suffers from little academic wanderings but is really a masterpiece. If you read this you should absolutely also read Olympos.

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  Fabioruxo said on Apr 11, 2008 | Add your feedback

• 

  If you are interested in ancient greek mythology, this book is for you ! However the plot is not so original, check Roger Zelazny's "God of Light", which has a very similar concept and written decades ago...

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  marillion said on May 6, 2007 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• Book 1 of 2 in the Illium sequence.

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  Tif said on Mar 12, 2007 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (79)
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• English Books
• Paperback 592 Pages
• Edition: New Ed
• ISBN-10: 0575072601
• ISBN-13: 9780575072602
• Publisher: Gollancz
• Pub date: Aug 07, 2003
• Dimensions: 1548 mm x 968 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Hardcover and Others
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Nederlandse Boeken

Groups with this in collection

• The Collective (144)
• Worldcon 2007 (2)

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