Worlds Enough & Time: Five Tales of Speculative Fiction

by Dan Simmons

Presents five works of fiction that dive into the after world and the extraterrestrial.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Anthologies, Collections

243 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Dan Simmons is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works that span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes within a single novel. Simmons's genre-intermingling Song of Kali (1985) won the World Fantasy Award. He also writes mysteries and thrillers, some of which feature the continuing character Joe Kurtz.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a mixed bag. Of note, "Orphans of the Helix" had some fascinating sci-fi bits wrapped around a moral conundrum that I found interesting. Also "The Ninth of Av" presents a kind of apocalyptic mystery and a glimpse of a very bizarre far future that I was barely able to comprehend, yet was quite compelling nonetheless.

[John Devlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5) Simmons is a fine writer but there’s not much here, and I have a few problems with some of the story elements. The author’s asides are probably the book’s best feature..so that says something..l

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first collection of short fiction I have read by Dan Simmons, and it did not disappoint.

As usual, Dan's writing style is one of the strengths of the collection. It's so easy to read and he sucks you in to each story and you don't want to come out.

My ratings of each story are:

Looking for Kelly Dahl - 4*
Orphans of the Helix - 5*
The Ninth of Av - 4*
On K2 with Kanakaredes - 4*
The End of Gravity - 3*

I was excited to read Orphans of the Helix as it is set after the final novel of the Hyperion Cantos, The Rise of Endymion. And it was just as good as the novels. A superb story!

On K2 with Kanakaredes was a pleasant surprise. I was a bit dubious when I first heard about this as it is literally about climbing Mt K2 and I know nothing about climbing. But it was my second favorite story of the collection. I loved the characters and K was just great!

Overall, a really strong collection that I nearly gave a 5* rating. The last story made me give it a 4*.

This is a must read for sci-fi fans, and anyone who wants to try something new!

[Midu Hadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking for Kelly Dahl: ★★★
A teacher, a drunkard, a grieving father finds solace by dealing with his guilt.

Orphans of the Helix: ★★★
Different races following different faiths help each other out.

The Ninth of Av: ★★
Persecution knows no boundaries.

On K2 With Kanakaredes: ★★★
How men (and I use that term loosely) bond with each other over their assault on Mount Everest.

The End of Gravity: ★★
A female cosmonaut who's the wrong gender and a writer recovering from his father's death find each other.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of five science fiction stories is one of Simmons' most overlooked titles. It contains one story in the Hyperion universe and one in the Ilium universe, but all work quite well as stand-alones. Too, each piece has a very interesting introduction. Simmons is a terrific writer at these shorter lengths, though his reputation as a novelist overshadows the fact. My favorite was On K2 with Kanakaredes, even though I knew nothing about climbing.

[Mark Tallen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have thoroughly enjoyed this excellent collection of five stories by Dan Simmons. Each story is brilliantly written, the prose is excellent as usual with Simmons. My favourite story in the collection is 'Orphans Of The Helix' which is set in Simmons' Hyperion Cantos universe, that story is a five star read in my opinion. I have no reservations in recommending this collection to fans of science fiction and speculative fiction.

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, I think that I would have enjoyed this five-story collection better if all of them had been stand-alones. While all of the tales CAN be read without any previous knowledge, two of them are set in the "worlds" of Simmons' series. "Orphans of the Helix" is set in the "Hyperion/Endymion" universe, and, while I liked to story OK, I feel that I would have gotten more out of it if I had read those four books (which ARE on my To Read shelf). "The Ninth of Av," on the other hand, is set on Earth prior to the events in Illium and Olympos, a duology that I enjoyed at the beginning but had become heartily sick of by about 1/3 of the way through the second volume. "Looking For Kelly Dahl" was an interesting story, with a certain "Weird Tales" vibe. I also enjoyed "On K2 with Kanakaredes" which felt like re-visiting Abominable (a later Simmons' book), but set in a future with insectoid aliens. The last story "The End of Gravity" was readable, but seemed short and the weakest (plot-wise) of the bunch. I do recommend that you be sure to read Simmons' introductions to each story as well; all are interesting. Totaling the pluses and minuses, I give this an extremely low 3.

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of 5 "long short-stories" by Simmons, with introductions by the author.

* "Looking for Kelly Dahl"
I'd read this one before, I think in a "Year's Best SF" collection for 1996.
It's a surreal but memorable story of a burned-out, alcoholic teacher, who's emotionally suffering from the death of his son and his subsequent divorce. In an all-too-real dreamworld(?), he's being hunted down by Kelly Dahl, a former student whom, he believes, he failed to help - he didn't see the clues that she came from an abusive home situation. Through violence and anger, is there a hope of redemption?

* "Orphans of the Helix"
Inspired by Simmons' being asked to write an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, but set in his world of Hyperion/Endymion. It does have a very Star-Trek-like plot. A far-voyaging colony ship intercepts a distress call, far from human space. The locals have settled on a giant tree-helix around their sun - which was already there when they arrived. Their problem? Every 57 years a giant harvester-ship arrives, and munches up part of their settlements. They ask the well-armed colony ship to destroy this destructive threat. But ethical issues come into play - does the harvester belong to anyone? Does another civilisation depend on it for their survival? Only days remain before the next disaster strikes... Although it sounds simple, the background of the story is complex and rich, informed by Simmons' previous world-building.

* "The Ninth of Av"
This is a weird story. In the intro, Simmons complains that most people don't like it and/or don't "get it." Sadly, I might have to go down as on of those people. In 3001, humans are nearly extinct, wiped out by a disease. A seemingly benevolent race of aliens has helped the remnants of humanity (who are all descended from ethnic Jews) survive, giving them extended life spans - but they are infertile. The aliens have also given humanity teleportation ("faxing"). But the day of the Final Fax is approaching. The aliens have told humans that they are going put them "on hold" for 10,000 years, while they renovate the earth. But are they really planning to bring humans back? Or is it a mysterious plot to wipe out the Jews once and for all?

* "On K2 with Kanakaredes"
Mantis-like aliens have sent a delegation to Earth. But they live quietly in the Antarctic, and communication is virtually nil. When a young alien pulls some strings to be allowed to join a trio of human climbers who are planning an expedition to the famously treacherous mountain peak known as K2, the State Department looks on it as an unprecedented chance to find out more about the race. But facing adversity and Nature together, a more significant event that the Secretary of State might have hoped for happens - from being ultimate strangers, the climbers, human and alien, truly become a team.

* "The End of Gravity"
Probably the weakest of these stories, but still an interesting piece. An aging writer, in ill-health, is sent to Russia to interview cosmonauts regarding the Russian space program. He meets a woman who's hit the "glass ceiling" in the program due to her gender, and some philosophical thoughts ensue.

[Vít · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pět delších scifi povídek, z toho jedna ze světa Hyperionu a jedna z Ílionu. Nejvíc se mi ale asi líbily "Lov na Kelly Dahlovou" a "Na K2 s Kanakaredesem", které do žádného z těchto světů nepatří.
Průběh čtení vypadal asi takto:

Lov na Kelly Dahlovou - první povídka, nadšení, 5 hvězd a vysoká očekávání na zbytek knihy
Sirotci ze šroubovice - pěkná space opera z Hyperionu, 4 a půl hvězdičky , nadšení trvá
Devátý z Av - tak tohle nebylo pro mě, max 3 hvězdičky, nadšení mě opouští...
Na K2 s Kanakaredesem - ...aby se zase vrátilo při téhle parádní povídce o výstupu na K2 spolu s mimozemšťanem, 5 hvězd
Konec gravitace - vlastně popis výletu na Bajkonur a popis tamějšího prostředí a atmosféry Američanům. Pro ně asi dost bizár, pro nás nic zvláštního, takže tak dvě a půl hvězdy

Průměrem vychází čisté 4 hvězdičky, a za ty tři povedené povídky si je tahle sbírka zaslouží.
A poznámka na závěr - pane Simmonsi, nic proti úvodům k povídkám, ale stačí nám to stručně, nic se nemá přehánět :-)

[Chak · Rating 2 out of 5]

For as much as the first two books of the Hyperion Cantos astounded me with their brilliance and passion, Worlds Enough & Time kind of didn't make an impression, and that in itself is pretty puzzling. I was really looking forward to reading this book, and from the first "tale of speculative fiction," there was an increasing sense of "meh" building. The stories weren't bad, and clearly, Dan Simmons knows how to write, but... well... meh.

Truly, I'm shocked that I didn't absolutely love this collection, because I fully expected to love it.

[Koji Mukai · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sure, these stories are well-crafted. However, Simmons appears far more interested in presenting an array of facts, and not in the connections among the facts. My impression can be summarized as "self-importance."

[Justin Banham · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high expectations , and it fell flat. The first story is interesting, but not enough to justify the rest of the book. The introductions to the stories seem longer than the stories themselves, despite the author's self proclaimed loathing of such obnoxious techniques.

[Ignacio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es incomprensible que no haya traducida una colección de relatos de Dan Simmons. No se ha prodigado en el terreno breve tanto como en el de la novela, donde ha sacrificado al "tocho" el centro de su magisterio. Pero incluso cuando escribe alejado de la excelencia de sus primeros relatos (Prayers to Broken Stones), logra piezas bien urdidas, capaces de sacar rédito a temas universales como el sentimiento de pérdida o la muerte. A los que en esta antología se une la búsqueda de sentido a esas aventuras más grandes que la vida que ponen en riesgo la propia existencia.

Es algo patente en "The Ninth of Av", donde la cercanía de un fin del mundo lleva a un personaje a indagar los últimos días de Scott y sus compañeros en la Antártida; o en "On K2 with Kanakaredes", centrada en un ascenso futuro al K2 junto a un alienígena con técnicas de alpinismo clásico; o en el tratamiento de guión para una película de encargo, "The End of Gravity", sobre el sentido de la carrera espacial y las personas que participan en ella. Pero también en "Orphans of the Helix", cómo una expedición hacia los confines de la galaxia lleva a la tripulación de una nave colonizadora a poner en riesgo su misión para ayudar a un grupo de humanos que encuentra en el camino. Independientemente de los peros que se puedan poner a estos relatos largos y novelas cortas, trabajan un cuerpo común sin repetirse ni explicitarlo a las bravas (salvo en el tratamiento de guión). También, alguno necesitaba de algo más de cocción para acentuar su sugerencia. O haberse mantenido a más distancia del universo original, como ocurre con "Orphans of the Helix" cuyo vínculo con la secuencia de Endymion supone una pequeña carga para su disfrute (cosa que no ocurre con "The Ninth of Av", un claro un precedente de Ilión)

No obstante, la narración que mejor funciona es la que, sin negarlos, menos vínculos mantiene con el resto: "Looking for Kelly Dahl". Además de una vuelta de tuerca a las emotivas historias de poderes mentales marca de la casa, gira sobre una idea que nos atormenta a muchos profesores: no percibir los problemas que ahogan a sus alumnos.

Mención especial merece el prólogo, en el que compara su escritura con un jardín zen, y los textos que acompañan a cada relato. Un evocador e ingenioso ejercicio de striptease creativo, entre la autojustificación y la reafirmación de las convicciones de las cuales emerge la obra de Simmons.

[Florin Constantinescu · Rating 3 out of 5]

• Looking for Kelly Dahl (novella): 3*
The author's alter-ego professor character is forced to chase a young student through a parallel Colorado where all the people have vanished. Cute set-up, but it's missing that extra something to make it really good.

• Orphans of the Helix (novella): 5*
This is an epilogue to his most famous series, Hyperion Cantos, and, since it features the return of a couple of his most interesting characters, together with some new angle on past events, this can only be a 5*.

• The Ninth of Av (novelette): 3*
If previous story served as the epilogue to one series, I was surprised to find here a sort of "warm-up" to another of his series, this time the Hockenberry - Ilium/Olympos series. It features a completely different set of characters, and the concepts are a bit different, but undeniably served as the launching point for Ilium.

• On K2 with Kanakaredes (novelette): 3*
A group of humans helps an intelligent alien in the shape of a locust reach K2 mountain. This can also be seen as a kind of warm-up to another of his novels, this time The Abominable, here the author trying his hand on mountaineering terms, which obviously abound.

• The End of Gravity (novelette): 3*
This is a story without any fantastic or futuristic elements. An American reporter visits Russia's space program and chats with various individuals. Pretty well-written though.

[Lilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dan Simmons has recently become one of my favorite authors because of his range and depth in creating works of horror, science, and speculative fiction. However this was the first time I encountered his writing in the format of short stories and I've got to say I was somewhat disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the stories themselves were weird and scary and in particular I enjoyed the part where two giant evangelizing bugs climb a volcano (who wouldn't) but I yearn to be closer to the world of Hyperion and despite dipping briefly into this universe, felt disconnected from these creepy and half-baked world of the novelles. Honestly part of what I love about Simmons writing is the slow and poetic pace of his work, but when crammed into 60 pages the whole thing feels kind of flattened out. That said I know he has written screenplays and poetry as well so that might just come through as my preference for massive, sludgy books that take up your weekends and hijack your subconscious.

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed the stories in this collection. It pulls together five longer stories, more or less of novella length, along with introductions for each one. As I say, the stories are generally quite enjoyable, but the introductions are another matter. They seem to lack the discipline and editing that goes into the stories, feeling bloated and self-indulgent. The exception to this is the introduction to my favourite story in the collection, Orphans of the Helix, a story set in the universe of the Hyperion Cantos. Set some years after the end of Rise of Endymion, it was nice to return to that universe, following a group of colonists of the Amoiete Spectrum Helix, looking for a planet to settle well outside existing human space who encounter a distress signal en-route.

Of the other stories, I probably enjoyed On K2 with Kanakaredes the most, about a small group of mountain climbers who climb the world's second-highest mountain with an alien, even if a lot of the actual mountain-climbing bits left me cold. I felt there was lots of context in The Ninth of Av that I wasn't getting. It's a story about the end of the world, as the post-humans get ready to put the remaining old-fashioned humans into suspended animation while they clean up the Earth. Or possibly it's about genocide of the Jews. I think there were hints in the text, but possibly ones you need to be familiar with Judeo-Christian mythology to understand.

Looking for Kelly Dahl was interesting, about a suicidal former school teacher who has to track down one of his former pupils. And finally, The End of Gravity was possibly the least interesting to me. You know that cliché about Lit Fic being all about 50-something straight white writers who have affairs with young, pretty women? This felt sort of like that. The protagonist is an older straight white male writer, and there's an attraction to a younger woman, and possibly some sort of metaphor involving the International Space Station that I didn't really get. I think I found the protagonist too irritating to really pay that much attention to his internal monologue.

So a decent hit rate with stories that have a bit more room to breathe than your normal shorts. But I would mostly skip the introductions (although YMMV, as always).

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this in a post-Hyperion Cantos depression, hoping for a scrap of Hyperion lore to feed my withdrawal symptoms.

Simmons continues to weave dark, complex tales. I enjoyed his intros more than I expected. With that said, his complicated world-building style of writing wasn’t my favorite for short stories: some parts feel rushed or flimsy.

Still a good read, and the stories all made me think. I’ll be chewing on their lessons for a while.

[Edward Champion · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume of mostly mediocre novellas (complete with a disappointingly zestless return to the Hyperion novels) only confirms my theory that Dan Simmons was almost completely washed up as a writer after writing THE RISE OF ENDYMION. Simmons's wildly arrogant and condescending introductions to these trunk tales certainly don't help. "Looking for Kelly Dahl" is the strongest of the five here. At a craft level, it works, with enough fascinating twists and turns -- despite possessing certain thematic similarities to A WINTER HAUNTING. (And what is it with Simmons's creepy fixation on older (often middle-aged) men and young girls? Yes, he was able to sell this (somewhat) in the Endymion books with Raul and Aenea. But even here, in an ostensibly platonic dynamic, it comes across as a little unsettling.) And yet "Kelly Dahl" lacks the visceral passion of Simmons at his best. "On K2 with Kanakaredes" feels outright onanistic. And "The End of Gravity" comes across as smug and mansplainy. Dan Simmons was clearly writing way too fast at the start of the 21st century. I can't believe they gave him a Locus for "Orphans of the Helix." It lacks the grand operatic imagination, the wonder, and the heart of its Hyperion cousins. Ugh.

[Vira Sakhniuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Good

As with most short story collections, there are some great stories and some meh ones.

The main reason I decided to read this book was "Orphans of the Helix", a short story from the Hyperion Cantos universe, my all-time favorite book series. While I wasn’t blown away by this story, it was nice to revisit my favorite universe, reconnect with familiar characters, and see how Aenea's teachings shaped the world.

My favorite short story in this collection was "On K2 with Kanakaredes". It’s a tale of friendship, endurance, and, of course, mountains—a subject Dan Simmons clearly loves (looking at you, "The Rise of Endymion"). In this story, three friends climb the dangerous K2 with an unexpected companion. During the climb, they face numerous challenges, revealing their true character and will to succeed.

Plus, SPOILER ALERT: Kanakaredes reminded me so much of Rocky 🕷️, which is probably the biggest reason I loved this story so much!

On the other hand, my least favorite story was "The Ninth of Av". In the introduction, Dan Simmons mentions showing this story to a group of very smart people at a conference, and none of them understood what he was trying to convey. Well, neither did I.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five short stories from dan simmons, picked this up primarily due to interest in the follow on novelette related to his brilliant hyperion books.

Looking for Kelly Dahl – mostly forgettable, unexplained sci-fi leanings with disappearing worlds/towns/people and man hunting? a former student

Enjoyed the hyperion universe entry with the spectrum helix people’s encounter with post human ousters in deep space

Ninth of av- would be pretty meaningless for anyone who hadn’t read ilium and olympos prior to this

On K2 with kanakaredes – three climbers and an alien scaling K2

The end of gravity – a journalist assigned the cover the dilapidated and waning days of the once great Russian space program

generally enjoyable stories that I guess i'd only recommend to fans of dan simmons

[Straker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Dan Simmons' novels but the five short stories in this volume are utterly forgettable. Even worse are the pretentious introductions which mostly serve to let us know what a great life Dan Simmons leads. I got it from the library so at least I wasted only time and not money as well.

[John Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dan Simmons wrote one of my favorite sci-fi series ever - the Hyperion Cantos. These stories were enjoyable, but not on the same level. Which maybe isn't a fair comparison, but that's how I feel. I enjoyed these stories, but this is probably ultimately skippable if you're trying to hit Simmons' high points.

[Lloyd Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to love reading Dan Simmons’s novels. This collection may have a story of ETs who hire a group of actors to perform Hamlet or Lear for them because they think it’s the greatest experience in the universe.

[Glen Fairen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is it just me or has Dan Simmons become the grumpy old man yelling at “foreigners” or was he always like this? If he wanted to give a history lesson “Itbah al-Yahud” really should have been replaced with 2nd century Latin or a quote from the New Testament.

[emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a mixed bag here. My love for the Hyperion Cantos is pure and everlasting, but I find Simmons as an author to be pretty hit and miss for me. His introductions to the stories didn't add much and actually made me dislike him a bit more, lol. After the first one I stopped reading them.

And I'm not sure if it's that the Cantos is so epic I never looked to it for humor, or if I read it so early in life (I was 15 or 16, I think?) that I hadn't realized that humor was an important element in balancing really heavy narratives, but Simmons' lack of humor REALLY stood out here. Especially contrasted with all the Stephen King I've been reading lately, his ability to balance humor and horror is so masterful, and these stories tended to feel almost grim by comparison.

Looking for Kelly Dahl - 3 / 5 - Would've been a 3.5 but I'm taking a full half star off for the fact that Kelly kisses the narrator. Why??? Combined with the CSA stuff it just felt so wildly strange in a confusing (derogatory) way. It made me feel like I couldn't make sense of Kelly as a person at all. The alternate reality stuff was really cool though.

Orphans of the Helix - 4.5 / 5 - This tied up maybe a touch more neatly than I found plausible, but the things it had to say about the wider future of the universe beyond the end of the Cantos were cool. Funny how despite Aenea explicitly forbidding her followers to worship her, a church of Aenea has formed anyway. The more things change, etc. Definitely made me want to add a Hyperion reread to my list for next year.

The Ninth of Av - 2 / 5 - The fact that Simmons isn't Jewish made this an extremely uncomfortable read. His assertion that the main through-line from human society in 2001 to human society in 3001 will be anti-Semitism is just so weird, like of ALL the things to pick, why that? Also, it's so unsettling to read about Israel now, being spoken of so casually as a historical place like any other, a place for tourists to visit. Knowing the atrocities were already happening when Simmons wrote this, just on a much more abbreviated and deniable scale, sincerely made my skin crawl. It made me wonder whether or not he's like, an OK person I feel comfortable recommending and paying money to. Very unsettling.

On K2 with Kanakaredes - 4 / 5 - This was fun, the only story of the five that had a touch of humor for the situations the characters found themselves in, but still could've used more. It's a cool setup, too, the idea of two species finding common ground in an extreme survival challenge. I imagine Kanakaredes as like a Jackass / Evel Kneivel of the mantispids, it made me chuckle the whole time thinking about how he seems to the humans he's with (cold, alien, inscrutable) vs how he must seem to those of his own species (an insane thrillseeker).

The End of Gravity - 2 / 5 - White men are boring. Of *course* he has to sleep with the pretty lady. Some interesting musings on "space, the final frontier" and the transition from earth to space as a kind of death. Pretty meh otherwise.

[Vel Veeter]

Worlds Enough and Time – Novellas

This collection of novellas came out in 2002 and represents recent writing for Simmons. I think I first heard of Dan Simmons with the publication of The Terror, but it’s also possible that I read The Terror because I really like Ilium. I just don’t recall which I read first or when. Anyway, one of the things that happens when you read a lot of Dan Simmons is that he comes across as very hard to pin down in terms of genre and as a person. Someone like Stephen King is most comprehensible in both ways. Stephen King is a horror writer, who is talented and smart enough to play around in other genres with lots of success. Stephen King is also a lot like Mark Twain in that not only is he an expert in his genre, he’s an expert in the ways that Americans are, they think, and they talk. He also is a very public presence with his thoughts and ideas outside of writing, or in some cases writes introductions and other materials that offer up additional glimpses of who he is, not unlike Mark Twain. Dan Simmons is much more a mystery. It’s clear he plays it close to the chest and mostly doesn’t have much of a public presence outside of his work. And his work is so all over the place in terms of genre, that he’s very hard to pin down that way as well. He seems like a horror writer when you read Carrion Comfort or The Terror or Summer of Night, and then you read something like Hyperion, and it’s one of the smartest sci-fi books I’ve ever read. To me, he’s much more like David Bowie, an absolute savant who can pick up genres with a kind of instant mastery. He also almost never talks much outside his actual fiction. In this collection he does, and it’s very nice actually. He gives a small introduction to this collection, talking about things that’s interested in with his writing and with thinking about writing. It’s modest, but it’s interesting. He also introduces the stories themselves, with a sense that he’s slightly uncomfortable doing so. Unlike Stephen King, he doesn’t write a ton of short fiction, even though, like Stephen King, his novels probably average more that 500 pages each.

Looking for Kelly Dahl – 4/5

This first novella in the collection begins with our narrator, who we learn is a man in his mid fifties, describing looking out over a wide valley in wilderness near Boulder, CO. He’s describing his gear, his view, his sense of the area, and a little of his mindset. He also tells us that the valley has kind of been replaced by a huge inland sea (there’s none of these in Boulder by the way) and that everything feels a little off about it. We slowly learn that he is out there “hunting” a girl named Kelly Dahl, and we understand that she’s got some kind of supernatural power to manipulate time and space, and that she’s created either this illusion, or this reality. It doesn’t matter that much.

We jump around in time a little (not supernaturally, but narratively) and learn that our narrator is a former high school and middle school history teacher and that Kelly Dahl is one of his former students was preternaturally gifted and who he at some point lost touch with. He was just returned from Vietnam when he took a teaching job and had a 26 year career in which he tells us there were some good years. This is all interlaced with additional sections of him looking for the girl, slowly revealing more and more of their shared past. (By the way, opposite of a trigger warning, there’s a lot of pain here, but he’s above board. The girl’s past is shattered in big ways, but he’s not a cause of it.)

The confrontation seems aimed at making sure he understands that he’s misremembered something big and important from his past and that he’s not allowed yet to obliterate his future. This story includes a very familiar and very well rendering of being a teacher.



The Ninth of Av – 3/5 Stars

Approached with the task of writing a novella in which the year 3001 is imagined, Dan Simmons asks himself the question of what would a look at 2001 have looked like from someone in the year 1000 or so. It’s an interesting question and likely not one that could have been answered in any kind of meaningful way. While some people here at there in pre-Renaissance Europe could envision a far future, well, without some of the collective almost exponential kind of thinking necessary (the idea of watching technology not just advance but explode) it seems moot. So he asks himself, what is something that is true of humanity then and now, and not one of the common kinds of experiences that get talked about all the time. His answer: that someone, somewhere will be trying to harm Jews.

It’s a weird answer, but interesting. The story he writes is not great, but does imagine a future in which intergalactic, posthuman society will still somehow come up with the conclusion to blame the world’s problem on Jews. I think this story could have been more effective if he were Jewish and had a little sense of humor about the topic. It’s a serious topic, but it’s far flung into the future and maybe could use some levity.



The End of Gravity – 3/5

You’ve maybe seen a Dan Simmons story on screen if you’ve seen The Terror, which is a great show and also a pretty faithful rendition of the novel. It’s grotesque and disgusting and the scenes with scurvy and the false euphoria are horrifying. At times Dan Simmons is the best horror writer I know of and that sometimes translates to the best science fiction writer I know of, and sometimes not, but it’s a pretty good track record in general.



On K2 with Kanakaredes – 4/5

I immediately looked up the name Kanakaredes, because it’s a Greek last name to see if there were any real answer for why it gets used in this story, but I couldn’t find anything.

The story begins with a group of serious climbers meeting with the secretary of state. It’s a few decades in the future and the world has been visiting by an Alien race who is preparing some kind of shared ritual called the “song”. Humans have no idea what this means, but are obviously interested. The aliens (called not so originally the bugs) are also interested in human. The ship took five hundred years to reach earth which means that several generations of the species came over and some were born in transit. One of these, the offspring of a high official, has requested a guided trip up K2. K2 is less popular than Everest (being a little shorter, so to speak) and also has a much higher percentage of deadly hikes. Only around 400 people have reached the summit, and about 1/5 of the people who attempt it die, which is truly wild. So the group is leery, but accepts when they’re told that in trade for this expedition, the aliens will take the group to Mars and climb Mons Olympos with them. This is too good to pass off, because among other things, humans have not been to Mars.

So the story is mostly a point by point ascent up K2 as the group with the alien group member slowly begin to understand each other. They camp together, climb together, and face danger together. At the summit, there’s a funny moment when the alien asks the climbers, all Americans, if there’s some special ritual at the top. Being Americans, there isn’t, they shrug and begin the ascent. The danger is not up yet of course.

I am more and more interested in the Dan Simmons novel The Abominable and I already planned on reading the rest of the Hyperion series, so this feels like the tipping point for me.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowing Dan Simmons only from the excellent "Terror" (which I read long time ago) and Hyperion Cantos (not that long ago), I am barely scratching the surface of his imagination’s projections - projections which all are (so far) deep, interesting, unique and surprising.

When looking at Simmons's work, it's hard not to think of Stephen King - not only because those two gentlemen know each other and both include places they live at in their narratives - but also because both share a brilliant imagination which materializes in either behemoth of books (with 500 pages usually being but a “good start”) but also in excellent short stories.

This small anthology, consisting of five stories created around Y2K, are perfect example of such work. Each one preluded with lengthy introduction piece (which I personally found fascinating, despite mild spoilers for corresponding text, as they gave rare insight into author’s creation process); each one with perfect reading time (designed and worthy to read with one per reading session cadence - with reasonable length for this task) and hard to simply put away without some afterthoughts - despite all of them being technically either SF or fantasy, they tell fairly universal stories about humans, their aspirations and search for “something more”.

Apart from the “9th of Av” (which, despite being a brilliant answer to question “which human trait can be universal not only across centuries but even millennia”, is probably too deep for me - I fell like I really missed some point in it), remaining four are truly great. Memorable characters (remember, we are talking about mastermind who populated “Hyperion” with most interesting characters in any book I read), interesting concepts (some stories, despite being completely independent, share similar motif), convincingly written - basically, anything one would expect from a short story.

The most unexpected (but oh so welcome) for me was “Orphans of Helix” - a follow-up to post-Aenea time of Hyperion universe; a literal antithesis of “cutting off coupons” - such a great universe Simmons built for it definitely could (and did) use this expansion of an idea for one of the book-introduced concepts.

There is absolutely no reason for anyone who's into SF to *not* read this anthology - do yourself a favor and reach out for it; you shall not regret it.

[James Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh I wish Dan Simmons would write some more of the Hyperion and Endymion four book series. I was so struck by his imaginative and astounding creation, science and religion wrapped up in an exciting and chilling universe that hooked me completely. He is such a marvelous story teller. I found this book of short stories with a promise to revisit his ethos set not in the same time or worlds but far off in the future, connected to Hyperion by the thinnest of threads in the short story 'Orphans of the Helix' . I know that Dan Simmons has said that he doesn't want to revisit the stories so as not to 'dilute the vitality' of the epic and so though I was very keen to get my hands on this book, I didn't know what to expect. I need not have worried because although I haven't read the Hyperion quartet for many years I found myself transport back into that universe within the first page. Little snippets, words and phrases prompted long lost memories of those stories and I was gripped. Shame it was just a short story and one that could have benefited from a longer exploration as I felt the ending was some what rushed.

Of Dan Simmons other works that I have read more recently are Ilium and Olympus, another double book series that he revisits inthe short 'The Ninth of Av'. This I hadn't realised was in the collection and although for me Ilium wasn't as great as Hyperion, I was still able to marvel at his retelling of Greek mythology encompassed in a far flung future. This was a very nice addition to that story even if it didn't actually add much to it.

The other stories in this slim volume were okay but didn't rouse me enough to mention them individually and it was these that drag my review of the whole book down to 3 stars. If you though have read the Hyperion / Endymion series and want more 'Orphans...' will at least wet your appetite and if it leaves you wanting more, then like me perhaps you'll think about re-reading the originals.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any collection, some stories held more appeal for me than others.

I enjoyed most of the stories, while others were ok.

For instance, I absolutely adored "On K2 with Kanakaredes"! I've read a few of the mountain-climbing" true-adventure stories, so while I would never, ever do such a thing, the content was not totally foreign, and the speculation re technology was fun. But the most fun was the relationships between Kanakaredes and the others. I laughed out loud when he eloquently used a human colloquialism. I can't spoil it by telling you what it was. The end both broke my heart and brought me happiness. Again, you have to read it.

By contrast, the introduction to "The Ninth of Av" was so off putting for me that I did not read the story. Simmons' list of--what words to use?--evil-tyrants perhaps, includes at least one person I strongly admire, so why read a story likely to be filled with right-wing ranting that will only piss me off? And, I began the intro interested in Simmons' definition of a problem we'll see well into the future, paraphrased as "everyone wants to kill the Jews," as certainly worth exploring, anti-Semitism being strong and continuing, even if not exactly universally murderous. However, the more I read, his explanation, and given what Israel is, and has been, doing to the Palestinian people, I just didn't want to deal with the potential implied "if you don't support the policy of the Israeli government, you must be anti-Semitic" line of thought. I always hope people who suffer at the hands of the US government, and/or are appalled by the same, can distinguish between the government and the US people. Similarly, I would expect my ability to distinguish similarly would be respected. Fearing it would not, I gave this one a skip.

So, a mixed bag. Enjoy what you enjoy!

[Reet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking for Kelly Dahl:
2 🌟
I think you have to be from the area (Colorado front range) to be able to visualize these scenes. Personally, I struggled. I didn't appreciate the part where Kelly Dahl's former teacher was kissing her. Only 30+ years difference, too.
Orphans of the Helix:
4 🌟
Just a little tease for those of us who fell in love with the Hyperion cantos. We can't have the full treatment, says Simmons, because it would turn into the crapitalists' nightmare of marketing etc. It was lovely. Thank you.
The ninth of Av:
5 🌟
Post humans (?) are going to final-fax the old-style humans for 10,000 years, supposedly while the posts fix up planet Earth to before-dementia condition. Old-style humans all have Jewish blood, but none of them seem suspicious until the last few minutes before final fax. Simmons uses Voynix in this story: those scary things that are servile and benevolent until they're...not .
On K2 with Kanakaredes:
4 🌟
(Above image)
Three experienced climbers agree to let the son of Speaker Mantispid of the South Pole to accompany them to the summit of K2 in exchange for giving them the technology to climb Olympus Mons on Mars.
The End of Gravity:
3 🌟
A writer gets the chance to tour the Russian space center and meet cosmonauts during the Xmas holiday. He has a recurring dream of being on the Mir spacestation but, as in the way of dreams, he is in a submarine and exploring the underwater wreck. The ending reminded me of that 1980s movie Brainstorm, where they record a man's brain while he's dying.