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Ilium
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June 2019 READER Ilium by Simmons
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Oh yaaaaaaa! Dusting it off and ready to read for the 4th time. I just love this book, and it’s companion Olympos. I was truly fascinated by Homer’s Iliad when I read it in college. And I’m a huge scyfy fan. Combining the two was a mind blower. This book jumps from Jovian moons to the plains of Troy and then mixes it all up until you really have no idea when/when you really are, but that’s the best part! The characters are really well fleshed out.....or metalled out.......or ?? out and you quickly start taking sides and getting invested in their outcomes. So I hope you enjoy this one. It’s not an easy read but it’s truly a satisfying one.
I just picked it up at the library and I’m a few chapters in and I’m in love! I love Dan Simmons’ writing and the ties to the Iliad leave me with a warm feeling in my heart (to me, a lover of ancient Mediterranean history and lore, it feels like home!)
I’ve had this book out of the library for ages and just got going on it. So far so good, and I’ll second or third or wherever we’re at!!
Oh it’s already picked for June. Great!! God I’m a mess.
It’s never to early to start a good book lol. Enjoy!
Is anyone reading this? Would love to discuss.
SPOILER ALERT!!I just finished Ilium (and in fact just picked up Olympos) from the library). That I finished such a large book relatively quickly is testament to how engaging I found it. I liked the Savi character a lot, and would have thought she would have had some central part in the story’s resolution, but she was suddenly killed; why develop the character and unceremoniously kill her off? Or am I just resentful because someone that I liked got killed? The ending was a little disappointing; big, grand epic-the characters grew so much from their adventures (hoo boy) but having read such a long tale and have so much unresolved is a little aggravating. Did I miss something? What did happen to the post-humans? Who are the “gods” and where did they come from? What happened to the regular humans? Who are the moravecs? The rush in of the moravec cavalry was a little deus ex machina for me (well it was a book about gods after all but it wasn’t those gods rushing in). Plus ordinary slob from Indiana has sex with Helen, engineers change in course of history by cleverly manipulating great warriors and gods (and even becomes passionate warrior himself-wow!) is not my favorite trope (theme?). Still, I did like it and I am going to start Olympos right away; I’m sure I’ll get some answers there!!
Lololol! Don’t ya just love a head scratcher:). And yes, many of your questions will be answered in Olympos. It’s amazing how quickly you can get invested in the story’s characters. Who knew you could fall in love with a satient metallic crab!And I wouldn’t be too quick to write off Savi.
Well, I don’t know how many people read this great book but I know there’s at least a couple out there. Would love to hear what you thought of it.
Official description:
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.