Dan Simmons' "Olympos" and "Ilium"

[Gatekeeper]

Have any of my fellow 'Poly members read this duology yet? If so, perhaps a discussion can be started, sans spoiler code?

Gatekeeper

[Urban Ranger]

No, though I am curious if these have anything to do with Homer's works.

[VetLegion]

I think paying homage to Illiad and Odysey in the titles doesn't promise anything good.

[Flip McWho]

Na not yet, do wanna read them at some point though

[MarkG]

sounds like tons of drugs* were consumed to come up with this idea

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.

* or tons of Reality TV

[JohnT]

I'm about 100-200 pages from finishing Olympos. I'll let ya know about it when I'm done.

However, Simmons is an English teacher with a thing for the classics. His last sci-fi EU* was based upon Keat's poems Hyperion and Endymion. And, as UR thinks, these two newer books deal with the Iliad... and the Aenid and the Odyssey and Shakespeare's The Tempest and others.

*EU - Extended Universe.

[Urban Ranger]

Too much pseudoscience mumblejumble to boot.

[JohnT]

Sez somebody who hasn't even read it.

[rah]

I enjoyed both and waiting for the new one that due for release soon.

[JohnT]

Olympos was released just last week, rah. There are no others in the series.

[rah]

my mistake, i thought it was two originally. It has been awhile which would explain my confusion. Is it worth buying in hardback?

[JohnT]

I think so, but I have been waiting for two years for this one. If you're a big fan of Simmons or the first book, go ahead and show your financial support by buying that $28 puppy. If not, wait until the paperback or borrow it from the library.

[JohnT]

As for is it worth it... sometimes I think he's lost control of the plot, other times I think it's some of the best writing I've seen from Simmons since Fall of Hyperion.

[Gatekeeper]

JohnT:

I'll wait until you're finished with the latest tome before going into any deep details about it ... but, to say the least, the only characters I ended having any sympathy for were the old style humans and the moravecs. Heh. The post humans, Prospero, Ariel, Sycorax, Moira, et al., just left me cold toward them.

The Quiet has piqued my curiosity, though.

Gatekeeper

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well you could use the [spoiler] tag .