Ilium (2003)

A fun mashup of The Iliad and science-fiction. Especially enjoyed the Shakespeare- and Proust-obsessed droids. Inspired me to dig out the old Fitzgerald Iliad and give it a reread! ( )

An unique science fiction story of Greek gods and the events of the Iliad. The story follows three different people as their storylines come together. It is confusing at first, but after about 100 pages I finally got my bearings and the realization and the journey was worth it. The writing is great with interesting characters, but the storyline is the most captivating. It is a mixture of historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and horror. The story doesn't end with this book though with the ending being a major cliffhanger. ( )

Simmons creates an intriguing world, but somehow this one didn't draw me in nearly as much as Hyperion. A world with time travel, Trojans, Achilles, Odysseus, Mars, Gods and other mysteries which are unraveled sounds amazing, leaving me unsure of what the missing piece was. Either way this did leave me wanting to read the next in the series. ( )

Ilium opens with Thomas Hockenberry, a twenty-first century professor, observing the Trojan War on behalf of a Muse. He has been reborn into this world of heroes and gods at the whim of a god or goddess and exists purely on their sufferance. His job, to watch the happenings in the war and report back on whether or not they follow the path he is familiar with from [a:Homer|903|Homer|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1192834024p2/903.jpg]’s [b:The Iliad|32785|The Iliad|Homer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168393672s/32785.jpg|3293141]. The second chapter is from the point of view of Daeman, a youngish man at some point in the future, who is visiting his cousin’s house with the sole purpose of seducing her. The next storyline we are introduced to is that of Mahnmut, a sentient machine of sorts, who has been asked to attend a meeting for some mission, although his mind is more occupied with Shakespeare and his sonnets

Full review: http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2010/06/11/ilium/ ( )

Simmons is without a doubt unapologetic in anything he does. This book is no exception. Pure SCI FI opera and drama. There is a moral to this story. Never underestimate the human desire to survive and move forward. You may be able to staunch it for a while. But some outside force will always allow it to correct itself. This is a wonderful story about interesting people with egos, hopes and desires that exceed the bounds of the earthly realm. Some want to only to live.....some want to live and survive and others want to die. ( )