Ilium (novel)

Infobox Book |
name = Ilium
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover to the 2003 first edition
author = Dan Simmons
illustrator =
cover_artist = Gary Ruddell
country = United States
language = English
series = Ilium/Olympos duology
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = HarperCollins, Eos imprint
release_date = 2003
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 731 pp (paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-360-81792-6
preceded_by =
followed_by = Olympos

"Ilium" is a science fiction novel by Dan Simmons, the first part of the "Ilium/Olympos" cycle, concerning the re-creation of the events in the "Iliad" on Mars. These events are set in motion by beings who have taken on the roles of the Greek gods. Like Simmons' earlier series, the Hyperion Cantos, the novel is a form of "literary science fiction" which relies heavily on intertextuality, in this case with Homer and Shakespeare, as well as periodic references to Marcel Proust's "À la recherche du temps perdu" (or "In Search of Lost Time") and Vladimir Nabokov's novel "". In July 2004, "Ilium" received a Locus Award for best science fiction novel of 2003.

Plot summary

The novel centers on three main character groups; that of Hockenberry (a resurrected twentieth-century Homeric scholar whose duty is to compare the events of the "Iliad" to the events that he observes), Helen and Greek and Trojan warriors from the "Iliad"; Daeman, Harman, Ada and the other humans of Earth; and the "moravec" robots (named for scientist and futurist Hans Moravec), specifically Mahnmut the Europan and Orphu of Io. The novel is written in first-person, present-tense when centered on Hockenberry's character, but features third-person, past-tense narrative in all other instances. Much like Simmons' Hyperion where the actual events serve as a frame, the three groups of characters' stories are told over the course of the novel and their stories do not begin to converge until the end.

Reception

"Ilium" was nominated for a 2004 Hugo Award for Best Novel. [Citation |url=http://www.noreascon.org/hugos/nominees.html |title=Hugo and Retro Hugo Nominations |accessdate=2008-02-22 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.dansimmons.com/ Dan Simmons – Author's Official Website.]
* [http://ilium.pbwiki.com/ Ilium duology Wiki.]
*isfdb title|id=23854|title=Ilium