Book Review: Ilium / Olympos, by Dan Simmons

.
One of Dan Simmons’ best is the science fiction double novel, Ilium and Olympos, in which the Greek gods are reincarnated or duplicated as characters on the planet Mars of the future. Mons Olympus, the old volcanic cone on Mars is the highest mountain in the solar system, and a lot of action will happen there in a new Olympos. Action on the battlefield at ancient Troy is featured, with all the Homeric heroes there in this revised story. There are anomalies of time and space in the story, so that over 5,000 years in time and the entire reach of the solar system are involved. You simply will not believe how the stories of both Achilles and Odysseus end up.
.
The background literary context of these two huge books is Homer, most especially The Iliad, but also to some extent The Odyssey, and Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Those are the most important sources and are most important to read as background, but Simmons also refers to Nabokov’s novel Ada or Ador: A Family Chronicle and to Proust’s multi-volume work In Search of Lost Time, aka Remembrance of Things Past. Since certain literary/mythic characters and their stories pop up in these novels, I first refreshed my readings of some of those classics, re-reading The Iliad, The Tempest and surveys of classical mythology. However, I passed on perusing Proust, and I never got a chance to acquire the Nabokov novel. I really enjoyed Ilium and Olympos and recommend them. Read the two in their proper order.
.