Prepare to have mind blown.

I like dense reads, and I like immersing myself in complex worlds created by brilliant minds... but never, NEVER have I read a more astonishingly complex novel. 1/2 the way through this gigantic mind bender I was still completely without a clue about what was going on in the book. The fact that I and so many others rate this book so highly tells you a little something about our Mr. Simmons and the quality of his writing. Who get's away with this?? Nobody does... excpet for Dan. Read this book, dont give up because you dont understand it, it is well worth it.

Решил почитать ещё Симмонса после Гипериона. Что я могу сказать... Это здорово! Непонятное будущее, к которому автор не делает никаких предварительных объяснений, не спеша открывает смысл и причины происходящего. Читаю вторую часть, градус п-ца повышается, в общем кайф

OK, mad props to Dan Simmons!! Bravo!! This man is brilliant and cheeky. Bold and irreverent. And humor in the oddest of places. I swear if I didn't know better I'd say this book was written on a dare. I mean honestly "What the heck did I just read" (er…listen to)!! This was everything in the kitchen sink of scifi!! The world building was amazing and genre blending? Yes please!! Did you want to read a book about Greek mythology? How about a story about the retelling of The Iliad? Complete with Greek Gods and a 21st century scholar roaming around as a slave trying to change history? A scholar who has died of cancer in 2143. Oh, but then there are also the AI's that are fully sentient and have a civilization that has colonized the moons of Jupiter. There are rogue robots called servitors meant to service humans but something has run amok! A dying human race with bored teenagers looking for excitement, eternal life and a chance to catch a glimpse of the post humans. An orbital ring that supposedly houses the "post humans" but is really a house of horrors run by characters from Shakespeare's The Tempest. Oh and there is an intrepid old lady that knows secrets ala "Murder She Wrote" and is taking the teenagers on an adventure. And yes, there are aliens, LGM-little green men!! I'm telling you he was at a bar and someone dared him to create a novel with several random elements elicited from a crowd of drunks. Sort of like improvisation at a hookah lounge. And guess what?!? It was good!! It was really good!! I have no idea what I just read, but I am up for reading the sequel. I do think knowledge of the Iliad will help with understanding, but not as much as one would think. One person's review labeled Simmons as a mad genius. I couldn't have said it better. Not as good as Hyperion but this dude has writing chops and chutzpah!!

4+ Stars

Listened to the audiobook. It's over 29 hours long and I was looking forward to it every time I got in the car or took my puppy for a walk. Kevin Pariseau was excellent as the narrator!!

Remek delo / Masterpiece

This book is so different from anything else I’ve ever read. Dan Simmon’s mind is really fascinating. The mix of Greek mythology and sci-fi was extremely interesting to me. Somehow he makes it work wonderfully. He kept me hooked. The only thing that bothered me was how slow it is. Long and slow is not the ideal combination for me, but I’m glad I kept reading, because it got way more exciting towards the end. I’ll definitely read more of this author.

I thought that the best I was ever going to read from Simmons was his Hyperion series. That thought was seriously challenged with Ilium, and it's sequel, Olympos.

The way that Simmons weaves the tale of Troy into a science fiction masterpiece is absolutely astounding. For high school and college student who struggled greatly and mightily through Homer's epic poems, these two books should be required reading BEFORE reading Homer's actual work. Simmons's knowledge of the stories, it's characters, and the way he brings them to life puts everything I have ever known or read about the Iliad to absolute shame!

I could have given Troy not another thought in my life, along with all of the gods and their convoluted family, which through Homer's account, and unless you are an enthusiastic scholar of Greek history, is pretty boring and hard to follow, especially considering the day and age we live in today. It is almost impossible to put into modern context the lives and the interactions of the gods with mortals with today's vernacular. Yet, not only does Simmons succeed in this, he makes the story vastly more interesting and intriguing than the original.

There is only one qualification I can put on this book, THE SEQUEL IS EVEN BETTER!!! I cannot recommend this book highly enough and haven't lost as much sleep this past week reading both books than I have with any book in a very long time. This book and it's sequel are going to be gifts for many people in the future. READ IT!!!!

i don’t even know where to begin. there is so much that happens in this story, it feels more like a trilogy than a 600 page book. i think i liked it so much because the world(s) that this book take place in are so foreign and mysterious. some seem familiar at first, but as the curtain is pulled back they become more and more alien. it is also a story of growth, and learning to face the unknown. however, mahnmut and orphu of io were really the stars for me.

read this if you like the trojan war, shakespeare, and hard dystopian sci-fi!!

Un pur roman de sf. Je l'ai commencé il y a des années mais, étant trop jeune, j'ai arrêté la lecture à chaque fois. Aujourd'hui, je viens de le finir et c'est un chef d'œuvre. Une nouvelle idée par chapitre, un ensemble cohérent, des personnages réussis. J'ai adoré. Un classique qui ne se limite pas à la SF mais qui en est un digne représentant.

I’m still not quite sure what’s going on, but I’ll read the next book.

After reading Hyperion, you can't but help thinking that as far as sci-fi goes Simmons is in a class of his own, and this offering Ilium does not let the reader down. Once again a book deeply entrenched with classical history and literature as it's centred around Homer's The Iliad of Homer and William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and when I say centred I mean a 20th century historian is revived to oversee the Iliad and see how match it matches Homer's poem, for hie employers, the classical Greek gods!

If you've read Hyperion you know what to expect, a very well constructed sci-fi reality that explains how and why the Iliad is happening where it is, why Prospero and Caliban exist; a world of almost unfathomable robo-organic AIs, post-humans and frail Eloi-like protected humans. Where he fails to rise to Hyperion's level is the lack of clarity, the plot holes and lack of depth of characters with such a small first-person narrator cast (each chapter is from a different view, and usually different part of space), If you haven't read Hyperion however this book may blow your mind and you need to pick up Hyperion asap! 8.5 out of 12.

2020 read

Oh my gosh this was long. It was good, but it was long. Probably best to (re)familiarize yourself with the Iliad if you want to get the most out of it. I'm on the fence about reading the sequel anytime soon.

Helemaal cool met de combinatie van sci-fi met Griekse mythologie. Ik moest er even inkomen, maar toen die eenmaal ging was ik hooked