• Looking for Kelly Dahl (novella): 3*
The author's alter-ego professor character is forced to chase a young student through a parallel Colorado where all the people have vanished. Cute set-up, but it's missing that extra something to make it really good.

• Orphans of the Helix (novella): 5*
This is an epilogue to his most famous series, Hyperion Cantos, and, since it features the return of a couple of his most interesting characters, together with some new angle on past events, this can only be a 5*.

• The Ninth of Av (novelette): 3*
If previous story served as the epilogue to one series, I was surprised to find here a sort of "warm-up" to another of his series, this time the Hockenberry - Ilium/Olympos series. It features a completely different set of characters, and the concepts are a bit different, but undeniably served as the launching point for Ilium.

• On K2 with Kanakaredes (novelette): 3*
A group of humans helps an intelligent alien in the shape of a locust reach K2 mountain. This can also be seen as a kind of warm-up to another of his novels, this time The Abominable, here the author trying his hand on mountaineering terms, which obviously abound.

• The End of Gravity (novelette): 3*
This is a story without any fantastic or futuristic elements. An American reporter visits Russia's space program and chats with various individuals. Pretty well-written though.

4.0 Stars
A solid collection, Orphans of the Helix being the highlighted that brought back all those warm and fuzzy feelings reading the Hyperion Cantos for the first time.
Dan Simmons still comes off as a condescending asshole in his introductions though. Sorry Dan, you're an amazing writer but an insufferable human.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this excellent collection of five stories by Dan Simmons. Each story is brilliantly written, the prose is excellent as usual with Simmons. My favourite story in the collection is 'Orphans Of The Helix' which is set in Simmons' Hyperion Cantos universe, that story is a five star read in my opinion. I have no reservations in recommending this collection to fans of science fiction and speculative fiction.

This volume of mostly mediocre novellas (complete with a disappointingly zestless return to the Hyperion novels) only confirms my theory that Dan Simmons was almost completely washed up as a writer after writing THE RISE OF ENDYMION. Simmons's wildly arrogant and condescending introductions to these trunk tales certainly don't help. "Looking for Kelly Dahl" is the strongest of the five here. At a craft level, it works, with enough fascinating twists and turns -- despite possessing certain thematic similarities to A WINTER HAUNTING. (And what is it with Simmons's creepy fixation on older (often middle-aged) men and young girls? Yes, he was able to sell this (somewhat) in the Endymion books with Raul and Aenea. But even here, in an ostensibly platonic dynamic, it comes across as a little unsettling.) And yet "Kelly Dahl" lacks the visceral passion of Simmons at his best. "On K2 with Kanakaredes" feels outright onanistic. And "The End of Gravity" comes across as smug and mansplainy. Dan Simmons was clearly writing way too fast at the start of the 21st century. I can't believe they gave him a Locus for "Orphans of the Helix." It lacks the grand operatic imagination, the wonder, and the heart of its Hyperion cousins. Ugh.

This is the first collection of short fiction I have read by Dan Simmons, and it did not disappoint.

As usual, Dan's writing style is one of the strengths of the collection. It's so easy to read and he sucks you in to each story and you don't want to come out.

My ratings of each story are:

Looking for Kelly Dahl - 4*
Orphans of the Helix - 5*
The Ninth of Av - 4*
On K2 with Kanakaredes - 4*
The End of Gravity - 3*

I was excited to read Orphans of the Helix as it is set after the final novel of the Hyperion Cantos, The Rise of Endymion. And it was just as good as the novels. A superb story!

On K2 with Kanakaredes was a pleasant surprise. I was a bit dubious when I first heard about this as it is literally about climbing Mt K2 and I know nothing about climbing. But it was my second favorite story of the collection. I loved the characters and K was just great!

Overall, a really strong collection that I nearly gave a 5* rating. The last story made me give it a 4*.

This is a must read for sci-fi fans, and anyone who wants to try something new!

Each story in this collection has its own introduction. It's not often that you get backgrounds to stories, but I enjoy them. Maybe I am the type of reader who always feels the presence of the writer as someone I could know personally. So why not hear about where some of their ideas have come from and what place the story has in their life or oeuvre? A quick overview of the stories: "Orphans of the Helix" takes place in the Hyperion universe, but feels like a good Star Trek episode. "Looking for Kelly Dahl" is like a twilight zone story, without a tidy ending. "The Ninth of Av" is both oddly detailed and strangely abstract and dreamlike. I don't think it succeeded. Maybe it was meant to feel like the sort of thing Ted Chiang does well. I'm not sure. "On K2 with Kanakaredes" could have been in any classic science fiction anthology since, well, science fiction began. It's a memorable and solid stand-alone story. "The End of Gravity" is a character study illustrating the impossibility of grasping the mysteries of the cosmos. That it takes place in Russia, probably the densest concentration on the planet of wild discussions of life, the universe, and everything, is perfect. If you are looking for clear plots and ideas, only Orphans and K2 will float your boat. Four out of the five stories worked for me. Ninth seems like it might make more sense on a second or third read through, but probably not.

As with any collection, some stories held more appeal for me than others.

I enjoyed most of the stories, while others were ok.

For instance, I absolutely adored "On K2 with Kanakaredes"! I've read a few of the mountain-climbing" true-adventure stories, so while I would never, ever do such a thing, the content was not totally foreign, and the speculation re technology was fun. But the most fun was the relationships between Kanakaredes and the others. I laughed out loud when he eloquently used a human colloquialism. I can't spoil it by telling you what it was. The end both broke my heart and brought me happiness. Again, you have to read it.

By contrast, the introduction to "The Ninth of Av" was so off putting for me that I did not read the story. Simmons' list of--what words to use?--evil-tyrants perhaps, includes at least one person I strongly admire, so why read a story likely to be filled with right-wing ranting that will only piss me off? And, I began the intro interested in Simmons' definition of a problem we'll see well into the future, paraphrased as "everyone wants to kill the Jews," as certainly worth exploring, anti-Semitism being strong and continuing, even if not exactly universally murderous. However, the more I read, his explanation, and given what Israel is, and has been, doing to the Palestinian people, I just didn't want to deal with the potential implied "if you don't support the policy of the Israeli government, you must be anti-Semitic" line of thought. I always hope people who suffer at the hands of the US government, and/or are appalled by the same, can distinguish between the government and the US people. Similarly, I would expect my ability to distinguish similarly would be respected. Fearing it would not, I gave this one a skip.

So, a mixed bag. Enjoy what you enjoy!

Looking for Kelly Dahl:
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Finito nel 01/gen/1970 00:00:00

Looking for Kelly Dahl: ★★★
A teacher, a drunkard, a grieving father finds solace by dealing with his guilt.

Orphans of the Helix: ★★★
Different races following different faiths help each other out.

The Ninth of Av: ★★
Persecution knows no boundaries.

On K2 With Kanakaredes: ★★★
How men (and I use that term loosely) bond with each other over their assault on Mount Everest.

The End of Gravity: ★★
A female cosmonaut who's the wrong gender and a writer recovering from his father's death find each other.

I bought this in a post-Hyperion Cantos depression, hoping for a scrap of Hyperion lore to feed my withdrawal symptoms.

Simmons continues to weave dark, complex tales. I enjoyed his intros more than I expected. With that said, his complicated world-building style of writing wasn’t my favorite for short stories: some parts feel rushed or flimsy.

Still a good read, and the stories all made me think. I’ll be chewing on their lessons for a while.

It may be I just wasn't in the mood. I read to about the 15% point which was about halfway through the first of 5 novella/novelette length stories. Just wasn't grabbing me, so DNF