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Olympos (GOLLANCZ S.F.) Kindle Edition
Helen of Troy is in mourning for her dead husband, Paris. Killed in single combat with the merciless Apollo, his body is nothing but a scorched and blasted thing.
Hockenberry, her lover, still sneaks from her bed after their nights of lovemaking. And the gods still strike out from the besieged Olympos, their single-molecule bomb casings quantum phase-shifting through the moravecs' force shield and laying waste to Ilium. Or so Hockenberry and the amusing little metal creature, Mahnmut, have tried to explain to her.
Helen of Troy does not give a fig about machines. She must dress for the funeral.
And man and the gods and the unknown players in this tragedy must prepare for the final act. And a battle that will decide the future of the universe itself.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherGollancz
- Publication date4 April 2019
- File size1.4 MB
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Review
"Explores the relationship of history and culture to the idea of humanity. An exceptional creation." -- Library Journal (starred review)
"[OLYMPOS] manages to mix great literary pastiche with some highly original storytelling...thoughtful, inventive, clever and action-packed." -- Sunday Denver Post
"Ambitious, witty, moving: Simmons at his best." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Insanely ambitious . . . Ilium and OLYMPOS together solidify [Simmons's] reputation as one of science fiction's genuine modern masters." -- San Francisco Chronicle
"A thoughtful but fast-paced tale that will leave heads spinning and hearts racing." -- Newark Star Ledger
"Philosophy, physics and literature 101, wrapped up in the trappings of Buck Rogers-style space opera: great fun." -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Fans of epic, action-driven science fiction will talk about this inventive and highly-addictive thriller for years." -- School Library Journal
From the Back Cover
About the Author
Dan Simmons is the Hugo Award-winning author of Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, and their sequels, Endymion and The Rise of Endymion. He has written the critically acclaimed suspense novels Darwin's Blade and The Crook Factory, as well as other highly respected works, including Summer of Night and its sequel A Winter Haunting, Song of Kali, Carrion Comfort, and Worlds Enough & Time. Simmons makes his home in Colorado.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Olympos
By Dan SimmonsHarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2006 Dan SimmonsAll right reserved.
ISBN: 0380817934
Chapter One
Helen of Troy awakes just before dawn to the sound of air raid sirens. She feels along the cushions of her bed but her current lover, Hockenberry, is gone -- slipped out into the night again before the servants wake, acting as he always does after their nights of lovemaking, acting as if he has done something shameful, no doubt stealing his way home this very minute through the alleys and back streets where the torches burn least bright. Helen thinks that Hockenberry is a strange and sad man. Then she remembers.
My husband is dead.
This fact, Paris killed in single combat with the merciless Apollo, has been reality for nine days -- the great funeral involving both Trojans and Achaeans will begin in three hours if the god-chariot now over the city does not destroy Ilium completely in the next few minutes -- but Helen still cannot believe that her Paris is gone. Paris, son of Priam, defeated on the field of battle? Paris dead? Paris thrown down into the shaded caverns of Hades without beauty of body or the elegance of action? Unthinkable.
This is Paris, her beautiful boy-child who had stolen her away from Menelaus, past the guards and across the green lawns of Lacedaemon. This is Paris, her most attentive lover even after this long decade of tiring war, he whom she had often secretly referred to as her "plunging stallion full-fed at the manger."
Helen slips out of bed and crosses to the outer balcony, parting the gauzy curtains as she emerges into the pre-dawn light of Ilium. It is midwinter and the marble is cold under her bare feet. The sky is still dark enough that she can see forty or fifty searchlights stabbing skyward, searching for the god or goddess and the flying chariot. Muffled plasma explosions ripple across the half dome of the moravecs' energy field that shields the city. Suddenly, multiple beams of coherent light -- shafts of solid blue, emerald green, blood red -- lance upward from Ilium's perimeter defenses. As Helen watches, a single huge explosion shakes the northern quadrant of the city, sending its shockwave echoing across the topless towers of Ilium and stirring the curls of Helen's long, dark hair from her shoulders. The gods have begun using physical bombs to penetrate the force shield in recent weeks, the single-molecule bomb casings quantum phase-shifting through the moravecs' shield. Or so Hockenberry and the amusing little metal creature, Mahnmut, have tried to explain to her.
Helen of Troy does not give a fig about machines.
Paris is dead. The thought is simply unsupportable. Helen has been prepared to die with Paris on the day that the Achaeans, led by her former husband, Menelaus, and by his brother Agamemnon, ultimately breach the walls, as breach they must according to her prophetess friend Cassandra, putting every man and boy-child in the city to death, raping the women and hauling them off to slavery in the Greek Isles. Helen has been ready for that day -- ready to die by her own hand or by the sword of Menelaus -- but somehow she has never really believed that her dear, vain, godlike Paris, her plunging stallion, her beautiful warriorhusband, could die first. Through more than nine years of siege and glorious battle, Helen has trusted the gods to keep her beloved Paris alive and intact and in her bed. And they did. And now they have killed him.
She calls back the last time she saw her Trojan husband, ten days earlier, heading out from the city to enter into single combat with the god Apollo. Paris had never looked more confident in his armor of elegant, gleaming bronze, his head flung back, his long hair flowing back over his shoulders like a stallion's mane, his white teeth flashing as Helen and thousands of others watched and cheered from the wall above the Scaean Gate. His fast feet had sped him on, "sure and sleek in his glory," as King Priam's favorite bard liked to sing. But this day they had sped him on to his own slaughter by the hands of furious Apollo.
And now he's dead, thinks Helen, and, if the whispered reports I've overheard are accurate, his body is a scorched and blasted thing, his bones broken, his perfect, golden face burned into an obscenely grinning skull, his blue eyes melted to tallow, tatters of barbecued flesh stringing back from his scorched cheekbones like ... like ... firstlings -- like those charred first bits of ceremonial meat tossed from the sacrificial fire because they have been deemed unworthy. Helen shivers in the cold wind coming up with the dawn and watches smoke rise above the rooftops of Troy.
Three antiaircraft rockets from the Achaean encampment to the south roar skyward in search of the retreating god-chariot. Helen catches a glimpse of that retreating chariot -- a brief gleaming as bright as the morning star, pursued now by the exhaust trails from the Greek rockets. Without warning, the shining speck quantum shifts out of sight, leaving the morning sky empty. Flee back to besieged Olympos, you cowards, thinks Helen of Troy.
The all-clear sirens begin to whine. The street below Helen's apartments in Paris's estate so near Priam's battered palace are suddenly filled with running men, bucket brigades rushing to the northwest where smoke still rises into the winter air. Moravec flying machines hum over the rooftops, looking like nothing so much as chitinous black hornets with their barbed landing gear and swiveling projectors. Some, she knows from experience and from Hockenberry's late-night rants, will fly what he calls air cover, too late to help, while others will aid in putting out the fire. Then Trojans and moravecs both will pull mangled bodies from the rubble for hours. Since Helen knows almost everyone in the city, she wonders numbly who will be in the ranks of those sent down to sunless Hades so early this morning ...
Continues...
Excerpted from Olymposby Dan Simmons Copyright © 2006 by Dan Simmons. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- ASIN : B07NCWNSL1
- Publisher : Gollancz
- Accessibility : Learn more
- Publication date : 4 April 2019
- Edition : New Ed
- Language : English
- File size : 1.4 MB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 845 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-1473228269
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Book 2 of 2 : Ilium series
- Best Sellers Rank: 93,720 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer reviews:
About the author

Dan Simmons was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1948, and grew up in various cities and small towns in the Midwest, including Brimfield, Illinois, which was the source of his fictional "Elm Haven" in 1991's SUMMER OF NIGHT and 2002's A WINTER HAUNTING. Dan received a B.A. in English from Wabash College in 1970, winning a national Phi Beta Kappa Award during his senior year for excellence in fiction, journalism and art.
Dan received his Masters in Education from Washington University in St. Louis in 1971. He then worked in elementary education for 18 years -- 2 years in Missouri, 2 years in Buffalo, New York -- one year as a specially trained BOCES "resource teacher" and another as a sixth-grade teacher -- and 14 years in Colorado.
His last four years in teaching were spent creating, coordinating, and teaching in APEX, an extensive gifted/talented program serving 19 elementary schools and some 15,000 potential students. During his years of teaching, he won awards from the Colorado Education Association and was a finalist for the Colorado Teacher of the Year. He also worked as a national language-arts consultant, sharing his own "Writing Well" curriculum which he had created for his own classroom. Eleven and twelve-year-old students in Simmons' regular 6th-grade class averaged junior-year in high school writing ability according to annual standardized and holistic writing assessments. Whenever someone says "writing can't be taught," Dan begs to differ and has the track record to prove it. Since becoming a full-time writer, Dan likes to visit college writing classes, has taught in New Hampshire's Odyssey writing program for adults, and is considering hosting his own Windwalker Writers' Workshop.
Dan's first published story appeared on Feb. 15, 1982, the day his daughter, Jane Kathryn, was born. He's always attributed that coincidence to "helping in keeping things in perspective when it comes to the relative importance of writing and life."
Dan has been a full-time writer since 1987 and lives along the Front Range of Colorado -- in the same town where he taught for 14 years -- with his wife, Karen. He sometimes writes at Windwalker -- their mountain property and cabin at 8,400 feet of altitude at the base of the Continental Divide, just south of Rocky Mountain National Park. An 8-ft.-tall sculpture of the Shrike -- a thorned and frightening character from the four Hyperion/Endymion novels -- was sculpted by an ex-student and friend, Clee Richeson, and the sculpture now stands guard near the isolated cabin.
Dan is one of the few novelists whose work spans the genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror, suspense, historical fiction, noir crime fiction, and mainstream literary fiction . His books are published in 27 foreign counties as well as the U.S. and Canada.
Many of Dan's books and stories have been optioned for film, including SONG OF KALI, DROOD, THE CROOK FACTORY, and others. Some, such as the four HYPERION novels and single Hyperion-universe novella "Orphans of the Helix", and CARRION COMFORT have been purchased (the Hyperion books by Warner Brothers and Graham King Films, CARRION COMFORT by European filmmaker Casta Gavras's company) and are in pre-production. Director Scott Derrickson ("The Day the Earth Stood Stood Still") has been announced as the director for the Hyperion movie and Casta Gavras's son has been put at the helm of the French production of Carrion Comfort. Current discussions for other possible options include THE TERROR. Dan's hardboiled Joe Kurtz novels are currently being looked as the basis for a possible cable TV series.
In 1995, Dan's alma mater, Wabash College, awarded him an honorary doctorate for his contributions in education and writing.
Customer reviews
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Customers praise the book's storyline, describing it as a massive tapestry with parallel narratives that intertwine past and future. The book receives positive feedback for its readability, with one customer noting it remains compelling to the very last word. Customers appreciate the book's creativity, with one review highlighting its many good ideas.
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Customers praise the book's storyline, describing it as a massive tapestry that builds splendidly, with one customer noting how past and future elements come together and intertwine.
"...The story unfolds into a brilliant drama." Read more
"Parallel stories that come together with a strong literary thread through the novel. I read and enjoyed the complete 4 book series" Read more
"Olympos is an excellent beautifully construct story based on in depth knowledge of the famous Homerian legends...." Read more
"...disparate threads, and then weaves them into a coherent, massive tapestry of a story is beyond me...." Read more
Customers find the book engaging, with one mentioning it remains compelling to the very last word.
"...this is a great read which remains compelling to the very last word...." Read more
"...If you enjoyed "Ilium" it is still worth reading just to see how it ends." Read more
"Parallel stories that come together with a strong literary thread through the novel. I read and enjoyed the complete 4 book series" Read more
"...So for me it's a good read." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's creativity, with one describing it as a stunning piece with many good ideas.
"A very creative piece with almost baffling integrations of the Iliad and Shakespeare… very hard to guess what was going on at the outset" Read more
"...Ilium was a fast moving, exciting Sci-fi blockbuster with a lot of good ideas...." Read more
"Stunning & epic..." Read more
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2024Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseThe story is set in the future where humans have evolved into post humans. Mars has been colonised and terraformed. But something goes wrong, the post humans get ideas above there station seeing themselves as Gods. The story unfolds into a brilliant drama.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 June 2024Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseParallel stories that come together with a strong literary thread through the novel. I read and enjoyed the complete 4 book series
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 September 2024Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseOlympos is an excellent beautifully construct story based on in depth knowledge of the famous Homerian legends. Past & future come together and intertwine.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 November 2024Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI would put this (plus Ilium) on a par with this author's Hyperion Cantos and I would put the Hyperion Cantos on a par with Frank Herbert's Dune series (all of it!) and the only other SF I can compare these to for a roller coaster ride would be Stephen Donaldson's Gap series.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 February 2006Every Dan Simmons book I have read has left me wondering what it must be like to live in this guys mind! How he comes up with these amazing, apparently completely disparate threads, and then weaves them into a coherent, massive tapestry of a story is beyond me.
The storyline built splendidly on that established in the previous Ilium and the character development was superb. You really cared about these people and what happened to them.
There were also a couple of complete 'wow' moments where I just had to put the book down to get my breath back.
Gradually all those bizarre questions that had been floating around for a book and half were answered (sometimes with bizarre answers!).
As I approached the end of the book I repeatedly felt sorry that the story was concluding and that eventually I would run out of pages! I just wanted to read more and more about these amazing characters.
Actually I'd only give this 4.5 stars as I felt there were two missed opportunities at the end. I won't say what they were as it might spoil things for others, but it was like you were riding a speeding bullet all the way through but then just missed the target!
I don't think he's left enough here for a sequel and I've no idea if he's planning one but if he did I'd be the first to go and buy it.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 February 2010Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseThe first half of this was definitely a step down from "ilium". It was very jarring how Simmons abandoned the multiple writing styles for different storylines and left me with the impression that he rushed this one out. Some of the scenarios in this one were a lot more farcical eg the eifelbahns. On the otherhand it did pick up in the last third and had some very interesting developments and a lot of sense was finally made out of Setebos, prospero and the post-humans. The ending came a little out of nowhwere but the epilogue section was nice in setting up the new status quo. I think it could have been a lot better but it was almost like the author had lost interest at this point. If you enjoyed "Ilium" it is still worth reading just to see how it ends.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 May 2008Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseQuite a few reviewers have been negative about this sequel to the admittedly quite a bit more successful 'Ilium'. For some of them, however, the issue appears to be that they have no patience with Shakespeare, Homer and Proust et al. Perhaps if those nay-sayers go away and do the background reading, this outrageously complex and audacious fantasy will make more sense. Whether or not you think loose ends are a good thing (and didn't the Bard of Stratford leave quite a few for our imaginations to play with?) this is a great read which remains compelling to the very last word. If it succeeds in driving people to the literary source-material, then Simmons has done civilisation a service!
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2015Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseAfter reading Ilium I looked forward to this book which is primarily the Trojan war story in an alternate universe . I was slightly put off by some other reviews of the book but nevertheless I purchased it, I am about a third of the way thro' it now and really enjoying it. Dan Simmons has extensively researched the Trojan war histories to provide a good detailed read for any Troy historian. SPOILER. This story interweaves Sci Fi with the Trojan war and changes Homers epic in many ways heroes who were destined to die by Homer are not and immortals are not so much immortal.
So for me it's a good read.
Top reviews from other countries
- WillReviewed in the United States on 15 May 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Huge disappointment
Everything was going great until, suddenly, towards the end of the book, there was nothing left to read. How rude.
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Jean Pascal DalozReviewed in France on 25 April 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Ambitieux et brillant
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseDan Simmons est de très loin le plus ambitieux et le plus impressionnant des auteurs de science-fiction contemporains. Le diptyque ‘Ilium/Olympos’ est d’une ampleur extraordinaire, à la hauteur de ses fameux ‘Hyperion Cantos’. L’auteur, décidément un excellent conteur et un remarquable créateur d’univers, emporte la conviction tout au long de ces 1400 pages. Restent à l’esprit énormément d’images très marquantes (des demeures des dieux de l’Olympe au bord du lac de Caldeira martien, à la bibliothèque au sommet de l’Everest, par exemple, en passant par cette faille à ciel ouvert qui traverse l’Atlantique…).
Cependant, j’espérais une dernière partie avec davantage d’explications. On reste à certains égards dans un flou commode. Et puis, si le côté érudit d’un roman tel que celui-là, pétri de références, nous éloigne d’une science-fiction convenue et bas de gamme, il faut reconnaître que l’anglais de Simmons laisse parfois à désirer. Si certains chapitres sont merveilleusement écrits et méritent vraiment d’être relus (ce que j’ai pris plaisir à faire), il lui arrive de se laisser aller, d’employer trois fois de suite le même verbe, entre autres. On aimerait qu’il se relise davantage et arrive à un stade de perfection dont il n’est pas très éloigné.
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WahlfreiheitReviewed in Germany on 2 December 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars Ein würdiger Abschluss für die Serie
Ich persönlich kann die Kritik an Olypmpos nicht nachvollziehen. Das Buch knüpft quasi nahtlos an Ilium an, und schließt im Verlauf die Geschichte glaubwürdig und (nahezu) konsistent ab. Die meisten (auf jeden Fall die wichtigsten) offenen Fragen werden beantwortet. Das Lesen hat mir viel Freude bereitet und die Geschichte hat mich nachhaltig bewegt. Was will ich mehr?
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JRCReviewed in Mexico on 5 August 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbente.
Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseUn libro entretenido y dificil de parar de leer.
- Mark CharterisReviewed in Australia on 12 January 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Great re interpretation of platos work
Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseLike his earlier work Hyperion this writer knows literature very well. Well done. It is great to see a new spin on the great works.