Genre-hopping Dan Simmons returns to science fiction with the vast and intricate masterpiece Ilium. Within, Simmons weaves three astounding story lines into one Earth, Mars and Jupiter-shattering cliffhanger that will leave readers aching for the sequel.

On Earth, a post-technological group of humans, pampered by servant machines and easy travel via "faxing," begins to question its beginnings. Meanwhile, a team of sentient and Shakespeare-quoting robots from Jupiter's lunar system embark on a mission to Mars to investigate an increase in dangerous quantum fluctuations. On the Red Planet, they'll find a race of metahumans living out existence as the pantheon of classic Greek gods. These "gods" have recreated the Trojan War with reconstituted Greeks and Trojans and staffed it with scholars from throughout Earth's history who observe the events and report on the accuracy of Homer's Iliad. One of these scholars, Thomas Hockenberry, finds himself tangled in the midst of interplay between the gods and their playthings and sends the war reeling in a direction the blind poet could have never imagined.

Simmons creates an exciting and thrilling tale set in the thick of the Trojan War as seen through Hockenberry's 20th-century eyes. At the same time, Simmons's robots study Shakespeare and Proust and the origin-seeking Earthlings find themselves caught in a murderous retelling of The Tempest. Reading this highly literate novel does take more than a passing familiarity with at least The Iliad but readers who can dive into these heady waters and swim with the current will be amply rewarded. --Jeremy Pugh, Amazon.com

2008-02-06 Intelligent and surprising.

This is a strange book with an unusual mix of viewpoints and characters.

The idea of post-humans and the exploration of a variety of futuristic concepts is interesting with a good pace and with idea after idea being dropped in.
We see a variety of future races as concepts as they interact with lots of surprises and mini dramas along the way.

We get to see a version of the Iliad with the very human reactions of Hockenberry who is remembering his past and being trapped into actions he would prefer to avoid by the gods.

There is also some humour injected by the two literary robots who are probably the most human characters in the book.

It is quite a dark book with a bleak future in many ways but with so many ideas thrown together that you never dwell on the possible extinction of humanity.

The sequel to Hyperion was a let down never being better than average and it only remains to see if the sequel to this book can keep to the high standard set here.