Scan barcode
btsa's review against another edition
4.0
Why the hell are there self-proclaimed greek gods using scifi tech & ancient heroes playing Homer's Iliad to the word on terraformed Mars? If that alone sounds interesting you'll love this, Simmons doesn't disappoint. Not quite as good as Hyperion, but then again barely anything is as good as Hyperion.
macnchz's review against another edition
4.0
A cool concept for a novel! I like that it's sci-fi but at the same time has detailed descriptions of the Iliad. As both a classics AND sci-fi/fantasy nerd, this is totally perfect!
ablotial's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. This book was amazing. I never thought I'd say that reading a science fiction book would inspire me to read Shakespeare and Proust and brush up on my Greek mythology and reread some Homer. But for all the references that I understood, I felt like there were many more that went completely over my head. The level of detail in this book and how everything fits together is astounding. If it weren't so long, I might have turned around and started again at the beginning to catch some of the details I missed on the first go 'round. I don't think anything I could write would do it justice.
At first, sure, it was a little overwhelming going back and forth between the three, seemingly completely unrelated points of view. And the morovecs were especially confusing -- I didn't understand what they were for quite some time, they were kind of boring initially. But I had faith that it would all be explained and would be important to the story, and of course I was right. I found the world that Simmons built to be fascinating - the idea of the five twenties and the firmary and the modified humans who had apps built into the palm of their hand but had no idea about their history or the hows and whys of any of it, the morovecs out in space trying to police the "idiot savants" who were ruining the universe with their wormholes and quantum transportation, bringing back the Scholics and the motivation behind it ... how much did Zeus really know and what was he trying to prevent? So much going on here.
I of course went and immediately added the sequel to my TBR but I'm horribly disappointed because everything I've read says that it pretty much sucks in comparison (or maybe even without the comparison) and I'm going to be even more disappointed when I actually read it. Which I will, because I want to know more about the post-humans and why/how they accomplished what they have on Mars, and the history of the morovecs and how they ended up on their own out there, and what happens to the humans now they they have received enlightenment.
At first, sure, it was a little overwhelming going back and forth between the three, seemingly completely unrelated points of view. And the morovecs were especially confusing -- I didn't understand what they were for quite some time, they were kind of boring initially. But I had faith that it would all be explained and would be important to the story, and of course I was right. I found the world that Simmons built to be fascinating - the idea of the five twenties and the firmary and the modified humans who had apps built into the palm of their hand but had no idea about their history or the hows and whys of any of it, the morovecs out in space trying to police the "idiot savants" who were ruining the universe with their wormholes and quantum transportation, bringing back the Scholics and the motivation behind it ... how much did Zeus really know and what was he trying to prevent? So much going on here.
I of course went and immediately added the sequel to my TBR but I'm horribly disappointed because everything I've read says that it pretty much sucks in comparison (or maybe even without the comparison) and I'm going to be even more disappointed when I actually read it. Which I will, because I want to know more about the post-humans and why/how they accomplished what they have on Mars, and the history of the morovecs and how they ended up on their own out there, and what happens to the humans now they they have received enlightenment.
dchau's review against another edition
4.0
What would happen if you threw in Greek gods, robots, humans, little green men, beetle-like aliens in a story set in the distant future of Mars? Oh yeah and a dinosaur!!!No idea? Well, Simmons sure has mostly succeeded in envisioning this world populated with dozens of characters that it was tricky to figure out who was who, but once the story settles, what a wild coaster ride!
xcbkskier92's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
maarcej's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
kylearnzen's review against another edition
2.0
I'd say this was about a 3.5 star book for me. Definitely some unique ideas in there, but the storylines took so long to converge and there seemed to be some moments of "Where is this going?" that brought it down.
bramboomen's review against another edition
4.0
Clearly, Dan Simmons must be insane.
I read the back of the book, I read Simmons before, I should have been prepared.
Seriously though, I loved this book. I read the Iliad during my last year of high school, so a lot of it came back to me reading this, which was nice. I have no knowledge whatsoever about Shakespeare (or Proust) which made some of the more poetically inclined chapters a bit abstract to me. This is of course not Simmons fault, but it did make me feel that I missed out on a piece of the grander story. Also, it did genuinely make me want to know about the plays by Shakespeare, how about that.
There is something about Simmons writing that makes me lose any concept of "sensible". Simmons goes: "Trojan war on parralel universe earth and gods on Mars" and I go: "Okay, go on". Simmons goes: "Robots reflecting on Shakespeare and Proust on the moons of Jupiter" and I go: "Fine". Simmons goes: "Quantum Teleportation, Brane Holes, Little Green Men, Invisibility Hat" and I don't even blink an eye. Any other writer would have got me shouting at the book "Get it together man! This is just getting too much too fast, where in gods name are you going with this?", but for some reason Simmons makes me go: "Sure". This is some kind of magic I thourougly enjoy, and I will be reading much more of Dan Simmons from now on.
I read the back of the book, I read Simmons before, I should have been prepared.
Seriously though, I loved this book. I read the Iliad during my last year of high school, so a lot of it came back to me reading this, which was nice. I have no knowledge whatsoever about Shakespeare (or Proust) which made some of the more poetically inclined chapters a bit abstract to me. This is of course not Simmons fault, but it did make me feel that I missed out on a piece of the grander story. Also, it did genuinely make me want to know about the plays by Shakespeare, how about that.
There is something about Simmons writing that makes me lose any concept of "sensible". Simmons goes: "Trojan war on parralel universe earth and gods on Mars" and I go: "Okay, go on". Simmons goes: "Robots reflecting on Shakespeare and Proust on the moons of Jupiter" and I go: "Fine". Simmons goes: "Quantum Teleportation, Brane Holes, Little Green Men, Invisibility Hat" and I don't even blink an eye. Any other writer would have got me shouting at the book "Get it together man! This is just getting too much too fast, where in gods name are you going with this?", but for some reason Simmons makes me go: "Sure". This is some kind of magic I thourougly enjoy, and I will be reading much more of Dan Simmons from now on.
charlibirb's review against another edition
5.0
WOW! Dan Simmons continues to impress. Plot, character, world, and writing are all fabulous. Love the literature references. One thing I don't love is how he describes & writes some of the women. (They're all stunningly beautiful...it gets a little old.) But it's not awful.