Red Templar Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I am getting close to the end of [i]The Terror[/i], and am really enjoying it. I'm also a big fan of [i]Hyperion[/i] and hold [i]Summer of Night[/i] as one of my favorite horror novels. His writing is very professional and polished with tight prose and a good understanding of the craft. He has excellent literary knowledge and won't hesitate to interject it into his novels (sometimes to the point of showing off). But Dan Simmons is a complex person, especially recently with his nearly insane ravings about Islam and terrorism. I've met the guy a couple of times at book signings and he came across as a very nice guy. Affable, even. Perhaps a little snooty when it comes to literature, as he insists that he writes "Speculative Fiction" rather than sci-fi, when, to me, the words are interchangeable. Is he still batshit insane? Or has he softened a bit? I've heard that Olympos is a steaming pile of weasel vomit, but he's since written [i]The Terror[/i], which demonstrates that perhaps he just had an "off-year" (or two) and now has his head back on straight. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delete this account pls Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I reread Hyperion earlier this year. Hadn't read it since I was a teenager. I'd completely forgotten how amazing it is. The Consul's tale bought tears to my eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Great, but certainly not [i]greatest[/i], although I haven't read all his work yet. [i]Hyperion[/i] was excellent and [i]Fall of Hyperion[/i] was a great follow-up but not on the same order of genius. I'm hearing good things about his new book [i]Drood[/i]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacen Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I loved Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion...the last two Hyperion books, not so much. The three noir-detective Joe Kurtz books by him are good fluff reads too. Otherwise, haven't read anything else by him. He's in the great category for sure though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I've only read the Terror, which was excellent. And that book about Dracula, which was so-so. In my book he's batting 0.50 which hardly makes him the greatest author. Maybe great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 The really impressive thing about him, to my mind, is how he writes a book in the genre of whatever he's writing in and it fits seamlessly. He writes hard-boiled detective novels like the best, he writes sci-fi novels like the best, he writes odd psychodramas like the best. The Crook Factory was very stylized to Hemingway. He doesn't seem to really have his own voice, but he's very good at adopting others. He's also very good at referencing old literary classics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacen Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 That's an amazingly good point, Kal. He really doesn't have a distinctive style, he's just good at adapting. I guess that's both a great strength and weakness at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delete this account pls Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 He showed that off in Hyperion. I was blown away by how each pilgrim's tale was written in a completely different style. Lots of literary references in Silenus' story, Lamia's was like a hard boiled noir detective tale, etc. ETA; I haven't read any of his stuff apart from the whole Hyperion/Endymion duologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandiric Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Undoubtedly great. He can write battles, love scenes, exposition, suspense, dialogue, -- all expertly. He has breadth AND depth as a storyteller, which is uncommon. Hyperion is probably my most re-read book next to Ice and Fire. Song of Kali is great too. Olympos is not vomitus, IMO. It's a good book. But Ilium is a complete miss, and underlines his greatest weakness: poor finishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relic Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 [quote name='Mandiric' post='1642141' date='Jan 8 2009, 19.01']Olympos is not vomitus, IMO. It's a good book. But Ilium is a complete miss, and underlines his greatest weakness: poor finishes.[/quote] That's the thing with Simmons. I Loved the first two Hyperion books, especially the second (i know most people liked the first one better) but the second two books were pretty damned bad. i loved Illium but hated Olympos. I liked the first half of The Terror but got bored with the second half. Strange, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandiric Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 [quote name='Relic' post='1642143' date='Jan 8 2009, 20.04']That's the thing with Simmons. I Loved the first two Hyperion books, especially the second (i know most people liked the first one better) but the second two books were pretty damned bad. i loved Illium but hated Olympos. I liked the first half of The Terror but got bored with the second half. Strange, really.[/quote] Oops, right, Ilium was the first one. It's a good book. Olympus is vomitus. I enjoyed Fall of Hyperion too. The Endymion stuff probably looked great in outline form, but it didn't execute well. Still, the whole "love as a physical force" thing kept me interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Good writer, boderline great, but maybe I'm somewhat dim. I just don't get his endings, Olympos and The Terror in particular. He's weak like Mieville in that regard, imo. Despite all this, I'm looking forward to Drood. I guess I must really enjoy the journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Templar Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Just for the record, I was being facetious about the "greatest writer" thing. Stephen Colbert I'm not, obviously. [quote name='Kalbear' post='1642082' date='Jan 8 2009, 18.03']The really impressive thing about him, to my mind, is how he writes a book in the genre of whatever he's writing in and it fits seamlessly. He writes hard-boiled detective novels like the best, he writes sci-fi novels like the best, he writes odd psychodramas like the best. The Crook Factory was very stylized to Hemingway. He doesn't seem to really have his own voice, but he's very good at adopting others. He's also very good at referencing old literary classics.[/quote] Great observation. I would have never thought of this, but it makes perfect sense now that you've mentioned it. [i]Hyperion[/i] reads like a space opera, but [i]The Terror[/i] is a completely different animal. And [i]Summer of Night[/i] could easily be an early King novel. I tried reading [i]Carrion Comfort[/i] years ago but couldn't get into it. Not sure if it would be worth trying again to see if my tastes on it have changed. I've got too many other books lined up at this point to be bothered about going back and trying this one again unless someone can give me a really good burning recommendation. I also read his "Traveler" essay on his website. I found it to be a disjointed mess. It was so convoluted that I had a hard time trying to understand the point he was trying to make, if there ever was one. What did he mean when the traveler said we were not being "ruthless enough?" Was this Simmons' way of justifying genocide against people of the Islamic faith? Or is he just shit scared of terrorists? Did he drink the proverbial kool-aid and become a willing purveyor of the politics of fear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellis Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 [quote name='Red Templar' post='1642686' date='Jan 9 2009, 11.47']I also read his "Traveler" essay on his website. I found it to be a disjointed mess. It was so convoluted that I had a hard time trying to understand the point he was trying to make, if there ever was one. What did he mean when the traveler said we were not being "ruthless enough?" Was this Simmons' way of justifying genocide against people of the Islamic faith? Or is he just shit scared of terrorists? Did he drink the proverbial kool-aid and become a willing purveyor of the politics of fear?[/quote] It was so over-the-top I had a hard time connecting the essay to the world in which I live and therefore i wasn't so much offended as I was flabbergasted. As for Simmons, he's alright. something about the way he writes makes me uncomfortable. it's not racist per se, but there's a certain naivete about different races and cultures. I haven't read Illium/Olympus or Song of Kali, the most obvious offenders - I'm getting this from Hyperion Cantos and Carrion Comfort and The Terror, all of which I enjoyed, but with slight discomfort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 [quote name='Bellis' post='1642711' date='Jan 9 2009, 18.07']It was so over-the-top I had a hard time connecting the essay to the world in which I live and therefore i wasn't so much offended as I was flabbergasted. As for Simmons, he's alright. something about the way he writes makes me uncomfortable. it's not racist per se, but there's a certain naivete about different races and cultures. I haven't read Illium/Olympus or Song of Kali, the most obvious offenders - I'm getting this from Hyperion Cantos and Carrion Comfort and The Terror, all of which I enjoyed, but with slight discomfort.[/quote] Well, I must say, I thought Carrion Comfort was brilliant, even if I was understandably annoyed by the way Poles are portrayed in it. I thought it was rather, as you say, naivete, than any conscious prejudice from Simmons side. Still, I think, it is one of his best novels, on par with first two Hyperion novels and The Terro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K26dp Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I loved [i]Illium[/i]. What an incredibly imaginative set-up. [i]Olympos[/i] wasn't as good, as others have said, but it certainly wasn't, er... a steaming pile of weasel vomit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratatoskr Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Simmons is one of my favourite authors. I got this long-term project to eventually own and read all his novels. Of his 21 novels published to date I own 13 and have read eight. I didn't like them all equally well, of course, but I didn't dislike any of them. Song of Kali was good enough, but I couldn't quite connect to it. I don't think I really got what he was trying to do there. Hyperion is absolutely brilliant. One of the best books I've ever read, and one of those books I think everyone should read, if they're regular SF readers or not. The rest of the Cantos are not quite as good as the first one, but I enjoyed them thoroughly. Summer of Night was a fine novel. A quite similar setting and story to King's "It". You might even say it's a reinterpretation of sorts of that book. It was expertly written and utterly enjoyable. A Winter Haunting, sequel of a sort to Summer of Night, is a very different book, more literary in a way. I thought it was brilliant. I'd even say it's the second best work by Simmons I've read, next to Hyperion. Darwin's Blade was a decent thriller, nothing too memorable though. Good entertainment value overall, although I was a bit irritated that Simmons had to constantly show off how meticulously he had researched the subject matters he touched upon in the book. At times it reads like a damned Wikipedia article on sniper warfare, gliding or accident reconstruction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Oop North Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I double dipped, Bros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Oop North Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I've only read Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion, and The Terror. Hyperion was brilliant, and I really, really liked the Terror. Pretty damned cool novel, if you ask me. Maybe I'll check out more of his stuff, although I've heard bad things about some ramblings of his in Illium and Olympos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 RT, [quote]What did he mean when the traveler said we were not being "ruthless enough?"[/quote] Exactly what you think it means, IMO. [quote]Was this Simmons' way of justifying genocide against people of the Islamic faith?[/quote] Now, Simmons denies this. But in his polemic he cites, thanks to conservative ideologue Victor Davis Hanson, the tale of the Athenians killing all the men and selling into slavery all the women and children on Melos. How does he cite it? He cites it as an example of the justification for ruthlessness, and claims that when Athens lost the stomach for such ruthelssness, they met their downfall. The analogy is clear: we're in a position to be really ruthless to our enemies, but those namby-pamby liberals and conservatives too interested in morality and justice are holding us back, and so we're DOOMED! It's utter hogwash. Hanson's ideology is making a mess of his scholarship. Simmons is making a mess of rationalism when he buys into it. [quote]Or is he just shit scared of terrorists?[/quote] Yep. [quote]Did he drink the proverbial kool-aid and become a willing purveyor of the politics of fear?[/quote] Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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