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Dan Simmons


Red Templar

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[quote name='EHK for a True GOP' post='1680775' date='Feb 9 2009, 17.15']Any thoughts on Illium? I picked that one up on a whim the other day. Is it like the 3rd of 10th book of a series or something? Cause that would kind of piss me off. Otherwise, consensus seems to be go Hyperion.[/quote]

It's 1 of 2. It's, uh, strange. I liked it quite a bit, but the second was a letdown.
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[quote name='Triskele' post='1679653' date='Feb 9 2009, 19.11']I'm reading all of this and having mixed feelings on getting into this. RedEyedGhost and Errant Bard recommended this series to me after me saying that Martin, Bakker, and Wolfe were my only fantasy series I was into.

This thread is making me intrigued. When you say 2 duologies, does that imply that the first is a stand alone? Or can be read as a stand alone?

I won't stick around this thread too long as I don't want to get spoiled but I'm thinking this Hyperion you speak of might be worth my time.[/quote]

The first two books, Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, can definitely be read by themselves. Same goes for the next two, Endymion and Rise of Endymion. The four are set in the same universe, but the last two are set some 300 years after the first duology.

I'd definitely check out Hyperion, at the least. I think it's pretty amazing.
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[quote name='seastarr' post='1679899' date='Feb 9 2009, 10.14']I'd like to hear about Drood, too. I made a thread to ask about it, but I have since been referred here. I am trying to decide whether to buy it. I have not been a great fan of Simmons in the past for many of the reasons you all stated so eloquently. Yet Drood looks interesting by the blurb/dust jacket. Does it have the same pitfalls as some of the other books? For example, that undercurrent of nastiness, the lack of voice/identity, weak conclusion, etc.)

My apologies if this is the "wrong" place for this question. I thought it would be better in its own thread since there are bound to be book spoilers if it is discussed and not many have read Drood yet as it is fairly new. But, as I said, I was referred here.

Thanks![/quote]


I haven't read Drood yet, either, but would also be interested to hear opinions from anyone who may have read it.

Didn't Ser Scot start a thread on Drood not too long ago?
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[quote name='Red Templar' post='1681287' date='Feb 10 2009, 10.41']I haven't read Drood yet, either, but would also be interested to hear opinions from anyone who may have read it.[/quote]

I'm a little over halfway, so stay tuned. At this point, there's not much I can say plotwise, because I think there are things that are best discovered by the reader, rather than via a synopsis...
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  • 3 months later...

I finally broke down and purchased a used copy of Hyperion (I always pronounce it as high-pee-rion rather than high-per-ion although I presume the latter is the more correct one). Wonderful book, but ended on a cliffhanger.....forcing me to buy Fall of Hyperion, I guess.

6 stories told in 6 different styles clearly shows his technical prowess. I agree with everyone who mentioned that he can master many distinct styles easily.

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I've recently read Song of Kali - not bad, but not excellent either. Also didn't much like Ilium, and that's why Olympos is still on the to-read shelf, even though I've bought it a year ago. I did like Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion a lot, and I am crazy about The Terror and Drood - I just love how detailed, well researched and complete they are, no mysterious endings that calls for a sequel or anything like that. I do think I like Drood a bit better than The Terror - I just liked the monsters human mind can create far more than the supposedly real monster on the ice.

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Anybody else read Darwinn's Blade?

I did. To quote myself from page 1 of this thread:

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.

I disliked the title character for some reason.

Yeah, nobody likes a know-it-all showoff.

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So - I've read the entire Hyperion/Endymion sequence a few years back. Agree with the consensus here, the first volume is the best - and it's really brilliant, classic and all that. Then it heads slightly downhill, with my "recommend to a friend" limit firmly set between book 2 and 3.

I also read Ilium/Olympos and was duly disappointed in the progress from a very promising start to a truly awful conclusion.

Mainly due to the disappointment resulting from Olympos I haven't seen any reason to read Drood and The Terror yet, but some people here seem to like them a lot.

So, how good are they? If they are on or close to the level of Hyperion I definitely don't want to miss them. Otherwise I will keep staying away.

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I did. To quote myself from page 1 of this thread:

Yeah, nobody likes a know-it-all showoff.

I like Simmons writing style and I really liked Darwin's blade, a I recall. I'm not an apologetic fan, I recognize the flaws with Olympos - pile of weasel vomit is harsh - but it was a very weak ending to what could have been fantastic.

children of night was indeed an average (ok, better than average, but surely not great) vampire novel. But how come no one ever brings up Carrion Comfort? That is one of my favorite books.

The crook factory was a good read. His "hard" case/freeze books were fun.

I thought the Terror was brilliant. Knowing they were doomed didn't detract from the book

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Mainly due to the disappointment resulting from Olympos I haven't seen any reason to read Drood and The Terror yet, but some people here seem to like them a lot.

The Terror is overlong and touches a lot on ground already covered in Hyperion, but it's superbly readable and the historical detail is very effective.

Unfortunately, the SF/fantastical element is not handled well and feels like an warrentless intrusion into a fine historical novel. It's not a book-killing problem by any means, however.

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Mainly due to the disappointment resulting from Olympos I haven't seen any reason to read Drood and The Terror yet, but some people here seem to like them a lot.

So, how good are they? If they are on or close to the level of Hyperion I definitely don't want to miss them. Otherwise I will keep staying away.

Terror isn't Hyperion, but its far from bad. The main story of the expedition in the ice is brilliant - atmospheric, detailed, tense. Knowing they all die just makes it better. The subplot with the monster is a bit annoying.

SPOILER: a bit of spoiler

I didnt actually mind Silence herself that much, it brough out some interesting things in Crozier, whom I likes, and the crew. But the monster was too much. I was far more interested in the end in what happened to the men that were still alive.

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  • 1 year later...

Drood was very good. Well written, great characterisation and a genuine sense of menace throughout. Bloody hell though, Simmons is a bastard to his narrator Wilkie Collins. It also drags on a bit.

Hyperion is the only other Simmon's book I've read and its a masterpiece.Up there with Lavondys by Robert Holdstock and The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guinne as one of the greatest books I've read.

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  • 1 month later...

Drood is very good but you need to know a lot about Dickens' later history and his lifestyle & friends. Also you need to have read The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Dickens was a bizarre and strange character, & most people do not realize this. A lot of Victorians would have been consigned to a Mental Home if they had been born 100 years later.

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Drood is very good but you need to know a lot about Dickens' later history and his lifestyle & friends. Also you need to have read The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Dickens was a bizarre and strange character, & most people do not realize this. A lot of Victorians would have been consigned to a Mental Home if they had been born 100 years later.

Disagree. I never read TMOED nor did I know any more than the most general details about Dickens (and I had never even HEARD of Collins), but I still enjoyed the hell out of Drood. Maybe I missed some of the bones tossed to those more knowledgable than I, but I was able to follow the main plot line(s) just fine.

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Yeah, I was gonna say, Simmons rarely has the problem of giving you too little information. The reason I have avoided buying this is because I fear it will be a constant barrage of "Look at all the research I did on Dickens! LOOK AT THE RESEARCH. I DID RESEARCH. WITNESS ALL THESE DETAILS I FOUND OUT! RESEARCH I TELL YOU, I DID SOME!"

<--- bitter ex-Simmons fan, lest you need reminding...

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Yeah, I was gonna say, Simmons rarely has the problem of giving you too little information. The reason I have avoided buying this is because I fear it will be a constant barrage of "Look at all the research I did on Dickens! LOOK AT THE RESEARCH. I DID RESEARCH. WITNESS ALL THESE DETAILS I FOUND OUT! RESEARCH I TELL YOU, I DID SOME!"

<--- bitter ex-Simmons fan, lest you need reminding...

Unfortunately, this is true. I'm a huge Simmons fan, but Lordy dude - it's ok if you don't incorporate every damned thing you learned while researching the book. That being said, Drood had less of that than either Black Hills or The Terror.

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Unfortunately, this is true. I'm a huge Simmons fan, but Lordy dude - it's ok if you don't incorporate every damned thing you learned while researching the book. That being said, Drood had less of that than either Black Hills or The Terror.

I loved that in the Terror, actually. More about different 19th century canning methods! yes! Then again, if a detailed discussion of various vitamin deficiency induced diseases is the best bit of the book...

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