Olympos (novel)
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| Olympos | |
 Cover to the 2005 first edition |
|
| Author | Dan Simmons |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Gary Ruddell; cover design by Ervin Serrano |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Ilium/Olympus duology |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins, Eos imprint |
| Publication date | June 28, 2005 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 690 pp. hardcover, 891 pp. paperback |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-380-97894-6 |
| Preceded by | Ilium (2003) |
Olympos, Dan Simmons' novel published in 2005, is the sequel to Ilium and final part of Ilium/Olympus duology. Like its predecessor it is a work of science fiction, and contains many literary references: it blends together Homer's epics the Iliad and the Odyssey, Shakespeare's The Tempest, and has frequent smaller references to other works, including Proust, James Joyce, Caliban upon Setebos, Prometheus Unbound, Shakespearean poetry and even William Blake and Virgil's Aeneid.
[edit] Plot introduction
The novel centers on three main character groups; that of the scholic Hockenberry, Helen and Greek and Trojan warriors from the Iliad; Daeman, Harman, Ada and the other humans of Earth; and the moravecs, specifically Mahnmut the Europan and Orphu of Io. The novel is written in first-person, present-tense when centered on Hockenberry's character, but features third-person, past-tense narrative in all other instances. Much like Simmons' Hyperion where the actual events serve as a frame, the three groups of characters' stories are told over the course of the novel and their stories do not begin to converge until the end.
[edit] Puns
The "Paris Crater" location (a devastated French capital) includes a few toponymic puns supposedly produced by folk etymology such as "Invalid Hotel" for "Hôtel des Invalides", "Champs Ulysses" for "Champs-Élysées" or "Guarded Lion" for "Gare de Lyon".
