Ilium/Olympos is a series of two science fiction novels by Dan Simmons. The events are set in motion by beings who appear to be ancient Greek gods. Like Simmons' earlier series, the Hyperion Cantos, it is a form of "literary science fiction"; it relies heavily on intertextuality, in this case with Homer and Shakespeare as well as references to Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu (or In Search of Lost Time) and Vladimir Nabokov's novel Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle. As with most of his science fiction and in particular with Hyperion, Ilium demonstrates that Simmons writes in the soft science fiction tradition of Ray Bradbury and Ursula K. Le Guin. Ilium is based on a literary approach similar to most of Bradbury's work, but describes larger segments of society and broader historical events. As in Le Guin's Hainish series, Simmons places the action of Ilium in a vast and complex universe made of relatively plausible technological and scientific elements. Yet Ilium is different from any of the works of Bradbury and Le Guin in its exploration of the very far future of humanity, and in the extra human or post-human themes associated with this. It deals with the concept of technological singularity where technological change starts to occur beyond the ability of humanity to presently predict or comprehend. The first book, Ilium, received the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction novel in 2004.
Plot introduction
The series 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 novels are 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 characters' stories are told over the course of the novels and the actual events serve as a frame, the three groups of characters' stories are told over the course of the novels and their stories do not begin to converge until the end.
Characters in Ilium/Olympos
Old-style humans The "old-style" humans of Earth exist at what the post-humans claimed would be a stable, minimum herd population of one million. In reality, their numbers are much smaller than that, around 300,000, because each woman is allowed to have only one child. Their DNA incorporates moth genetics which allows sperm-storage and the choice of father-sperm years after sexual intercourse has actually occurred. This reproductive method causes many children not to know their father, as well as helps to break incest taboos in that the firmary, which controls the fertilization, protects against a child of close relatives being born. The old style humans never appear any older than about 40 since every twenty years they are physically rejuvenated.
Ada: The owner of Ardis Hall and Harman's lover. She is just past her first twenty. She hosts Odysseus/Noman for his time on Earth. Daeman: A pudgy man approaching his second twenty. Both a ladies' man and a lepidopterist. Also terrified of dinosaurs. At the start of Ilium he is a pudgy, immature man-child who wishes to have sex with his cousin (as incest taboos have all but ceased to exist in his society), Ada (whom he had a brief relationship with when she was a teenager), but by the end of the tale he is a mature leader who is very fit and strong. His mother's name is Marina. Hannah: Ada's younger friend. Both inventor and artist. Develops a romantic interest in Odysseus. Harman: Ada's lover. 99 years old. Only human with the ability to read, other than Savi. Savi: The Wandering Jew. The only old-style human not gathered up in the final fax 1,400 years earlier. She has survived the years by spending most of them sleeping in cryo crèches and spending only a few months awake at a time every few decades.
Moravecs Named after the roboticist Hans Moravec, they are autonomous, sentient, self-evolving biomechanical organisms that dwell on the Jovian moons. They were seeded throughout the outer Solar System by humans during the Lost Age. Most moravecs are self-described humanists and study Lost Age culture, including literature, television programs and movies.
Mahnmut the Europan: An explorer of Europa's oceans and skipper of the submersible, The Dark Lady. An amateur Shakespearean scholar. Orphu of Io: An armored, 1,200-year-old hard-vac moravec that is shaped not unlike a crab. Weighing eight tons and measuring six meters in length, Orphu works in the sulfur-torus of Io, and is a Proust enthusiast. Rockvecs: A subgroup of the moravecs, the rockvecs live on the Asteroid Belt and are more adapted for combat and hostile environments than the moravecs.
Scholics Dead scholars from previous centuries who were rebuilt by the Olympian gods from their DNA. Their duties are to observe the Trojan War and report the discrepancies that occur between it and Homer's Iliad.
Dr. Thomas Hockenberry: Ph.D. in classical studies and a Homeric scholar. Died of cancer in 2006 and is resurrected by the Olympian Gods as a scholic. Lover of Helen of Troy. He is the oldest surviving scholic. Dr. Keith Nightenhelser: Hockenberry's oldest friend and a fellow scholic. He is based on the real-life professor of the same name, who was Dan Simmons' roommate at Wabash College and is currently a professor at DePauw University.
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