Olympos

First lines

Helen of Troy awakes just before dawn to the sound of air raid sirens.

About this book

Beneath the gaze of the gods, the mighty armies of Greece and Troy met in fierce and glorious combat, scrupulously following the text set forth in Homer's timeless narrative. But that was before one observer -- Twenty-first Century scholar Thomas Hockenberry -- stirred the bloody brew; before an enraged Achilles joined forces with his archenemy Hector; and before the fleet-footed mankiller turned his murderous wrath on Zeus, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, and the entire pantheon of divine manipulators.Now, all bets are off. Dan Simmons, the multiple-award-winning author of The Hyperion Cantos, returns with the eagerly anticipated conclusion to his critically acclaimed, Hugo Award-nominated sf epic Ilium. A novel breathtaking in its scope and conception, Olympos ingeniously imagines a catastrophic future where immortal "post-humans" high atop the real Olympos Mons on Mars restage the Trojan War for their own amusement even while the sad remnants of mortal humankind are forced to confront their ultimate annihilation.For untold centuries, those few old-style humans remaining on Earth have never known strife, toil, or responsibility, each content to live his or her allocated hundred years of life in unquestioning leisure. But virtually overnight and for reasons beyond their comprehension, the world around them has changed forever. The voynix -- terrible and swift creatures that once catered to their every need -- are now massing in the millions with but one terrifying purpose: the total extermination of the human race.Having traveled farther and learned more of the wondrous a…

Themes & subjects

About the author

Dan Simmons

4 April 1948 – 2026

Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the *Hyperion Cantos* and the *Ilium*/*Olympos* cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes within a single novel. A typical example of Simmons' intermingling of genres is *Song of Kali* (1985), winner of the World Fantasy Award. He also writes mysteries and thrillers, some of which feature the continuing character Joe Kurtz. **Source**: [Dan Simmons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Simmons) on Wikipedia.