ILIUM

Ilium
by Dan Simmons

Who could imagine the Trojan War being repeated in the future with the same Helen, Odysseus, and Zeus? This is the integral theme throughout Ilium which is another name for Troy. The interwoven story lines of this novel are masterfully tailored in this science fiction novel by Dan Simmons.

The three separate story lines are centered on former human Earth creatures now called Post-Humans, Mars’ gods from Greek mythology, and Jupiter’s bio-mechanical organisms. All of these blend into the Trojan War being repeated on Mount Olympus, but this time on Mars and many years in the future.

The Post-Humans do not have the skills or the values we presently possess. They must be regenerated every twenty-years and are limited to a life-span on one-hundred years. At this time, known as the Fifth since this is the final visit to these regeneration chambers, the humans of this time believe that their soul existence will then be placed into a new human form, thus beginning the cycle of life again. These people live for their own pleasures.

One unusual Post-human is Harmon who has not been given the reading function, but has taught himself to read. Another Post-Human is Savi who is over one-hundred years old and is not pleased with the evolution of the human species. (Yes, this does have some Logan’s Run visions in the quest for human physical perfection.)

The gods of Olympus are the commonly known ones of Greek mythology. These gods have technology that greatly assists their godlike attributes, such as holographic horses to pull their chariots. Typical of mythology is the constant rivalry betweens all the gods and goddesses. Aphrodite plots to kill Athena by using another Post-Human, who has been revived as a scholic due to his being a college professor with his specialty being the Iliad.

From Io, one of the moons of Jupiter, a ship is sent to Mars to deliver and activate a device. Unfortunately, this ship is attacked by one of the chariot riding gods and badly damaged, killing two of their crew members. The survivors include a now-blinded Proust lover that is crab-shaped and named Orphu, and Mahnmut who is the skipper of a submersible and a self-taught Shakespearean scholar. Both of these are partially organic organisms and need oxygen for them to survive.

As all three of these groups converge on a slightly altered Mount Olympus complete with breathable air, the fight of fated pasts and the evolution of the human spirit, the future of the advanced human race now depend on the influences of the past.

The writing in Ilium combines the Trojan War with Mars, space futuristic exploration, monstrous creatures, humans with no purpose in life, fate, Greek mythology, Helen’s lovemaking, semi-human creatures that are literate and half organic, and blends these into a logically thrilling saga as an action-adventure thriller.

Ilium is the first of a two-part epic which will be concluded with Olympos, which will be published soon.