Olympos (novel): Difference between revisions
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==Plot introduction== |
==Plot introduction== |
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In the future, Earth's human population is drastically reduced; they believe there are about a million of them, but later learn there are far fewer. They live in post-literate ease and decadence, their lives one continuous party spread thinly over the earth in various enclaves kept in touch by fax nodes able to transport humans from one place to the next. All manual labor is done by headless cyborg-like voynix. People receive rejuvenation treatments every 20 years until their fifth 20, when (they believe) they are teleported to the ring civilization surrounding the planet to join their loved ones who preceded them. |
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The novel centers on three main character groups; that of the ''scholic'' Hockenberry, Helen and [[Ancient Greece|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|present-tense]] when centered on Hockenberry's character, but features [[Third-person narrative|third-person]], [[past tense|past-tense]] narrative in all other instances. Much like Simmons' [[Hyperion_(novel)|Hyperion]] where the actual events serve as a [[frame story|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. |
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These humans, for the past 10 years, have become enthralled with a new technology that appeared seemingly from nowhere, a "turin cloth" that they place over their heads and which shows them what they believe to be a virtual reality drama; what they're seeing, in apparent real-time, is the ancient battle for Troy on the Plains of Ilium which give the book its name. Therein is the second main plot, involving a resurrected 21st-century ancient history scholar named Thomas Hockenberry, one of a group of enslaved "scholics" who are carrying the video equipment that is broadcasting the Trojan War to the future earthlings watching via the turin cloths. |
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This battle is taking place on an alternate Earth, and is being directed by what appear to be the Greek Pantheon, who reside on the top of Olympos Mons on a terra-formed Mars – which, as it turns out, is in the same "reality" as the future earth of the other main plot. The gods, Hockenberry and other scholics flit back and forth from Olympos to Troy via quantum teleport (QT) medallions. |
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These "gods," led by Zeus, are apparently some sort of humanoid race given god-like powers tied to technology that they obviously didn't develop themselves. They scheme and squabble among themselves just as the "real" Greek gods did, and take sides in the battle for Troy. Eventually, through Hockenberry's coerced intervention, the war for Ilium and its parallel battle on Olympos are altered from their historical course, and the Trojan and Achaean heroes turn against the gods. They are assisted by a swarm of cyborgs called "moravecs," which arrive from their homes on the Jovian moons to investigate the huge fluctuations in the solar system's quantum state emanating from Mars and Earth. |
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There are two climactic battles: One in Jerusalem against the voynix and whatever power has organized what's called the "final fax," in which the essence of humanity is to be beamed into space; and a second against a mysterious and powerful being known as Caliban, who has been eating the humans sent up to await final rejuvenation in the great "firmary" in the Ring. |
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As we rejoin the story in Olympos the battle between the gods and the Trojan-Achaean armies has reached an uneasy stasis, and our suspicion that these gods are in reality powerful post-humans has been confirmed. Hockenberry is being sexually manipulated by Helen, and the gods and goddeses are plotting against each other with escalating viciousness. The 'vecs have opened a quantum hole between this terra-formed Mars and the alternate Earth, and are preparing to fly a newly built spaceship to "our" Earth. |
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On that future Earth, the battle between the voynix and the humans is escalating. The human resistance is centered on the estate of Ardis in the Great Lakes area of North America, where some 400 people are learning the ancient arts of survival and warfare. They are led by Harman, who is nearing his fifth 20, and his young wife Ardis, and several others who have learned from Odysseus how to make crossbows and other weapons. |
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The real battle, in both "universes," appears to be between Caliban (and his master Setebos), and a more benevolent being called Prospero, who is assisted by Ariel, referred to as "the avatar of the living biosphere." |
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==Puns== |
==Puns== |
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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]]". |
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]]". |
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==External links and references== |
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* [http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_simmons_olympos.html Olympos review] |
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[[Category:2005 novels]] |
[[Category:2005 novels]] |
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Revision as of 17:22, 20 December 2007
 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 | 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 Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| 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.
Plot introduction
In the future, Earth's human population is drastically reduced; they believe there are about a million of them, but later learn there are far fewer. They live in post-literate ease and decadence, their lives one continuous party spread thinly over the earth in various enclaves kept in touch by fax nodes able to transport humans from one place to the next. All manual labor is done by headless cyborg-like voynix. People receive rejuvenation treatments every 20 years until their fifth 20, when (they believe) they are teleported to the ring civilization surrounding the planet to join their loved ones who preceded them.
These humans, for the past 10 years, have become enthralled with a new technology that appeared seemingly from nowhere, a "turin cloth" that they place over their heads and which shows them what they believe to be a virtual reality drama; what they're seeing, in apparent real-time, is the ancient battle for Troy on the Plains of Ilium which give the book its name. Therein is the second main plot, involving a resurrected 21st-century ancient history scholar named Thomas Hockenberry, one of a group of enslaved "scholics" who are carrying the video equipment that is broadcasting the Trojan War to the future earthlings watching via the turin cloths.
This battle is taking place on an alternate Earth, and is being directed by what appear to be the Greek Pantheon, who reside on the top of Olympos Mons on a terra-formed Mars – which, as it turns out, is in the same "reality" as the future earth of the other main plot. The gods, Hockenberry and other scholics flit back and forth from Olympos to Troy via quantum teleport (QT) medallions.
These "gods," led by Zeus, are apparently some sort of humanoid race given god-like powers tied to technology that they obviously didn't develop themselves. They scheme and squabble among themselves just as the "real" Greek gods did, and take sides in the battle for Troy. Eventually, through Hockenberry's coerced intervention, the war for Ilium and its parallel battle on Olympos are altered from their historical course, and the Trojan and Achaean heroes turn against the gods. They are assisted by a swarm of cyborgs called "moravecs," which arrive from their homes on the Jovian moons to investigate the huge fluctuations in the solar system's quantum state emanating from Mars and Earth.
There are two climactic battles: One in Jerusalem against the voynix and whatever power has organized what's called the "final fax," in which the essence of humanity is to be beamed into space; and a second against a mysterious and powerful being known as Caliban, who has been eating the humans sent up to await final rejuvenation in the great "firmary" in the Ring.
As we rejoin the story in Olympos the battle between the gods and the Trojan-Achaean armies has reached an uneasy stasis, and our suspicion that these gods are in reality powerful post-humans has been confirmed. Hockenberry is being sexually manipulated by Helen, and the gods and goddeses are plotting against each other with escalating viciousness. The 'vecs have opened a quantum hole between this terra-formed Mars and the alternate Earth, and are preparing to fly a newly built spaceship to "our" Earth.
On that future Earth, the battle between the voynix and the humans is escalating. The human resistance is centered on the estate of Ardis in the Great Lakes area of North America, where some 400 people are learning the ancient arts of survival and warfare. They are led by Harman, who is nearing his fifth 20, and his young wife Ardis, and several others who have learned from Odysseus how to make crossbows and other weapons.
The real battle, in both "universes," appears to be between Caliban (and his master Setebos), and a more benevolent being called Prospero, who is assisted by Ariel, referred to as "the avatar of the living biosphere."
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".