Sign in with Facebook
bobby's Reviews > Olympos
Olympos (Ilium, #2)
by
by
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD
I have tremendous problems with this book, not the least of which is that I wanted to enjoy it so badly. Simmons has a talent for writing good scenes and decent characters, but the overall structure of this book is so sloppy and disappointing that I can't help but feel cheated. I felt this way at the end of Rise of Endymion as well, and I'm starting to think that it's systemic to all of his epic sci-fi narratives. He comes up with a neat idea, creates hint that he's going to explain everything at the end, and after thousands of pages arbitrarily ends things without any sense of resolution.
What was this book about? What was the conflict? You begin thinking that it's about the gods of Olympos and the quantum disturbances they're creating that threaten the very existence of the solar system. Okay. But then it turns out that the Olympian gods are pawns of larger gods or Gods, including Setebos and Prospero. At this point I'm enjoying the direction of the book, thinking that events will hinge on what these larger gods are planning. But then, with a little more than 200 pages left in the combined 1700 pages of Ilium/Olympos, a heretofore unmentioned 2500-year-old Islamic submarine carrying 700 mini black holes becomes the focus. While the submarine is being taken care of, Setebos just... goes away. Zeus' out-of-nowhere desire to become the One God of the Universe is foiled by Achilles and Hephaestus begins his reign on Olympos, clearing up those pesky quantum disturbances from way back in the book as an afterthought.
There were so many unnecessary elements. Where was Simmons' editor in all of this? You could have cut out anything to do with Sycorax and Odysseus, and the narrative wouldn't have changed. You could have deleted almost everything going on with the Trojans and Achaens and the only thing that would have been affected would have been Achilles killing Zeus at the end. But that didn't matter either, because there's no reason for the gods' storyline either. They were post-humans, now they're gods, maybe there are larger forces at play. That's the sum total of the gods in the course of the story.
If I may, a partial list of things that are set up but never resolved:
-Why did Prospero want to elevate the post-humans to god status?
-If each universe is created by "singular genius," wouldn't the Greek gods already exist in the universe the Trojans and Achaens come from? In fact, why did the post-humans choose the Iliad to recreate at all?
-What the hell was the point of the Titan war at the end?
-Why did Zeus all of a sudden want to become the One God? There's no mention of this desire anywhere in the book.
-Who was the Quiet? It's mentioned for 1000+ pages, and then without showing up, everything is resolved when Setebos senses it coming and runs away.
-Why didn't Daeman and Caliban get to fight when they meet at the end?
-Why did Hephaestus put all of the humans into a blue tachyon beam on Ilium-Earth?
-Why were the voynix afraid of the Setebos egg?
I could go on. It seems like Simmons is okay with the explanation for any of these events being "for some reason." I guess it's deeper and more ambiguous that way. I don't think I'd be nearly this upset if the promise of Ilium/Olympos hadn't been so great. I gave the first book 5 stars, and I stand by that. The setup was incredible. The individual parts are amazing. But the whole is so utterly disappointing as to make me angry.
I have tremendous problems with this book, not the least of which is that I wanted to enjoy it so badly. Simmons has a talent for writing good scenes and decent characters, but the overall structure of this book is so sloppy and disappointing that I can't help but feel cheated. I felt this way at the end of Rise of Endymion as well, and I'm starting to think that it's systemic to all of his epic sci-fi narratives. He comes up with a neat idea, creates hint that he's going to explain everything at the end, and after thousands of pages arbitrarily ends things without any sense of resolution.
What was this book about? What was the conflict? You begin thinking that it's about the gods of Olympos and the quantum disturbances they're creating that threaten the very existence of the solar system. Okay. But then it turns out that the Olympian gods are pawns of larger gods or Gods, including Setebos and Prospero. At this point I'm enjoying the direction of the book, thinking that events will hinge on what these larger gods are planning. But then, with a little more than 200 pages left in the combined 1700 pages of Ilium/Olympos, a heretofore unmentioned 2500-year-old Islamic submarine carrying 700 mini black holes becomes the focus. While the submarine is being taken care of, Setebos just... goes away. Zeus' out-of-nowhere desire to become the One God of the Universe is foiled by Achilles and Hephaestus begins his reign on Olympos, clearing up those pesky quantum disturbances from way back in the book as an afterthought.
There were so many unnecessary elements. Where was Simmons' editor in all of this? You could have cut out anything to do with Sycorax and Odysseus, and the narrative wouldn't have changed. You could have deleted almost everything going on with the Trojans and Achaens and the only thing that would have been affected would have been Achilles killing Zeus at the end. But that didn't matter either, because there's no reason for the gods' storyline either. They were post-humans, now they're gods, maybe there are larger forces at play. That's the sum total of the gods in the course of the story.
If I may, a partial list of things that are set up but never resolved:
-Why did Prospero want to elevate the post-humans to god status?
-If each universe is created by "singular genius," wouldn't the Greek gods already exist in the universe the Trojans and Achaens come from? In fact, why did the post-humans choose the Iliad to recreate at all?
-What the hell was the point of the Titan war at the end?
-Why did Zeus all of a sudden want to become the One God? There's no mention of this desire anywhere in the book.
-Who was the Quiet? It's mentioned for 1000+ pages, and then without showing up, everything is resolved when Setebos senses it coming and runs away.
-Why didn't Daeman and Caliban get to fight when they meet at the end?
-Why did Hephaestus put all of the humans into a blue tachyon beam on Ilium-Earth?
-Why were the voynix afraid of the Setebos egg?
I could go on. It seems like Simmons is okay with the explanation for any of these events being "for some reason." I guess it's deeper and more ambiguous that way. I don't think I'd be nearly this upset if the promise of Ilium/Olympos hadn't been so great. I gave the first book 5 stars, and I stand by that. The setup was incredible. The individual parts are amazing. But the whole is so utterly disappointing as to make me angry.
Sign into Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to see if any of your friends have read
Olympos.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
December 25, 2009
– Shelved
Started Reading
January 1, 2010
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)
date
newest »
newest »
I agree with your take on the book though I gave it three stars because I think I felt more satisfied than you did at the end. I was okay with some of the unanswered questions but others really bugged me. In particular I felt that some of the sub-plots were unnecessary and, when all was said and done, they had the effect of lengthening the book without adding to it.
As a novelist, I'm quite fascinated with your review. Your list of questions is 'why wasn't this novel written as I would'? I always wonder how people judge books and this seems to be the most common. Since people are all different, to rate a book simply on personal preference is interesting only after the book is read. I never read a review of a book before reading unless it's by a professional critic. After, it's safe to read comments by readers and interesting to see the reading experience of others. This is why writers never read these comments about their own books. Since you didn't have the prerequisite base knowledge of literature required by the writer, then it's better to avoid the book or say--I didn't get it, but you might. To consider it flawed because it didn't meet your personal needs is a bit self-absorbed.
I didn't think it was flawed because it "didn't meet my personal needs," I thought it was flawed because it left several large subplots unresolved. And honestly, coming to a website meant for us non-novelist types to talk about why we did or didn't like a book and then calling the admittedly subjective opinion of one person "self-absorbed" is, if I may, the behavior of a dick.
There was supposed to be a third book. I hear your frustration - I loved the book and the plot lines but I need closure.
This book made me so angry. Thank-you for the review.I think he just got so many good threads going that he just gave up. And you know, that is not acceptable.
I loved the Hyperion Cantos, but this book actually made me hate Dan Simmons.
thank you indeed. i have not gotten to any of the plot arc crash and burns you mention. but i smell them coming. too many characters. too many NEW characters . not enough resolutions or explanations form ILIUM. screw it.
I feel you. Simmons is great at setting up intriguing premises, but abysmally horrible at explaining all his mysteries. His other great series, the Hyperion/Endymion cantos suffers from the same fate. The first half of the 4 books saga, are filled with great set ups and interesting story points, only to be destroyed by boring set pieces, pointless romance and non explanations of the most anticipated reveals. I guess SImmons fires his editors every time he needs to finish a series.
Thanks. You express the problems I had with Olympos more articulately than I could. Partly, to express everything I thought or felt, I would have to write way more than my energy or interest permit. Thanks again for doing it.
Seriously, this book felt like Simmons needed to cram the last two books into one.