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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Ein Jammer, ich hatte mich sehr auf das Buch gefreut - und es hat auch durchaus spannende Teile. Ich glaube, dem Buch hätte es besser getan, wenn es bei dem Nacherzählungsthema geblieben wäre. Das war nämlich größtenteils spannend und da hätte ich auch gerne viel mehr zu gelesen. Dann wüsste ich nämlich jetzt vielleicht, was mit Helena und Co. passiert ist, nachdem sie unseren ach so tollen Helden auf den richtigen Weg gebracht ha ... Ach Moment, das wären ja weibliche Figuren gewesen, die mehr drauf gehabt hätten als die Männlichen und fern ab davon existiert hätten, dass sie als Lustbefriedigung dienen und ihren Charakter einbüßen, sobald die notgeilen, tendenziell pädophilen Männer weg sind.
... Ups.
Versuchen wir das mal sachlicher (Spoiler: fällt mir schwer):
Die Grundidee ist gut und der Anfang auch wirklich spannend. Man fragt sich: Was passiert da? Warum? Wie? Was ist sie Verbindung?
Diese Fragen stellt man sich leider auch am Ende des Buches. Ja, es gibt einen zweiten Band, aber der soll die Fragen angeblich auch nicht beantworten. Es gibt zwar ein paar Figuren, die Dinge erklären, aber weil unsere Hauptfiguren die Antworten nicht verstehen, tun wir das auch nicht wirklich. Es reicht halt nicht, Physiker und NASA-Mitarbeiter nach Informationen zu Quantenphysik zu fragen, wenn man die Antworten dann nicht versteht. Das ist, glaube ich, das, was passiert ist.
Die Figuren mochte ich leider alle nicht. Bis auf die Zeks vielleicht, aber die auch nur, weil sie nicht den Mund aufmachen können.
Daemen ist am Anfang ein notgeiler Partytyp, der unbedingt einer Teenagerin hinterher geiern und sich an ihr aufgeilen musste (dass das in seiner Welt kein Tabu ist, macht es nicht besser). Dann mutiert er zum jammernden Kleinkind, um dann innerhalb eines Kapitels ein badass Alien-Bekämpfer zu sein.
Mahnmut war an sich okay, genauso homophob wie alle anderen (und das absolut unnötigerweise, aber wir mussten ja klar machen, dass die Lesart Shakespeare = nicht hetero "kindischer Unsinn" ist, obwohl.... wir dann die Lesart.... bestätigen....???) und am Ende ein ziemlicher Statist.
Hockenberry war am Anfang ziemlich unterhaltsam, aber auch hier konnte sich der Autor leider die homophoben und sexistischen Kommentare nicht sparen (ausgelassene Frauen als Frauen und nicht als Mädchen zu bezeichnen, ist nämlich politisch korrekter Schwachsinn, liebe Leute, merkt euch das). Dem Charakter hätte es auf jeden Fall gut getan, wenn ihm die trojanischen Frauen die Eier mit ihren "feministischen Klingen" (was ist das überhaupt?) abgeschnitten hätten.
Dann hatten wir noch Ada, die nur dazu da war, um als Lustobjekt zu dienen und am Ende viel rumgejammert hat. Die anderen Frauenfiguren sind entweder gestorben, nie wieder aufgetaucht oder wollten flachgelegt werden. Nicht zwingend in dieser Reihenfolge.
Den einen Stern gibt's für die Grundidee, die war solide.
Ach ja. Bis auf glaube ich eine Quelle, auf die sich der Autor bezieht, waren alle Übersetzungen und Interpretationen, die als Grundlage für das Buch gedient haben, von Männern. Macht mit der Info, was ihr wollt :) Ich such mir jetzt ein böses, politisch korrektes Buch.
... Ups.
Versuchen wir das mal sachlicher (Spoiler: fällt mir schwer):
Die Grundidee ist gut und der Anfang auch wirklich spannend. Man fragt sich: Was passiert da? Warum? Wie? Was ist sie Verbindung?
Diese Fragen stellt man sich leider auch am Ende des Buches. Ja, es gibt einen zweiten Band, aber der soll die Fragen angeblich auch nicht beantworten. Es gibt zwar ein paar Figuren, die Dinge erklären, aber weil unsere Hauptfiguren die Antworten nicht verstehen, tun wir das auch nicht wirklich. Es reicht halt nicht, Physiker und NASA-Mitarbeiter nach Informationen zu Quantenphysik zu fragen, wenn man die Antworten dann nicht versteht. Das ist, glaube ich, das, was passiert ist.
Die Figuren mochte ich leider alle nicht. Bis auf die Zeks vielleicht, aber die auch nur, weil sie nicht den Mund aufmachen können.
Daemen ist am Anfang ein notgeiler Partytyp, der unbedingt einer Teenagerin hinterher geiern und sich an ihr aufgeilen musste (dass das in seiner Welt kein Tabu ist, macht es nicht besser). Dann mutiert er zum jammernden Kleinkind, um dann innerhalb eines Kapitels ein badass Alien-Bekämpfer zu sein.
Mahnmut war an sich okay, genauso homophob wie alle anderen (und das absolut unnötigerweise, aber wir mussten ja klar machen, dass die Lesart Shakespeare = nicht hetero "kindischer Unsinn" ist, obwohl.... wir dann die Lesart.... bestätigen....???) und am Ende ein ziemlicher Statist.
Hockenberry war am Anfang ziemlich unterhaltsam, aber auch hier konnte sich der Autor leider die homophoben und sexistischen Kommentare nicht sparen (ausgelassene Frauen als Frauen und nicht als Mädchen zu bezeichnen, ist nämlich politisch korrekter Schwachsinn, liebe Leute, merkt euch das). Dem Charakter hätte es auf jeden Fall gut getan, wenn ihm die trojanischen Frauen die Eier mit ihren "feministischen Klingen" (was ist das überhaupt?) abgeschnitten hätten.
Dann hatten wir noch Ada, die nur dazu da war, um als Lustobjekt zu dienen und am Ende viel rumgejammert hat. Die anderen Frauenfiguren sind entweder gestorben, nie wieder aufgetaucht oder wollten flachgelegt werden. Nicht zwingend in dieser Reihenfolge.
Den einen Stern gibt's für die Grundidee, die war solide.
Ach ja. Bis auf glaube ich eine Quelle, auf die sich der Autor bezieht, waren alle Übersetzungen und Interpretationen, die als Grundlage für das Buch gedient haben, von Männern. Macht mit der Info, was ihr wollt :) Ich such mir jetzt ein böses, politisch korrektes Buch.
Ilium was a fantastic book! A little of everything literary in a sci-fi epic. I'm not sure why it hasn't gained a larger following.
It was exciting and boring, I laughed out loud many times, and I'm so glad it's over! :)
Ilium is an epic, dealing with the fate of humanity. The opening is the classical opening of the Illiad adjusted to fit the personal story of one Thomas Hockenberry, PhD, who finds himself documenting his field of study long after his death, on the plains of ilium. Simultaneously, there's a finite number of humans still living a stable, yet dull life on Earth proper and cybernetic mining robots in the depth of space.[return][return]Such is the setting, and Simmons once again masters telling an epic story, again dealing with the fate of mankind after a technological singularity event.[return][return]The characters, the story, the setting, they all come together to form a simply great work, only slightly marred by the length of the story.
Hey, I have a booktube channel (youtube for book reviews, etc.), and I include Ilium in my top 10 fantasy books list here. Please subscribe if I've earned it!
If someone were to describe this book to me (if they even could), I don't know if I would believe how much I absolutely enjoyed it. Dan Simmons is a mad genius.
Shakespeare-quoting humanoid robots, Greek Gods, post-humans, and old-style humans somehow make the craziest awesome story imaginable.
Ilium is a story told through essentially three unrelated viewpoints. First, there's Hockenberry. This is told in first person. Hockenberry is called a "Scholic," a human from our the 20th century (our time) who was rebirthed in a future where Homer's Trojan War is being fought. His job is to report on the war ... to the Greek Gods.
At first, this is completely confusing. Why? is a question I asked myself over and over, but it begins to make sense with time. Plus, it's hard not to be fascinated with the events of the Iliad. It's also impressive how much research went into it, though that's only an assumption since my knowledge of the Trojan War is essentially from the movie, Troy (but I have read the Odyssey!).
The second viewpoint is the humans, mainly Daemon. Daemon is a self-involved fool who is unlikeable to say the least. But who wouldn't be when you have everything handed to you on a silver platter by robots called servitors (sp - I did listen to the audio so forgive me), like all humans everywhere. Pleasure is their life, knowledge ... is lacking.
The third viewpoint is that of a sonnet-loving humanoid robot called a "moravec" and named Mahnmut. Specifically, and only, Shakespeare's sonnets. It's work consists of exploring the moon of Jupiter called Europa. Mahnmut is called in on a mission with a group of moravecs to explore some occurrences on the planet mars.
At first, I was highly entertained, though confused, with the events of the Trojan war and the other parts were just above boring. Slowly, the story takes hold and it had me hook, line, and sinker.
Listening to the audiobook, I was looking forward to my morning and evening drives and not too sad to do errands on my lunch hour either. Somehow, it ALL makes sense even though it sounds like the oddest collection of classics to make up a cohesive story all its own. What does Shakespeare have to do with the Iliad or Proust (his work makes appearances too) for that matter, all set in the future with technology that gives humans everything they ever want or need?
It's crazy I tell ya. Crazy! How did I like this book this much? I'm telling you, Simmons is a mad genius. I will just sit back and let him take me on his journey. It's amazing. I question not.
Kevin Pariseau is the narrator of this audiobook and while at first I thought he over-acted the part of Hockenberry, though somehow not the other parts, I really grew to like him and found out that it was literally just the character of Hockenberry that he was playing. And it's impressive given how many Greek words and names he's got to ...erm... name.
The only problem is that Ilium is only half the story. It stops at a huge cliffhanger and I'm already heading to Olympos to see how this ends.
5 out of 5 Stars (Mind ... blown)
If someone were to describe this book to me (if they even could), I don't know if I would believe how much I absolutely enjoyed it. Dan Simmons is a mad genius.
Shakespeare-quoting humanoid robots, Greek Gods, post-humans, and old-style humans somehow make the craziest awesome story imaginable.
Ilium is a story told through essentially three unrelated viewpoints. First, there's Hockenberry. This is told in first person. Hockenberry is called a "Scholic," a human from our the 20th century (our time) who was rebirthed in a future where Homer's Trojan War is being fought. His job is to report on the war ... to the Greek Gods.
At first, this is completely confusing. Why? is a question I asked myself over and over, but it begins to make sense with time. Plus, it's hard not to be fascinated with the events of the Iliad. It's also impressive how much research went into it, though that's only an assumption since my knowledge of the Trojan War is essentially from the movie, Troy (but I have read the Odyssey!).
The second viewpoint is the humans, mainly Daemon. Daemon is a self-involved fool who is unlikeable to say the least. But who wouldn't be when you have everything handed to you on a silver platter by robots called servitors (sp - I did listen to the audio so forgive me), like all humans everywhere. Pleasure is their life, knowledge ... is lacking.
The third viewpoint is that of a sonnet-loving humanoid robot called a "moravec" and named Mahnmut. Specifically, and only, Shakespeare's sonnets. It's work consists of exploring the moon of Jupiter called Europa. Mahnmut is called in on a mission with a group of moravecs to explore some occurrences on the planet mars.
At first, I was highly entertained, though confused, with the events of the Trojan war and the other parts were just above boring. Slowly, the story takes hold and it had me hook, line, and sinker.
Listening to the audiobook, I was looking forward to my morning and evening drives and not too sad to do errands on my lunch hour either. Somehow, it ALL makes sense even though it sounds like the oddest collection of classics to make up a cohesive story all its own. What does Shakespeare have to do with the Iliad or Proust (his work makes appearances too) for that matter, all set in the future with technology that gives humans everything they ever want or need?
It's crazy I tell ya. Crazy! How did I like this book this much? I'm telling you, Simmons is a mad genius. I will just sit back and let him take me on his journey. It's amazing. I question not.
Kevin Pariseau is the narrator of this audiobook and while at first I thought he over-acted the part of Hockenberry, though somehow not the other parts, I really grew to like him and found out that it was literally just the character of Hockenberry that he was playing. And it's impressive given how many Greek words and names he's got to ...erm... name.
The only problem is that Ilium is only half the story. It stops at a huge cliffhanger and I'm already heading to Olympos to see how this ends.
5 out of 5 Stars (Mind ... blown)
I probably didn't understand what Simmons was trying to do here, but the book felt like it just unravelled about halfway through. I finished it out of stubbornness.
Well above expectations. I loved it, very well written, very engaging and quite exciting in some parts. Definitely worth reading!
Imagine the Trojan war, imagine Mount Olympos with the entire pantheon of Greek gods, imagine a couple of sentient robots on a mission to do recon in Mars, imagine a post apocalyptic world where human beings are nothing but insensitive drones and to top it all off imagine a human trying to take Achilles and Hector to war against Zeus...this is what Ilium is about.
Dan Simmons creates a mind boggling tale of Sci Fi, Myth and Fantasy merged into one. The tale starts off as seen from three perspectives and barring one that initially has too much scientific jargon, the others are crack reads. What amazed and attracted me to the tale was the presence of literary persona as wide ranged as Shakespeare,Proust and Homer. The heroes of the greek drama are as alive in these pages as they were in the Iliad. The private ego clashes of the gods atop Olympos was a fresh perspective in the tale and so were the desperate efforts of the human race to understand and fight to overcome their miserable plight.
My pick of characters from the tale are Odysseus & the little robot named Mahnmut. Needless to say the most intelligent and tactical of all heroes in the tale Odysseus is also the one with a vision beyond the obvious even though it is to serve his own ends. Mahnmut is the most humane of all characters in the tale even though he is not related to a human in any way and we are almost in the final quarter of the book when he finally gets to see a human. The passion for literature and the ability in comprehending emotions set the little robot and his pal Orphu apart. Hector and Achilles always the proud,noble and fierce warriors they are are almost jumping out of the pages in their battles to kills or be killed.
Very rarely do i come across tales that fires up my imagination just as Ilium did and I am glad i found this book in a shelf in the library. As always with a book that I know has a sequel,I now await Olympos sans the literal baited breath...
Recommended for those of who with a interest in the mythological and the fantastic..
Dan Simmons creates a mind boggling tale of Sci Fi, Myth and Fantasy merged into one. The tale starts off as seen from three perspectives and barring one that initially has too much scientific jargon, the others are crack reads. What amazed and attracted me to the tale was the presence of literary persona as wide ranged as Shakespeare,Proust and Homer. The heroes of the greek drama are as alive in these pages as they were in the Iliad. The private ego clashes of the gods atop Olympos was a fresh perspective in the tale and so were the desperate efforts of the human race to understand and fight to overcome their miserable plight.
My pick of characters from the tale are Odysseus & the little robot named Mahnmut. Needless to say the most intelligent and tactical of all heroes in the tale Odysseus is also the one with a vision beyond the obvious even though it is to serve his own ends. Mahnmut is the most humane of all characters in the tale even though he is not related to a human in any way and we are almost in the final quarter of the book when he finally gets to see a human. The passion for literature and the ability in comprehending emotions set the little robot and his pal Orphu apart. Hector and Achilles always the proud,noble and fierce warriors they are are almost jumping out of the pages in their battles to kills or be killed.
Very rarely do i come across tales that fires up my imagination just as Ilium did and I am glad i found this book in a shelf in the library. As always with a book that I know has a sequel,I now await Olympos sans the literal baited breath...
Recommended for those of who with a interest in the mythological and the fantastic..
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
As fascinating, engaging, and well-written as Illium is, the 2nd volume (which finishes the story) is utterly trite and juvenile. The rating goes to both combined.