An occasional review of whatever books I've finished reading. Mainly interested in recent science fiction, but have occasional forays into mysteries and urban fantasy. I'll also touch on TV and movies from time to time.
Dan Simmons last few books (including Drood(my review), Black Hills and The Terror) were all focused on the past with Simmons spending quite a bit of time writing about the 1800s. So it’s a great pleasure to see Simmons coming back to the future with his new book Flashback. This book seems to be very inspired by Philip K Dick(especially The Man in the High Castle and A Scanner Darkly). The book is a mystery set in a science fiction setting (which is one of my favorite genres), so I probably enjoyed the book more than it deserved. I do feel the need (since I’ve seen complaints of this on other sites) that the book has overt political themes, mainly from a conservative POV, which some readers have found objectionable. If that is going to bother you, then don’t worry about reading the book. For the rest, let’s see what Flashback is about.
Drood by Dan Simmons (author of IliumandOlympos) is a pseudo historical novel about Charles Dickens and his fellow author Wilkie Collins and a mystery figure (who may or may not exist) named Drood. The book mixes real life people and events with a fantasy overlay to tell a wonderful story that is part mystery and part horror.
Ilium by Dan Simmons (author of Drood andHyperion) is a re-imagining of the Iliad (not quite at the same level as The Lost Books of the Odyssey) mixed with a story of robotic-organic creatures, the Wandering Jew, Odysseus, a bunch of zeks and did I mention the Trojan War is happening on Mars. It is a bold, exciting book that only Dan Simmons could have written.
