Kim Miller
The direct follow-on from Ilium. Ilium finished at convenient point rather than a satisfactory point. Neither book really stands on its own. And both are long, with a combined page count of about 1,500 pages.
Olympos exposes more of the underlying thought of the Ilium universe. The three threads of the story start to bounce off each other. The literary scholar monitoring the Trojan war for the gods of Olympus inserts himself into the events, thus causing Homer's history to come unstuck. The far future humans are under attack from the biomachines that have been their servants for centuries. And this ancient Greek guy named Odysseus has turned up to teach them hand to hand battle skills. The Shakespeare and Proust quoting robots have been co-opted by an advanced alien race to find out why there is such a dangerous level of quantum emissions from a mountain on Mars.
The literary sparing between the robots continues to form the scaffolding of much of the story. And their interactions slowly suggest what is behind the time/location shifts of the overall work. Simmons suggests that when a genius, like Shakepeare or Homer, writes a genius work, like The Tempest or The Iliad, then those worlds are brought into being as alternate universes. And Simmons' story jumps between them without barriers.
Olympos does the time/place jumps effortlessly, so effortlessly that the reader follows on accepting what is happening without necessarily seeing this underlying schema.
The book has countless side plots that can get a bit heavy-handed but as the story speeds up in the final 25% of the book these tangents are shown to have some bearing on the final outcome. Simmons manages to keep a lot of balls in the air in this process. There is also a lot of little comments in the book that might be seen as easter eggs that Simmons has left lying around. While there is no deliberate humor in the overall work, these little pop-ups give a bit of light relief if we notice them.
And while I said there is no deliberate humor, as the book progresses there is a growing sense in which Simmons is saying, "How can I totally mess up the historical narrative of Homer and keep people engaged?" Imagine that Banksy has just painted over some famous work and people say, 'Yep, that works for me'.
The direct follow-on from Ilium. Ilium finished at convenient point rather than a satisfactory point. Neither book really stands on its own. And both are long, with a combined page count of about 1,500 pages.
Olympos exposes more of the underlying thought of the Ilium universe. The three threads of the story start to bounce off each other. The literary scholar monitoring the Trojan war for the gods of Olympus inserts himself into the events, thus causing Homer's history to come unstuck. The far future humans are under attack from the biomachines that have been their servants for centuries. And this ancient Greek guy named Odysseus has turned up to teach them hand to hand battle skills. The Shakespeare and Proust quoting robots have been co-opted by an advanced alien race to find out why there is such a dangerous level of quantum emissions from a mountain on Mars.
The literary sparing between the robots continues to form the scaffolding of much of the story. And their interactions slowly suggest what is behind the time/location shifts of the overall work. Simmons suggests that when a genius, like Shakepeare or Homer, writes a genius work, like The Tempest or The Iliad, then those worlds are brought into being as alternate universes. And Simmons' story jumps between them without barriers.
Olympos does the time/place jumps effortlessly, so effortlessly that the reader follows on accepting what is happening without necessarily seeing this underlying schema.
The book has countless side plots that can get a bit heavy-handed but as the story speeds up in the final 25% of the book these tangents are shown to have some bearing on the final outcome. Simmons manages to keep a lot of balls in the air in this process. There is also a lot of little comments in the book that might be seen as easter eggs that Simmons has left lying around. While there is no deliberate humor in the overall work, these little pop-ups give a bit of light relief if we notice them.
And while I said there is no deliberate humor, as the book progresses there is a growing sense in which Simmons is saying, "How can I totally mess up the historical narrative of Homer and keep people engaged?" Imagine that Banksy has just painted over some famous work and people say, 'Yep, that works for me'.
This is book #1 of a pair, and it ends pointing the reader to the next book.
Three stories more or less intertwine. A literary scholar is watching over the Trojan war and reporting back to the gods on Olympus. He's long dead but has been revived/remade by the gods. His job is to monitor how the progress of the war matches the stories of Homer, his academic speciality.
Second thread is a Shakespeare quoting robot from one of Jupiter's moons who has a submarine and is sent on a strange journey. A second robot is a fan of Proust and the two form a sparring friendship. Third thread is a group of humans living under an existential threat in a far future Earth. Their life seems to be perfection and Elysium but it's about to fall apart.
Simmons has packed the story with literary references from Greek historians, Shakespeare, Proust, Nabokov, and some modern poets. It gets a bit overloaded at times where long literary conversations are used to steer the plot. However, his prose is good and the characters are well fleshed out for the most part, once we figure out who is human and who is something else. Also, Simmons should not try to write sex scenes.
There are time shifts that take some thought to work out as we move from ancient Troy to far future humans, to several aliens with varying levels of AI enhancement, to the gods on Olympus that mysteriously seem to have a lot of quantum science on their side.
The story moves along pretty well but it takes a long time before the three threads start to move toward each other. And the book ends with only the beginnings of some contact between the threads.
This is book #1 of a pair, and it ends pointing the reader to the next book.
Three stories more or less intertwine. A literary scholar is watching over the Trojan war and reporting back to the gods on Olympus. He's long dead but has been revived/remade by the gods. His job is to monitor how the progress of the war matches the stories of Homer, his academic speciality.
Second thread is a Shakespeare quoting robot from one of Jupiter's moons who has a submarine and is sent on a strange journey. A second robot is a fan of Proust and the two form a sparring friendship. Third thread is a group of humans living under an existential threat in a far future Earth. Their life seems to be perfection and Elysium but it's about to fall apart.
Simmons has packed the story with literary references from Greek historians, Shakespeare, Proust, Nabokov, and some modern poets. It gets a bit overloaded at times where long literary conversations are used to steer the plot. However, his prose is good and the characters are well fleshed out for the most part, once we figure out who is human and who is something else. Also, Simmons should not try to write sex scenes.
There are time shifts that take some thought to work out as we move from ancient Troy to far future humans, to several aliens with varying levels of AI enhancement, to the gods on Olympus that mysteriously seem to have a lot of quantum science on their side.
The story moves along pretty well but it takes a long time before the three threads start to move toward each other. And the book ends with only the beginnings of some contact between the threads.
Ambassador Mahit continues to surround herself with trouble in this follow up to A Memory Called Empire.
The struggles for supremacy at the capital have continued as the empire pursues an interplanetary war out on the edges of it's territory. A new emperor has been named and a guardian has been put on the throne until the emperor is of age. The Ministry of War is struggling against the Ministry of Information, and other sections of government are claiming their sphere of influence with those at the top.
The first book revealed that Mahit's mining has technology whereby a person's memories are stored on a brain stem implant chip, called an imago. The person's successor is then given those memories. This was developed so that pilots could be enhanced by the skills of their predecessors and lessen training time. Once this is discovered, there are those in the empire who want the technology, believing it to be some sort of eternal life existence.
Mahit has returned to her mining station and is running from discovery. When she was given her predecessor's memory, the official in charge of that department had deliberately sabotaged it. However, Mahit managed to recover the chip from the body of her predecessor and now has his memories and wisdom in her thoughts. But she can't let the imago official know her imago has been restored.
And then the empire recalls Mahit as ambassador and linguist to assist in making contact with their alien opponents, hoping they can end the war. Once again we are thrust into the internal battles for supremacy between various ministries and people seeking power. Martine proves to be a master of this high stakes political intrigue.
Martine is reunited with envoy Three Seagrass and they are taken to the battleship at the head of the war. Their role is to try to communicate with the aliens. Meanwhile, back at the capital, there are others who want to bomb the alien planet with enough destructive power to destroy it completely. And since when does the eleven year old future emperor think he has the authority to get involved in the affairs of adults?
The book has been fast paced from the beginning but something happens and all forward momentum stops as many different plot points suddenly coalesce and everybody has to rethink their part.
There is a phrase in writing that says, 'Somebody has to put the gun on the mantleshelf'. It means you can't write a sudden escape hatch into a story, you have to do the set up ahead of time. Martine has been 'putting guns on the mantleshelf' since book #1. And with the main players in the palace and in the control deck of the leading battle ship, everything is brought to a halt, and here comes the payoff.
The final chapter ends on such a calm note that it almost robs the overall story of its power. But there is a Postlude that brings it all to a very fitting conclusion - just enough mystery, just enough information, just enough satisfaction.
The word 'byzantine' is often used as an adjective to describe a highly complex and convoluted plot in literature. These two books definitely fit that description as the various power players outplay and sidestep each other. And having delighted in reading these two books of interweaving character arcs in their battles for supremacy, it is fitting to find that Arkady Martine is not only an esteemed scholar but has a PhD in Byzantine history, and that the first book was written through the time she was studying for that Doctorate. I knew we were in the hands of a master of her craft.
Ambassador Mahit continues to surround herself with trouble in this follow up to A Memory Called Empire.
The struggles for supremacy at the capital have continued as the empire pursues an interplanetary war out on the edges of it's territory. A new emperor has been named and a guardian has been put on the throne until the emperor is of age. The Ministry of War is struggling against the Ministry of Information, and other sections of government are claiming their sphere of influence with those at the top.
The first book revealed that Mahit's mining has technology whereby a person's memories are stored on a brain stem implant chip, called an imago. The person's successor is then given those memories. This was developed so that pilots could be enhanced by the skills of their predecessors and lessen training time. Once this is discovered, there are those in the empire who want the technology, believing it to be some sort of eternal life existence.
Mahit has returned to her mining station and is running from discovery. When she was given her predecessor's memory, the official in charge of that department had deliberately sabotaged it. However, Mahit managed to recover the chip from the body of her predecessor and now has his memories and wisdom in her thoughts. But she can't let the imago official know her imago has been restored.
And then the empire recalls Mahit as ambassador and linguist to assist in making contact with their alien opponents, hoping they can end the war. Once again we are thrust into the internal battles for supremacy between various ministries and people seeking power. Martine proves to be a master of this high stakes political intrigue.
Martine is reunited with envoy Three Seagrass and they are taken to the battleship at the head of the war. Their role is to try to communicate with the aliens. Meanwhile, back at the capital, there are others who want to bomb the alien planet with enough destructive power to destroy it completely. And since when does the eleven year old future emperor think he has the authority to get involved in the affairs of adults?
The book has been fast paced from the beginning but something happens and all forward momentum stops as many different plot points suddenly coalesce and everybody has to rethink their part.
There is a phrase in writing that says, 'Somebody has to put the gun on the mantleshelf'. It means you can't write a sudden escape hatch into a story, you have to do the set up ahead of time. Martine has been 'putting guns on the mantleshelf' since book #1. And with the main players in the palace and in the control deck of the leading battle ship, everything is brought to a halt, and here comes the payoff.
The final chapter ends on such a calm note that it almost robs the overall story of its power. But there is a Postlude that brings it all to a very fitting conclusion - just enough mystery, just enough information, just enough satisfaction.
The word 'byzantine' is often used as an adjective to describe a highly complex and convoluted plot in literature. These two books definitely fit that description as the various power players outplay and sidestep each other. And having delighted in reading these two books of interweaving character arcs in their battles for supremacy, it is fitting to find that Arkady Martine is not only an esteemed scholar but has a PhD in Byzantine history, and that the first book was written through the time she was studying for that Doctorate. I knew we were in the hands of a master of her craft.
Simon Stahlenhad is a special type of magic. His art has astounded people for decades. In this graphic novella we have Michelle, a young woman, perhaps even still a teenager. She is traveling through a desolate landscape with a robot she calls Skip. There are illustrations of Stahlenhag's machines on at least half of the pages. Full page illustrations and then perhaps a half page of text.
The war between humans and robots is over. There is almost nothing left but giant mechanical beasts littering the countryside. People are wandering, dazed, and catatonically under the influence of an invasive neural AI that infects their brains through a connected headset.
Michelle is driving west for an unstated reason. Her dialogue is flat matter-of-fact and toneless and the story is told completely without emotion. She has an address in a community out on the end of a peninsula. The bulk of the book is the tale of the journey.
Once there we see what she has been aiming for. No spoilers here but suddenly Michelle's narrative is alive with emotion. She knows that now she has to make a terrible decision that might have disastrous consequences.
The book only takes an hour or so to read but you'll need to add time just to sit and absorb the many illustrations of Stahlenhag's world. It's a tale of defeat and desperation that issues in a sudden burst of love and hope at the end. Love and hope that is hemmed in with the always present possibility of destruction.
Simon Stahlenhad is a special type of magic. His art has astounded people for decades. In this graphic novella we have Michelle, a young woman, perhaps even still a teenager. She is traveling through a desolate landscape with a robot she calls Skip. There are illustrations of Stahlenhag's machines on at least half of the pages. Full page illustrations and then perhaps a half page of text.
The war between humans and robots is over. There is almost nothing left but giant mechanical beasts littering the countryside. People are wandering, dazed, and catatonically under the influence of an invasive neural AI that infects their brains through a connected headset.
Michelle is driving west for an unstated reason. Her dialogue is flat matter-of-fact and toneless and the story is told completely without emotion. She has an address in a community out on the end of a peninsula. The bulk of the book is the tale of the journey.
Once there we see what she has been aiming for. No spoilers here but suddenly Michelle's narrative is alive with emotion. She knows that now she has to make a terrible decision that might have disastrous consequences.
The book only takes an hour or so to read but you'll need to add time just to sit and absorb the many illustrations of Stahlenhag's world. It's a tale of defeat and desperation that issues in a sudden burst of love and hope at the end. Love and hope that is hemmed in with the always present possibility of destruction.
Ambassador Mahit continues to surround herself with trouble in this follow up to A Memory Called Empire.
The struggles for supremacy at the capital have continued as the empire pursues an interplanetary war out on the edges of it's territory. A new emperor has been named and a guardian has been put on the throne until the emperor is of age. The Ministry of War is struggling against the Ministry of Information, and other sections of government are claiming their sphere of influence with those at the top.
The first book revealed that Mahit's mining has technology whereby a person's memories are stored on a brain stem implant chip, called an imago. The person's successor is then given those memories. This was developed so that pilots could be enhanced by the skills of their predecessors and lessen training time. Once this is discovered, there are those in the empire who want the technology, believing it to be some sort of eternal life existence.
Mahit has returned to her mining station and is running from discovery. When she was given her predecessor's memory, the official in charge of that department had deliberately sabotaged it. However, Mahit managed to recover the chip from the body of her predecessor and now has his memories and wisdom in her thoughts. But she can't let the imago official know her imago has been restored.
And then the empire recalls Mahit as ambassador and linguist to assist in making contact with their alien opponents, hoping they can end the war. Once again we are thrust into the internal battles for supremacy between various ministries and people seeking power. Martine proves to be a master of this high stakes political intrigue.
Martine is reunited with envoy Three Seagrass and they are taken to the battleship at the head of the war. Their role is to try to communicate with the aliens. Meanwhile, back at the capital, there are others who want to bomb the alien planet with enough destructive power to destroy it completely. And since when does the eleven year old future emperor think he has the authority to get involved in the affairs of adults?
The book has been fast paced from the beginning but something happens and all forward momentum stops as many different plot points suddenly coalesce and everybody has to rethink their part.
There is a phrase in writing that says, 'Somebody has to put the gun on the mantleshelf'. It means you can't write a sudden escape hatch into a story, you have to do the set up ahead of time. Martine has been 'putting guns on the mantleshelf' since book #1. And with the main players in the palace and in the control deck of the leading battle ship, everything is brought to a halt, and here comes the payoff.
The final chapter ends on such a calm note that it almost robs the overall story of its power. But there is a Postlude that brings it all to a very fitting conclusion - just enough mystery, just enough information, just enough satisfaction.
The word 'byzantine' is often used as an adjective to describe a highly complex and convoluted plot in literature. These two books definitely fit that description as the various power players outplay and sidestep each other. And having delighted in reading these two books of interweaving character arcs in their battles for supremacy, it is fitting to find that Arkady Martine is not only an esteemed scholar but has a PhD in Byzantine history, and that the first book was written through the time she was studying for that Doctorate. I knew we were in the hands of a master of her craft.
Ambassador Mahit continues to surround herself with trouble in this follow up to A Memory Called Empire.
The struggles for supremacy at the capital have continued as the empire pursues an interplanetary war out on the edges of it's territory. A new emperor has been named and a guardian has been put on the throne until the emperor is of age. The Ministry of War is struggling against the Ministry of Information, and other sections of government are claiming their sphere of influence with those at the top.
The first book revealed that Mahit's mining has technology whereby a person's memories are stored on a brain stem implant chip, called an imago. The person's successor is then given those memories. This was developed so that pilots could be enhanced by the skills of their predecessors and lessen training time. Once this is discovered, there are those in the empire who want the technology, believing it to be some sort of eternal life existence.
Mahit has returned to her mining station and is running from discovery. When she was given her predecessor's memory, the official in charge of that department had deliberately sabotaged it. However, Mahit managed to recover the chip from the body of her predecessor and now has his memories and wisdom in her thoughts. But she can't let the imago official know her imago has been restored.
And then the empire recalls Mahit as ambassador and linguist to assist in making contact with their alien opponents, hoping they can end the war. Once again we are thrust into the internal battles for supremacy between various ministries and people seeking power. Martine proves to be a master of this high stakes political intrigue.
Martine is reunited with envoy Three Seagrass and they are taken to the battleship at the head of the war. Their role is to try to communicate with the aliens. Meanwhile, back at the capital, there are others who want to bomb the alien planet with enough destructive power to destroy it completely. And since when does the eleven year old future emperor think he has the authority to get involved in the affairs of adults?
The book has been fast paced from the beginning but something happens and all forward momentum stops as many different plot points suddenly coalesce and everybody has to rethink their part.
There is a phrase in writing that says, 'Somebody has to put the gun on the mantleshelf'. It means you can't write a sudden escape hatch into a story, you have to do the set up ahead of time. Martine has been 'putting guns on the mantleshelf' since book #1. And with the main players in the palace and in the control deck of the leading battle ship, everything is brought to a halt, and here comes the payoff.
The final chapter ends on such a calm note that it almost robs the overall story of its power. But there is a Postlude that brings it all to a very fitting conclusion - just enough mystery, just enough information, just enough satisfaction.
The word 'byzantine' is often used as an adjective to describe a highly complex and convoluted plot in literature. These two books definitely fit that description as the various power players outplay and sidestep each other. And having delighted in reading these two books of interweaving character arcs in their battles for supremacy, it is fitting to find that Arkady Martine is not only an esteemed scholar but has a PhD in Byzantine history, and that the first book was written through the time she was studying for that Doctorate. I knew we were in the hands of a master of her craft.