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Author
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Dan Simmons

Title
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I

Ilium
Year 2003
Publisher Gollancz
ISBN 0575072598
 

 

Synopsis



















Ilium takes the epic subject matter and the themes of Homer's Iliad and views them through the lens of science fiction.

On Earth, a post-technological group of humans, pampered by servant machines and easy travel via "faxing," begins to question its beginnings. Meanwhile, a team of sentient and Shakespeare-quoting robots from Jupiter's lunar system embark on a mission to Mars to investigate an increase in dangerous quantum fluctuations. On the Red Planet, they'll find a race of metahumans living out existence as the pantheon of classic Greek gods. These "gods" have recreated the Trojan War with reconstituted Greeks and Trojans and staffed it with scholars from throughout Earth's history who observe the events and report on the accuracy of Homer's Iliad. One of these scholars, Thomas Hockenberry, finds himself tangled in the midst of interplay between the gods and their playthings and sends the war reeling in a direction the blind poet could have never imagined.

 

 

Review








'Ilium is an eloquent and exhilarating read, depicted with a frightening level of reality.  It's all too easy to think that the ancient Greek Gods and Heroes which he has brought to such sharp-edged life would genuinely behave like this.  Dan Simmons has produced a sharp-edged story that is both involving and intelligent, blending together a host of wondrous themes, ideas, and legends into something that sets the standard for science fiction in the new century'
Peter F Hamilton
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Cassini temperature image of Saturn's rings

 

 

Credit: NASA

Saturn's Cool Rings
The Cassini spacecraft has taken the most detailed temperature measurements to date of Saturn's rings. Data taken by the composite infrared spectrometer instrument on the spacecraft while entering Saturn's orbit show the cool and relatively warm regions of the rings.

This false-color image shows that the temperatures on the unlit side of Saturn's rings vary from a relatively warm 110 Kelvin (-261 degrees Fahrenheit, shown in red), to a cool 70 Kelvin (-333 degrees Fahrenheit, shown in blue). The green represents a temperature of 90 Kelvin (-298 degrees Fahrenheit). Water freezes at 273 Kelvin (32 degrees Fahrenheit).

NASA Image of the day archive

 

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