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Dan Simmons

Author of Hyperion

113+ Works 61,026 Members 1,511 Reviews 273 Favorited

About the Author

Science fiction writer Dan Simmons was born in East Peoria, Illinois in 1948. He graduated from Wabash College in 1970 and received an M. A. from Washington University the following year. Simmons was an elementary school teacher and worked in the education field for a decade, including working to show more develop a gifted education program. His first successful short story was won a contest and was published in 1982. His first novel, Song of Kali, won a World Fantasy Award, and Simmons has also won a Theodore Sturgeon Award for short fiction, four Bram Stoker Awards, and eight Locus Awards. He is also the author of the Hyperion series, and Simmons and his work have been compared to Herbert's Dune and Asimov's Foundation series. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: www.vjbooks.com

Series

Works by Dan Simmons

Hyperion (1989) 11,618 copies
The Fall of Hyperion (1989) 6,610 copies
The Terror (2007) 4,668 copies
Endymion (1996) — Author — 4,428 copies
Ilium (2003) 4,152 copies
The Rise of Endymion (1997) — Author — 4,016 copies
Drood (2009) 2,997 copies
Olympos (2005) 2,884 copies
Carrion Comfort (1989) 2,100 copies
Summer of Night (1991) 1,903 copies
Song of Kali (1985) 1,761 copies
Children of the Night (1992) 1,268 copies
A Winter Haunting (2002) 1,010 copies
The Hollow Man (1992) 953 copies
Flashback (2011) 693 copies
The Abominable (2013) 671 copies
Prayers To Broken Stones (1991) 624 copies
Black Hills (2010) 621 copies
Phases of Gravity (1989) 568 copies
Darwin's Blade (2000) 508 copies
Lovedeath (1993) 485 copies
The Fifth Heart (2015) 472 copies
Hardcase (2001) 458 copies
The Crook Factory (1999) 445 copies
Fires of Eden (1994) 418 copies
Hard Freeze (2002) 335 copies
Hard as Nails (2003) 306 copies
Hyperion, Part 1 (1989) 235 copies
The Fall of Hyperion, Part 1 (1990) 192 copies
Muse of Fire (2007) 190 copies
Hyperion, Part 2 (1989) 185 copies
The Fall of Hyperion, Part 2 (1990) 171 copies
Carrion Comfort, Part 2 of 2 (1992) 148 copies
Carrion Comfort, Part 1 of 2 (1992) 148 copies
Endymion, Part 1 (1995) 107 copies
The Rise of Endymion, Part 2 (1997) 105 copies
Endymion, Part 2 (1996) 104 copies
The Rise of Endymion, Part 1 (1997) 104 copies
Ilium, Part 1 (2003) 78 copies
Ilium, Part 2 (2003) 75 copies
Olympos, Part 1 (2005) 46 copies
Olympos, Part 2 (2005) 39 copies
This Year's Class Picture (2015) 30 copies
Summer Sketches (1992) 23 copies
Iverson's Pits (2003) 19 copies
Omega Canyon (2019) 13 copies
Banished Dreams (1990) 9 copies
E-ticket To Namland (1987) 8 copies
Olimp (Ilium #2) (2010) 8 copies
Entropy's Bed at Midnight (1990) 8 copies
Flashback {short story} (2011) 7 copies
Metastasis 7 copies
The Terror: Volume 1 (2011) 6 copies
The Great Lover (2014) 6 copies
The Terror: Volume 2 (2011) 3 copies
Dying Is Easy Comedy is Hard — Author — 2 copies
The Vanishing 2 copies
Pad Hyperiona : roman (1994) 1 copy
Hyperion (2023) 1 copy
Hyperion & Endymion 1 (2008) 1 copy

Associated Works

Wormwood: A Collection of Short Stories (1993) — Introduction — 1,059 copies
The Living Dead (2008) — Contributor — 916 copies
Far Horizons (1999) — Contributor — 770 copies
Songs of the Dying Earth (2009) — Contributor — 629 copies
The New Space Opera (2007) — Contributor — 547 copies
Dark Visions (1988) — Contributor — 527 copies
The Ultimate Dracula (1991) — Contributor — 483 copies
Flight or Fright (2018) — Contributor — 444 copies
The Space Opera Renaissance (2007) — Contributor — 282 copies
Year's Best SF 6 (2001) — Contributor — 278 copies
Redshift: Extreme Visions of Speculative Fiction (2001) — Contributor — 250 copies
Blood Is Not Enough: 17 Stories of Vampirism (1989) — Contributor — 219 copies
Midnight Graffiti (1992) — Contributor — 219 copies
The Further Adventures of the Joker (1990) — Contributor — 156 copies
Southern Blood: Vampire Stories from the American South (1997) — Contributor — 145 copies
The Year's Best Science Fiction: First Annual Collection (1984) — Contributor — 131 copies
Little Deaths (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 131 copies
Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror (2010) — Contributor — 129 copies
Vampires: The Greatest Stories (1997) — Contributor — 121 copies
Futures from Nature (2007) — Contributor — 113 copies
A Taste for Blood (1992) — Contributor — 107 copies
Science Fiction: The Best of 2001 (2002) — Contributor — 95 copies
Darker Masques (2002) — Contributor — 84 copies
Between Time and Terror (1995) — Contributor — 76 copies
The Second Omni Book of Science Fiction (1983) — Contributor — 73 copies
Freak Show (1970) — Contributor — 49 copies
The Third Omni Book of Science Fiction (1985) — Contributor — 47 copies
The Orbit Science Fiction Yearbook: No. 1 (1988) — Contributor — 47 copies
Civil War Ghosts (2006) — Contributor — 42 copies
Obsessions (1991) — Contributor, some editions — 29 copies
Angels of Darkness: Tales of Troubled and Troubling Women (1995) — Contributor — 27 copies
Masques III: All-New Works of Horror and the Supernatural (1989) — Contributor — 24 copies
Omni Best Science Fiction Two (1992) — Contributor — 22 copies
Masques IV (1991) — Contributor — 17 copies
Omni Visions Two (1994) — Contributor — 14 copies
Destination 3001 (2000) — Contributor — 12 copies

Tagged

(180) adventure (156) American (164) anthology (1,451) collection (158) Dan Simmons (320) ebook (527) fantasy (1,296) fiction (4,958) first edition (180) goodreads (236) hardcover (269) historical (179) historical fiction (606) horror (3,513) Hyperion (269) Hyperion Cantos (331) Kindle (214) mystery (417) novel (604) own (314) owned (186) paperback (286) read (761) religion (168) science fiction (8,302) Science Fiction/Fantasy (168) series (267) sf (1,722) sff (443) short stories (1,142) signed (333) space opera (625) speculative fiction (231) suspense (194) thriller (416) time travel (190) to-read (4,114) unread (542) vampires (360)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Simmons, Dan
Birthdate
1948-04-04
Gender
male
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
Peoria, Illinois, USA
Education
Wabash College (AB|English|1970)
Washington University, St. Louis (MEd|1971)
Occupations
writer
novelist
teacher (high school English)
Awards and honors
World Horror Convention Grand Master Award (2013)
Short biography
Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes within a single novel. Simmons' genre-intermingling Song of Kali (1985) won the World Fantasy Award. He also writes mysteries and thrillers, some of which feature the continuing character Joe Kurtz.

Born in Peoria, Illinois, Simmons received a B.A. in English from Wabash College in 1970 and, in 1971, a Masters in Education from Washington University in St. Louis.

He soon started writing short stories, although his career did not take off until 1982, when, through Harlan Ellison's help, his short story "The River Styx Runs Upstream" was published and awarded first prize in a Twilight Zone Magazine story competition, and he was taken on as a client by Ellison's agent, Richard Curtis. Simmons' first novel, Song of Kali, was released in 1985.

He worked in elementary education until 1989.

Members

Discussions

Would you Drood with me? *Spoilers May Lurk Here* in The Green Dragon (August 2022)
Historical Horror Novels by Dan Simmons in Thing(amabrarian)s That Go Bump in the Night (April 2009)
science fiction book in Name that Book (December 2008)

Reviews

What if the Greek epic of Troy were a science fiction, and there were kind-of immortal humans on Earth who got to meet Odysseus, and then in the space of six hundred pages those involved in the sci fi fighting of Troy never met up with the cast of characters on Earth? Why, then you'd have a somewhat frustrating lump of a book that is really more like two books, and then towards the end you'll realise that of course this is the first in a series, and that it's just a little bit too much work to read more in the series and so all the problems and mysteries set up across these six hundred pages will have to remain mysterious for you.… (more)
 
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soylentgreen23 | 64 other reviews | Mar 16, 2024 |
I enjoyed the factual items included about Dickens and Collins but felt that the plot could have been tighter. Employing a narrator who cannpt be trusted is a time honored tradition and I loved the idea of using Wilkie collins as such, but was aghast at the result. I admit, I am biased. I remember reading my first Wilkie Collins the summer between 8th grade and high-school and it was such a joy. I object to his portrayal in the book, mainly because it is well researched and I fear people could take some of the fiction seriously because it is couched in so much fact.… (more)
 
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cspiwak | 156 other reviews | Mar 6, 2024 |
I've read quite a few of Dan Simmons' novels and have enjoyed them all. I was somewhat concerned by the low ratings I saw some readers here and on Amazon giving this book, thinking that maybe it wasn't up to Simmons' normally high standards. Well, after reading Flashback, let me assure you this book while different than other books he's written, is every bit as excellent as any of his earlier works including Carrion Comfort. The world he's created here is dark but believable and the character development is excellent as always.

Perhaps the reason for the negative reviews is that the author tells it like it and completely ignores political correctness. Reading this book made it easy for me to understand why it was one of the top best selling thrillers of 2011.
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davidgloer | 42 other reviews | Feb 21, 2024 |
As a huge Dan Simmons fan I wanted to love this book as much as his other works. HOWEVER...This book was released right between The Crook Factory and The Abominable. Both of those books are Mona Lisa's in the author's list of works. How does Simmons do it? Coming off his Sci Fi binge into his historical fiction era Darwin's Blade slices right through the action and inserts itself into its own little niche. This book is fast, to the point and will give you whiplash if you are not ready for it.
I am sure I am not the only person who noticed this...Taking into account the timeline when it was written which at the time the internet was still a fledgling tool. This book is string of Darwin awards stories chained together in a pretty good action story. At that time on the internet these stories were in heavy circulation and the Darwin Awards website was one of the most heavily visited online. Literally every death in this book is on that website. Yet somehow, Simmons being the genius he is manages to take us on an edge of our seats ride. The action in this book is second to none and scathing. The research Simmons did in order to tell this story is amazing. I will say that I did not like the Character of Darwin very much. His macho over the top actionesque machismo is nearly 007ish. But the story is good, the last few pages are kind of pointless but the contrast is there. Simmons just could not resist another Darwin award without closing the story. Considering he did this and did not give more background on the motivations of the criminals left me wanting a little more. This is Dan Simmons though... He has shown his readers that he is capable of writing in any genre and doing it better than the contemporaries of said genre... he gets a pass.
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JHemlock | 9 other reviews | Feb 13, 2024 |

Lists

1980s (1)
to get (1)
1960s (1)

Awards

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Statistics

Works
113
Also by
46
Members
61,026
Popularity
#236
Rating
3.9
Reviews
1,511
ISBNs
979
Languages
25
Favorited
273

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