Dan Simmons Explained

Dan Simmons
Birth Date:4 April 1948
Birth Place:Peoria, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation:Novelist
Education:Wabash College (BA)
Washington University in St. Louis (MEd)
Period:1983–present
Notableworks:Song of Kali (1985)
Hyperion (1989)
Carrion Comfort (1989)
The Terror (2007)

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 that span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes within a single novel. Simmons's 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.

Biography

Born in Peoria, Illinois, Simmons started writing stories as a child with the goal of mesmerizing his audience with his story telling. 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.[1]

He soon started writing short stories, although his career did not take off until 1982, when, through Harlan Ellison's help, Simmons was invited to the Milford workshop, which Ellison considered to be "the best SF writing workshop in the world".[2] Simmons considered Ellison as a mentor, friend, and the reason he pursued writing full-time. Simmons' 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's first novel, Song of Kali, was released in 1985.[1]

He worked in elementary education until 1989.[1]

He lives in Longmont, Colorado .[3]

Horror fiction

Summer of Night (1991) recounts the childhood of a group of pre-teens who band together in the 1960s, to defeat a centuries-old evil that terrorizes their hometown of Elm Haven, Illinois. The novel, which was praised by Stephen King in a cover blurb, is similar to King's It (1986) in its focus on small-town life, the corruption of innocence, the return of an ancient evil, and the responsibility for others that emerges with the transition from youth to adulthood.

In the sequel to Summer of Night, A Winter Haunting (2002), Dale Stewart (one of the first book's protagonists and now an adult), revisits his boyhood home to come to grips with mysteries that have disrupted his adult life.

Between the publication of Summer of Night (1991) and A Winter Haunting (2002), several additional characters from Summer of Night appeared in: Children of the Night (1992), a loose sequel to Summer of Night, which features Mike O'Rourke, now much older and a Roman Catholic priest, who is sent on a mission to investigate bizarre events in a European city; Fires of Eden (1994), in which the adult Cordie Cooke appears; and Darwin's Blade (2000), a thriller in which Dale's younger brother, Lawrence Stewart, appears as a minor character.[4] [5]

After Summer of Night, Simmons focused on writing science fiction until the 2007 work of historical fiction and horror, The Terror. His 2009 book Drood is based on the last years of Charles Dickens' life leading up to the writing of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which Dickens had partially completed at the time of his death.

Historical fiction

The Terror (2007) crosses the bridge between horror and historical fiction. It is a fictionalized account of Sir John Franklin and his expedition to find the Northwest Passage. The two ships, and, become icebound the first winter, and the captains and crew struggle to survive while being stalked across an Arctic landscape by a monster. The novel was adapted into a ten-part television series.

The Abominable (2013) recounts a mid-1920s attempt on Mount Everest by five climbers—two British, one French, one Sherpa, and one American (the narrator)—to recover the body of a cousin of one the British characters.[6]

Literary references

Many of Simmons's works have strong ties with classic literature. For example:

Bibliography

Novels

Hyperion Cantos series:
  1. Hyperion (1989) –
  2. The Fall of Hyperion (1990) –
  3. Endymion (1996) –
  4. The Rise of Endymion (1997) –

Short stories:

Seasons of Horror series
  1. Summer of Night (1991) –
  2. Children of the Night (1992) –
  3. A Winter Haunting (2002) –
  4. Fires of Eden (1994) –

Short stories:

"Dale's Dream", "Kevin's Dream", "Mike's Dream"

Joe Kurtz series:
  1. Hardcase (2001) –
  2. Hard Freeze (2002) –
  3. Hard as Nails (2003) –
Ilium/Olympos series:
  1. Ilium (2003) –
  2. Olympos (2005) –
Stand-alones:

Short stories

Collections:

"The River Styx Runs Upstream", "Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams" (novelette), "Vanni Fucci Is Alive and Well and Living in Hell", "Vexed to Nightmare by a Rocking Cradle", "Remembering Siri" (novelette of Hyperion Cantos series), "Metastasis", "The Offering" (novelette), "E-Ticket to 'Namland" AKA "E-Ticket to Namland" (novelette), "Iverson's Pits" (novella), "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bites", "The Death of the Centaur" (novelette of Hyperion Cantos series), "Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds", "Carrion Comfort" (novelette)

"Entropy's Bed at Midnight" (novelette), "Dying in Bangkok" AKA "Death in Bangkok" (novelette), "Sleeping with Teeth Women" (novella), "Flashback" (novelette), "The Great Lover" (novella)

"Looking for Kelly Dahl" (novella), "Orphans of the Helix" (novelette from Hyperion Cantos series), "The Ninth of Av" (novella), "On K2 with Kanakaredes" (novelette), "The End of Gravity" (novella)

Uncollected short stories:

Poems

Non-fiction

Adaptations

In January 2004, it was announced that the screenplay he wrote for his novels Ilium and Olympos would be made into a film by Digital Domain and Barnet Bain Films, with Simmons acting as executive producer. Ilium is described as an "epic tale that spans 5,000 years and sweeps across the entire solar system, including themes and characters from Homer's Iliad and Shakespeare's The Tempest."[16]

In 2008, Guillermo del Toro was scheduled to direct a film adaptation of Drood for Universal Pictures.[17] As of December 2017, the project is still listed as "in development".[18]

In 2009, Scott Derrickson was set to direct Hyperion Cantos for Warner Bros. and Graham King, with Trevor Sands penning a script adapting Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion into one film.[19] In 2011, actor Bradley Cooper expressed interest in taking over the adaptation.[20] In 2015, it was announced that TV channel Syfy would produce a miniseries based on the Hyperion Cantos with the involvement of Cooper and King.[21] As of May 2017, the project was still "in development" at Syfy.[22] On November 1, 2021, Cooper and King restarted the feature film adaptation at Warner Bros., with Tom Spezialy set to write the script.[23]

The Terror (2007) was adapted in 2018 as an AMC 10-episode miniseries and received generally positive reviews upon release.[24] [25]

Awards

Wins

!Year!Nominee!Award!Category!Result!Ref
1986Song of KaliWorld Fantasy AwardWorld Fantasy Award—Novel[26]
1990Carrion ComfortBritish Fantasy AwardAugust Derleth Award (Best Novel)
Bram Stoker AwardNovel
HyperionHugo AwardNovel
1991The Fall of HyperionBSFA AwardBest Novel
1992Prayers to Broken StonesBram Stoker AwardCollection
1993"This Year's Class Picture"Bram Stoker AwardShort Fiction
World Fantasy AwardShort Fiction
1994"Dying in Bangkok"Bram Stoker AwardLong Fiction

Locus Award

International Horror Guild Award

Nocte Award

Seiun Award

Nominations

Dan Simmons has been nominated on numerous occasions in a range of categories for his fiction, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Bram Stoker Award, British Fantasy Society Award, Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and World Fantasy Award.[27]

Selected nominations are listed below.

!Year[28] !Nominee!Award!Category!Result!Ref
1989"Metastasis "World Fantasy AwardShort Fiction
1990Carrion ComfortWorld Fantasy AwardNovel
1991HyperionBritish Science Fiction AwardNovel
The Fall of HyperionHugo AwardNovel
Nebula AwardNovel
Prayers to Broken StonesWorld Fantasy AwardCollection
Bram Stoker AwardCollection
Entropy's Bed at MidnightBram Stoker AwardNovella
1992Hyperion CantosArthur C. Clarke Award
Summer of NightBritish Fantasy AwardAugust Derleth Award (Best Novel)
Bram Stoker AwardNovel
1993Children of the NightBram Stoker AwardNovel
"This Year's Class Picture"World Fantasy AwardShort Fiction
1994"Dying in Bangkok"World Fantasy AwardShort Fiction
LovedeathBram Stoker AwardCollection
"Flashback"Bram Stoker AwardNovella
1998The Rise of EndymionHugo AwardNovel
2004IliumHugo AwardNovel
2008The TerrorBram Stoker AwardNovel
British Fantasy AwardAugust Derleth Award (Best Novel)
Shirley Jackson AwardNovel

Locus nominations:

The Hollow Man (1992) – Locus Award nominee, 1993

The Winter Haunting (2002) – Locus Award nominee, 2003

Olympos (2005) – Locus Award shortlist, 2006

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About Dan: Biographic Sketch . dansimmons.com . 14 June 2018 . 4 June 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180604180901/http://dansimmons.com/about/bio.htm . dead .
  2. Web site: “Something Only Your Soul Knew” – Wabash Magazine . 2024-04-24 . blog.wabash.edu.
  3. News: Evans . Clay . February 7, 2007 . Myth and madness in the frozen north . . December 2, 2023.
  4. News: Publishers Weekly. Review: Darwin's Blade. October 30, 2000 .
  5. Book: Simmons, Dan. Darwin's Blade. William Morrow. 2000. 978-0-380-97369-9. registration.
  6. News: Review: 'The Abominable' by Dan Simmons. October 20, 2013. Chicago Tribune. Robbins, Michael.
  7. Miller . T. S. . Flying Chaucers, Insectile Ecclesiasts, and Pilgrims Through Space and Time: The Science Fiction Chaucer . The Chaucer Review . 2013 . 48 . 2 . 10.5325/chaucerrev.48.2.0129 . 161558250 . 26 May 2020.
  8. Web site: John Keats. 2018-09-06. Poetry Foundation. en-us. Poetry Foundation. 2018-09-07.
  9. Book: Willems, Brian . 2009 . Hopkins and Heidegger . London . Continuum . 9781441169563.
  10. News: The Hollow Man. Feeley. Gregory. 27 September 1992. The Washington Post.
  11. Book: Stableford, Brian. News of the Black Feast and Other Random Reviews. 2009-03-01. Wildside Press LLC. 9781434403360. 7374. en.
  12. Marvell, A. (1981). "To his coy mistress." The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved on 17 October 2018 from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44688/to-his-coy-mistress
  13. Web site: Book review: 'Flashback' by Dan Simmons. Owchar. Nick. Los Angeles Times. 7 August 2011. 2018-12-11.
  14. Web site: Dan Simmons The Abominable cover art reveal! . Upcoming4.me . 14 March 2013 . 14 March 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130319034502/http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/dan-simmons-the-abominable-cover-art-reveal . March 19, 2013 . mdy .
  15. Web site: Dan Simmons To Release 'The Fifth Heart', His Next Book After 'The Abominable' . Kernel's Corner . 10 March 2014 . 6 April 2014 .
  16. Web site: Marc Graser. Jonathan Bing. 'Ilium,' 'Olympos' optioned for pic. 8 January 2004. Variety. 29 April 2019.
  17. Web site: Fleming. Michael Jr.. Guillermo Del Toro booked thru 2017. 3 September 2008. variety.com. 25 December 2017.
  18. Web site: Drood. IMDB.com. Internet Movie Database. 25 December 2017.
  19. Web site: Fleming. Michael. Scott Derrickson to direct 'Hyperion'. Variety. 2012-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20150722053326/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999283?refCatId=13. July 22, 2015. Jan 29, 2009. dead. mdy-all.
  20. Web site: Falconer. Robert. Bradley Cooper Anxious to Adapt Dan Simmons's Hyperion for the Screen. Cinemaspy.. 2012-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20120703144151/http://www.cinemaspy.com/movie-news/bradley-cooper-anxious-to-adapt-dan-simmonss-hyperion-for-the-screen-7564/. July 3, 2012. May 27, 2011. dead. mdy.
  21. Web site: Goldberg. Lesley . Bradley Cooper, Graham King, Todd Phillips Adapting Dan Simmons' 'Hyperion' for Syfy. The Hollywood Reporter. 2015-08-05. June 10, 2015.
  22. Web site: Fowler. Matt. Syfy Reboot Includes Greenlit Krypton Series, George R.R. Martin's Nightflyers and More. 28 May 2017. IGN News. 12 May 2017.
  23. Web site: D'Alessandro. Anthony. Bradley Cooper Launches Production Label; Sets 'Hyperion' At Warner Bros With Graham King. November 1, 2021. Deadline Hollywood. January 5, 2022.
  24. Web site: The Terror: Season 1 (2018). Rotten Tomatoes. April 10, 2018.
  25. Web site: The Terror Reviews. Metacritic. April 10, 2018.
  26. Web site: sfadb : Dan Simmons Awards . 2022-06-24 . www.sfadb.com.
  27. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/author.asp?ID=38#books Works in the WWEnd Database
  28. (Awarded)