Dan Simmon's "Drood"

DrRetarded · 06-05-2009, 06:13 AM

Did a search, but couldn't find a thread already started...

Anyways, just started reading "Drood" and I'm loving it. I know there are quite a few folks that enjoyed "The Terror" and I'm finding that this new work is almost as good. If you like Simmons, snag this one up.

Quote:

Description - On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens - at the height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world - hurtled into a disaster that changed his life forever.

Did Dickens begin living a dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a hidden subterranean London mere research or something more terrifying?

Just as he did in The Terror, Dan Simmons draws impeccably from history to create a gloriously engaging and terrifying narrative. Based on the historical details of Charles Dickens' life and narrated by Wilkie Collins (Dickens' friend, frequent collaborator, and Salieri-style secret rival), Drood explores the still-unsolved mysteries of the famous author's last years and may provide the key to Dickens's final, unfinished work: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Chilling, haunting, and utterly original, Drood is Dan Simmons at his powerful best.

James · 06-05-2009, 06:43 AM

It's about a l33t dude that runs around the Misty Thicket trying to solve the latest line of sowplz murders?!

Auren · 06-05-2009, 07:59 AM

I have this on my short list of books I need to buy on Amazon. I'm sure I'll get around to picking it up really soon. I had never heard of The Terror. Is it that good?

DrRetarded · 06-05-2009, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Auren

I have this on my short list of books I need to buy on Amazon. I'm sure I'll get around to picking it up really soon. I had never heard of The Terror. Is it that good?

Simply put, it's excellent. The Terror, at least for me, ranks up there as one of my favorite books of all time...

Soygen · 06-05-2009, 08:46 AM

Just read a synopsis on The Terror and ended up ordering it. Will check this one out if it is as good as it sounds from all the reviews.

Nazbuk · 06-05-2009, 02:22 PM

Ordered both this and Terror from Amazon. This looks really good. Thanks for the heads up.

Koivu · 06-06-2009, 11:02 AM

+nets for finding and posting this.

Frax · 06-06-2009, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James

It's about a l33t dude that runs around the Misty Thicket trying to solve the latest line of sowplz murders?!

jumjum murders more likely

Soygen · 06-09-2009, 10:41 AM

'Nillipuss, Nillipuss is my name. Stealing jumjum is my game. Think you can catch me? Let's see if you can! I'll always run faster than you ever ran.'

dechire · 06-09-2009, 12:26 PM

pretty much every thing Dan Simmons writes is fantastic to one degree or another. Hyperion Cantos, Illium, The Terror, The Winter Haunting, Darwin's Blade et cetera.

Koivu · 06-09-2009, 12:51 PM

Really liking the atmosphere. Has that Lovecrafting setting of a Victorian gentleman adventurer delving into the world of mystery and secrets, sans tentacles. Just got this on audio, the reader (John Lee) is excellent.

Simas · 06-09-2009, 01:15 PM

Saw this at the store and was wondering about it. I read the 1st few pages on Amazon and it seems cool but the reviews are mixed. With that in mind wheres a good place to start with Simmons? Whats considered his best?

Koivu · 06-09-2009, 04:51 PM

I've always liked his Hyperion Cantos, especially the first book in the series, Hyperion. I have to admit, haven't read much of his later works, but am now working my way through Drood and having lined up The Terror as the next project, based on the recommendations here.

Try Hyperion if you want more sci-fi flavour, but Drood so far really has been keeping me glued to headset if sci-fi is not your cup of tea.

dechire · 06-10-2009, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simas

Saw this at the store and was wondering about it. I read the 1st few pages on Amazon and it seems cool but the reviews are mixed. With that in mind wheres a good place to start with Simmons? Whats considered his best?

With Simmons you need to figure out what genre, that's what separates him from other writers to a very large degree.

SciFi = Hyperion Cantos or the Illium/Olympus books.
Action = Darwin's Blade
Horror = Drood, The Terror
Detective = Hard Freeze, Hard as Nails

There are others.

Auren · 06-10-2009, 11:53 AM

The only book of his that I've read so far was Illium and I really enjoyed it. A mix of the Illiad with a sci-fi twist.

06-05-2009, 07:59 AM	#3 (permalink)
Auren Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 218 -7 Internets	I have this on my short list of books I need to buy on Amazon. I'm sure I'll get around to picking it up really soon. I had never heard of The Terror. Is it that good? __________________

06-05-2009, 02:22 PM	#6 (permalink)
Nazbuk Questionable Morals Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 1,268 -3 Internets	Ordered both this and Terror from Amazon. This looks really good. Thanks for the heads up. __________________ Nazbuk -----------

06-09-2009, 12:26 PM	#10 (permalink)
dechire /shrug Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: ATX Posts: 769 -2 Internets	pretty much every thing Dan Simmons writes is fantastic to one degree or another. Hyperion Cantos, Illium, The Terror, The Winter Haunting, Darwin's Blade et cetera. __________________ PVP is the reason we can't have nice things. `Vorph

06-10-2009, 11:53 AM	#15 (permalink)
Auren Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 218 -7 Internets	The only book of his that I've read so far was Illium and I really enjoyed it. A mix of the Illiad with a sci-fi twist. __________________

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06-05-2009, 08:46 AM	#5 (permalink)
Soygen 100% Pure Soy Monk Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL Posts: 7,924 +137 Internets	Just read a synopsis on The Terror and ended up ordering it. Will check this one out if it is as good as it sounds from all the reviews.

06-06-2009, 11:02 AM	#7 (permalink)
Koivu Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 198 +3 Internets	+nets for finding and posting this.

06-09-2009, 10:41 AM	#9 (permalink)
Soygen 100% Pure Soy Monk Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL Posts: 7,924 +137 Internets	'Nillipuss, Nillipuss is my name. Stealing jumjum is my game. Think you can catch me? Let's see if you can! I'll always run faster than you ever ran.'

06-09-2009, 12:51 PM	#11 (permalink)
Koivu Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 198 +3 Internets	Really liking the atmosphere. Has that Lovecrafting setting of a Victorian gentleman adventurer delving into the world of mystery and secrets, sans tentacles. Just got this on audio, the reader (John Lee) is excellent.

06-09-2009, 01:15 PM	#12 (permalink)
Simas Say word Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,808 -20 Internets	Saw this at the store and was wondering about it. I read the 1st few pages on Amazon and it seems cool but the reviews are mixed. With that in mind wheres a good place to start with Simmons? Whats considered his best?

06-09-2009, 04:51 PM	#13 (permalink)
Koivu Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 198 +3 Internets	I've always liked his Hyperion Cantos, especially the first book in the series, Hyperion. I have to admit, haven't read much of his later works, but am now working my way through Drood and having lined up The Terror as the next project, based on the recommendations here. Try Hyperion if you want more sci-fi flavour, but Drood so far really has been keeping me glued to headset if sci-fi is not your cup of tea.