Jump to content

Dan Simmons

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dan Simmons
Born (1948-04-04) April 4, 1948 (age 76)
Peoria, Illinois, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
EducationWabash College (BA)
Washington University in St. Louis (MEd)
Period1983–present
GenreScience fiction, horror, fantasy
Notable worksSong 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.[1] He also writes mysteries and thrillers, some of which feature the continuing character Joe Kurtz.

Biography

[edit]

Born in Peoria, Illinois, Simmons started writing stories as a child with the goal of mesmerizing his audience with his story telling.[2] 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.[3]

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".[4] Simmons considered Ellison as a mentor, friend, and the reason he pursued writing full-time.[4] 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.[3]

He worked in elementary education until 1989.[3]

He lives in Longmont, Colorado as of 2007.[5]

Horror fiction

[edit]

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.[6][7]

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.[8]

Historical fiction

[edit]

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, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, 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.[9]

Literary references

[edit]

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

Bibliography

[edit]

Novels

[edit]

Series

[edit]
Hyperion Cantos
[edit]
  1. Hyperion (1989) – ISBN 978-0553283686
  2. The Fall of Hyperion (1990) – ISBN 978-0553288209
  3. Endymion (1996) – ISBN 978-3453315174
  4. The Rise of Endymion (1997) – ISBN 978-0747258933
[edit]
Seasons of Horror
[edit]
  1. Summer of Night (1991) – ISBN 978-0312550677
  2. Children of the Night (1992) – ISBN 978-1250009852
  3. Fires of Eden (1994) – ISBN 978-0061056147
  4. A Winter Haunting (2002) – ISBN 978-0380817160
[edit]
  • Banished Dreams (1990), collects three prophetic dream sequences that were expurgated from the published edition of Summer of Night, entitled "Dale's Dream", "Kevin's Dream" and "Mike's Dream"
Joe Kurtz
[edit]
  1. Hardcase (2001) – ISBN 978-0312980160
  2. Hard Freeze (2002) – ISBN 978-0316213509
  3. Hard as Nails (2003) – ISBN 978-0312994686
Ilium/Olympos
[edit]
  1. Ilium (2003) – ISBN 978-0380817924
  2. Olympos (2005) – ISBN 978-0380817931

Standalone

[edit]

Short stories

[edit]

Collections

[edit]
  • Prayers to Broken Stones (1990), six short stories and seven novellas/novelettes:
    "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)
  • Lovedeath (1993), collection of five novelettes and novellas
    "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)
  • Worlds Enough & Time (2002), collection of five novellas/novelettes:
    "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 fiction

[edit]
  • "Presents of Mind" (1986, with Edward Bryant, Steve Rasnic Tem and Connie Willis)
  • "Dying Is Easy, Comedy Is Hard" (1990, with Edward Bryant) - (Novelette)
  • "The Counselor" (1991) - (Novelette)
  • "All Dracula's Children" (1991) - (Novelette)
  • "My Private Memoirs of the Hoffer Stigmata Pandemic" (1991)
  • "This Year's Class Picture" (1992) (Appeared in The Living Dead, an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams)
  • "Elm Haven, IL" (1992) - (Novelette), from Freak Show series
  • "One Small Step for Max" (1992)
  • "My Copsa Micas" (1994) - (Novelette)
  • Madame Bovary, C'est Moi (2000)
  • Muse of Fire (2007) - (Novella)
  • The Guiding Nose of Ulfänt Banderōz (2009) - (Novella) published as a chapbook and set in Jack Vance's Dying Earth setting
  • The Final Pogrom (2024)

Poems

[edit]
  • Ruby/Gem S.T.R.E.A.M.M. Poetry (2011)

Non-fiction

[edit]
  • Going After the Rubber Chicken (1991), a collection of three convention guest-of-honor speeches by Simmons
  • Summer Sketches (1992), Simmons reveals how his travel experiences have allowed him to instill a feeling of place in readers of his fiction
  • Negative Spaces: Two talks (1999), about science fiction

Adaptations

[edit]

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."[21]

In 2008, Guillermo del Toro was scheduled to direct a film adaptation of Drood for Universal Pictures.[22] As of December 2017, the project is still listed as "in development".[23]

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.[24] In 2011, actor Bradley Cooper expressed interest in taking over the adaptation.[25] 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.[26] As of May 2017, the project was still "in development" at Syfy.[27] On November 1, 2021, Cooper and King restarted the feature film adaptation at Warner Bros., with Tom Spezialy set to write the script.[28]

The Terror (2007) was adapted in 2018 as an AMC 10-episode miniseries and received generally positive reviews upon release.[29][30]

Awards

[edit]

Wins

[edit]
Work Year & Award Category Ref.
Song of Kali 1986 World Fantasy Award Novel
Carrion Comfort 1989 Bram Stoker Award Novel
1990 Locus Award Horror Novel
1990 British Fantasy Award August Derleth Award
Hyperion 1990 Locus Award SF Novel [31]
1990 Hugo Award Novel
1991 Premio Ignotus Foreign Novel
1995 Seiun Award Translated Long Story
1998 Tähtivaeltaja Award
The Fall of Hyperion 1991 Locus Award SF Novel
1991 SF Chronicle Award Novel [32]
1991 BSFA Award Novel
1996 Seiun Award Translated Long Work
Entropy's Bed at Midnight 1991 Locus Award Novelette
1991 Readercon Awards Short Work [33]
Prayers to Broken Stones 1991 Bram Stoker Award Fiction Collection
Summer of Night 1992 Locus Award Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel
All Dracula's Children 1992 Locus Award Novelette
This Year's Class Picture 1992 Bram Stoker Award Short Fiction
1993 World Fantasy Award Short Fiction
1993 Theodore Sturgeon Award Short Science Fiction
1999 Seiun Award Translated Short Story
2009 FantLab's Book of the Year Award Novella/Short Story
2010 Nocte Award

(listed as La foto de la clase de este año)

Foreign Short Story
Children of the Night 1993 Locus Award Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel [34]
Dying in Bangkok 1993 Bram Stoker Award Novelette
1994 Locus Award Novelette
Fires of Eden 1995 Locus Award Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel
The Great Lover 1996 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Foreign Short story/Collection of Foreign Short Stories
The Rise of Endymion 1998 Locus Award SF Novel
1998 SF Chronicle Award Novel [35]
1999 Prix Zone Foreign SF Novel [36]
Orphans of the Helix 2000 Locus Award Novella [37]
A Winter Haunting 2002 International Horror Guild Award Novel [38]
Ilium 2004 Locus Award SF Novel [39]
2004 SF Site Readers Poll SF/Fantasy Book [40]
The Terror 2007 International Horror Guild Award Novel
2008 FantLab's Book of the Year Award Novel/Collection
- 2013 World Horror Convention Grand Master Award

Nominations

[edit]

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.[41]

Work Year & Award Category Ref.
The River Styx Runs Upstream 1983 Locus Award Short Story [31]
2012 FantLab's Book of the Year Award Translated Novella or Short Story
Remembering Siri 1984 Locus Award Novelette
Song of Kali 1986 Locus Award First Novel
Metastasis 1989 World Fantasy Award Short Fiction
Phases of Gravity 1990 Locus Award SF Novel
1995 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Prix spécial [42]
Prayers To Broken Stones

Collection

1990 Bram Stoker Award Fiction Collection
1990 Locus Award Collection
1991 World Fantasy Award Collection
Entropy's Bed at Midnight 1990 Bram Stoker Award Long Fiction
2012 FantLab's Book of the Year Award Translated Novella or Short Story
Hyperion 1990 BFSA Award Novel
1990 SF Chronicle Novel [43]
1993 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Foreign Novel
Carrion Comfort 1990 World Fantasy Award Novel
The Fall of Hyperion 1991 Hugo Award Novel
1991 Nebula Award Novel
Summer of Night 1991 Bram Stoker Award Novel
1992 British Fantasy Award August Derleth Award [44]
1993 Kurd Laßwitz Award Foreign Work [45]
Children of the Night 1992 Bram Stoker Award Novel
Lovedeath 1993 Bram Stoker Award Fiction Collection
1994 Locus Award Collection
1996 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Foreign Novel [46]
The Hollow Man 1993 Locus Award SF Novel
1995 Kurd Laßwitz Award Foreign Work [47]
Flashback 1993 Bram Stoker Award Novella
1994 Locus Award Novella
2011 Goodreads Choice Awards Science Fiction [48]
Dying in Bangkok 1994 World Fantasy Award Short Fiction
Looking for Kelly Dahl 1996 Locus Award Novella
1998 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Foreign Short story/Collection of Foreign Short Stories [49]
Endymion 1997 Locus Award SF Novel
1998 Premio Ignotus Foreign Novel
1998 Kurd Laßwitz Award Foreign Work [50]
The Rise of Endymion 1998 Hugo Award Novel
1999 Premio Ignotus Foreign Novel
2000 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Foreign Novel [51]
2000 Kurd Laßwitz Award Foreign Work [52]
Endymion & The Rise of Endymion 2000 Seiun Award Translated Long Work
Madame Bovary, c'est moi 2001 Locus Award Short Story
Orphans of the Helix 2001 Premio Ignotus Foreign Story
On K2 with Kanakaredes 2002 Locus Award Novelette
Worlds Enough & Time 2003 Locus Award Collection
2005 Kurd Laßwitz Award Foreign Work
A Winter Haunting 2003 Locus Award Fantasy Novel
Ilium 2004 Hugo Award Novel
2005 Premio Ignotus Foreign Novel
2005 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Foreign Novel [53]
2005 Kurd Laßwitz Award Foreign Work [54]
2007 Seiun Award Translated Long Work
Olympos 2006 Locus Award SF Novel
2008 Seiun Award Translated Long Work
The Terror 2007 Bram Stoker Award Novel
2008 Shirley Jackson Award Novel [55]
2008 British Fantasy Award August Derleth Award [56]
2009 Premio Ignotus Foreign Novel
Muse of Fire 2008 Locus Award Novella
Drood 2010 Locus Award Fantasy Novel
2011 FantLab's Book of the Year Award Translated Novel/Collection
2012 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Foreign Novel [57]
The Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz 2017 Seiun Award Translated Short Story

Finalists

[edit]
Year Award Category Work Ref.
1992 Arthur C. Clarke Award Science Fiction Novel Hyperion Cantos

Other

[edit]
Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
1999 SF Site Readers Poll SF/Fantasy Book The Rise of Endymion 6th Place [58]
2006 SF Site Readers Poll SF/Fantasy Book Olympos 9th Place [59]
2008 SF Site Readers Poll SF/Fantasy Book The Terror 9th Place [60]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1986 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  2. ^ alex@bookbanter.net, BookBanter Episode 004 - An Interview With Dan Simmons, retrieved April 24, 2024
  3. ^ a b c "About Dan: Biographic Sketch". dansimmons.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  4. ^ a b ""Something Only Your Soul Knew" – Wabash Magazine". blog.wabash.edu. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  5. ^ Evans, Clay (February 7, 2007). "Myth and madness in the frozen north". Boulder Daily Camera. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  6. ^ "Review: Darwin's Blade". Publishers Weekly. October 30, 2000.
  7. ^ Simmons, Dan (2000). Darwin's Blade. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-380-97369-9.
  8. ^ Gwinn, Mary Ann (February 15, 2009). "Q&A: Dan Simmons, author of "Drood"". The Seattle Times.
  9. ^ Robbins, Michael (October 20, 2013). "Review: 'The Abominable' by Dan Simmons". Chicago Tribune.
  10. ^ "1990 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  11. ^ Miller, T. S. (2013). "Flying Chaucers, Insectile Ecclesiasts, and Pilgrims Through Space and Time: The Science Fiction Chaucer". The Chaucer Review. 48 (2). doi:10.5325/chaucerrev.48.2.0129. S2CID 161558250. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  12. ^ "John Keats". Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  13. ^ Willems, Brian (2009). Hopkins and Heidegger. London: Continuum. ISBN 9781441169563.
  14. ^ Feeley, Gregory (September 27, 1992). "The Hollow Man". The Washington Post.
  15. ^ Stableford, Brian (March 1, 2009). News of the Black Feast and Other Random Reviews. Wildside Press LLC. pp. 73–74. ISBN 9781434403360.
  16. ^ 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
  17. ^ Owchar, Nick (August 7, 2011). "Book review: 'Flashback' by Dan Simmons". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  18. ^ "Dan Simmons The Abominable cover art reveal!". Upcoming4.me. March 14, 2013. Archived from the original on March 19, 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  19. ^ "Dan Simmons To Release 'The Fifth Heart', His Next Book After 'The Abominable'". Kernel's Corner. March 10, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  20. ^ "Omega Canyon". Hachette Book Group. March 14, 2025. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  21. ^ Marc Graser; Jonathan Bing (January 8, 2004). "'Ilium,' 'Olympos' optioned for pic". Variety. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  22. ^ Fleming, Michael Jr. (September 3, 2008). "Guillermo Del Toro booked thru 2017". Variety. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  23. ^ "Drood". IMDB.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  24. ^ Fleming, Michael (January 29, 2009). "Scott Derrickson to direct 'Hyperion'". Variety. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  25. ^ Falconer, Robert (May 27, 2011). "Bradley Cooper Anxious to Adapt Dan Simmons's Hyperion for the Screen". Cinemaspy. Archived from the original on July 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  26. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (June 10, 2015). "Bradley Cooper, Graham King, Todd Phillips Adapting Dan Simmons' 'Hyperion' for Syfy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  27. ^ Fowler, Matt (May 12, 2017). "Syfy Reboot Includes Greenlit Krypton Series, George R.R. Martin's Nightflyers and More". IGN News. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  28. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 1, 2021). "Bradley Cooper Launches Production Label; Sets 'Hyperion' At Warner Bros With Graham King". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  29. ^ "The Terror: Season 1 (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  30. ^ "The Terror Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  31. ^ a b "Sfadb : Dan Simmons Awards".
  32. ^ "Sfadb: Science Fiction Chronicle Readers Poll 1991".
  33. ^ "Sfadb: Readercon Awards 1991".
  34. ^ "Sfadb: Locus Awards 1993".
  35. ^ "Sfadb: Science Fiction Chronicle Readers Poll 1998".
  36. ^ "Pages prix".
  37. ^ "Sfadb: Locus Awards 2000".
  38. ^ ":: Ihg :: International Horror Guild :: Ihg ::".
  39. ^ "Title: Ilium".
  40. ^ "Sfadb: SF Site Readers Poll 2004".
  41. ^ Works in the WWEnd Database for Dan Simmons.
  42. ^ "1995 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire".
  43. ^ "1990 SF Chronicle Award".
  44. ^ "Sfadb: British Fantasy Awards 1992".
  45. ^ "1993 Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis".
  46. ^ "1996 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire".
  47. ^ "1995 Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis".
  48. ^ "Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Science Fiction!".
  49. ^ "1998 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire".
  50. ^ "1998 Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis".
  51. ^ "2000 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire".
  52. ^ "2000 Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis".
  53. ^ "2005 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire".
  54. ^ "2005 Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis".
  55. ^ "Sfadb: Shirley Jackson Awards 2008".
  56. ^ "Sfadb: British Fantasy Awards 2008".
  57. ^ "2012 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire".
  58. ^ "Sfadb: SF Site Readers Poll 1999".
  59. ^ "Sfadb: SF Site Readers Poll 2006".
  60. ^ "Sfadb: SF Site Readers Poll 2008".
[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to Dan Simmons.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dan_Simmons&oldid=1283510044"