Dan Simmons

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'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 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's first novel, ''Song of Kali'', was released in 1985.

He worked in elementary education until 1989.

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.

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 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.

Literary references

Many of Simmons's works have strong ties with classic literature. For example:
* His 1989 novel ''Hyperion'', winner of Hugo and Locus Awards for the best science fiction novel, deals with a space war and is inspired in its structure by Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' and Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''.
* The ''Hyperion Cantos'' take their titles from poems by the British Romantic John Keats.
* The title of ''Carrion Comfort'', as well as many of its themes, derives from the poem "Carrion Comfort" by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
* ''The Hollow Man'' (1992) is a novel influenced by Dante's ''Inferno'' and T. S. Eliot
* "The Great Lover" (1993) is a short story inspired by the World War I War Poets
* Simmons's collection of short stories, ''Worlds Enough & Time'', takes its name from the first line of the poem "To His Coy Mistress" by English poet Andrew Marvell: "Had we but world enough, and time"
* The detective in ''Flashback'' is named Nick Bottom after a character in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''

Bibliography

Novels

;''Hyperion Cantos'' series:

# '' Hyperion'' (1989) –
# '' The Fall of Hyperion'' (1990) –
# ''Endymion'' (1996) –
# '' The Rise of Endymion'' (1997) –

Short stories:
* "Remembering Siri" (1983), novelette, prequel to ''Hyperion''
* "The Death of the Centaur" (1990), novelette
* "Orphans of the Helix" (1999), novelette, sequel of ''The Rise of Endymion''

;''Seasons of Horror'' series

# ''Summer of Night'' (1991) –
# ''Children of the Night'' (1992) –
# ''A Winter Haunting'' (2002) –
# '' Fires of Eden'' (1994) –

Short stories:
* ''Banished Dreams'' (1990), collects three prophetic dream sequences that were expurgated from the published edition of ''Summer of Night''
*: "Dale's Dream", "Kevin's Dream", "Mike's Dream"

;''Joe Kurtz'' series:
# '' Hardcase'' (2001) –
# '' Hard Freeze'' (2002) –
# '' Hard as Nails'' (2003) –

;'' Ilium/Olympos'' series:
# '' Ilium'' (2003) –
# ''Olympos'' (2005) –

;Stand-alones:
* '' Song of Kali'' (1985) –
* ''Carrion Comfort'' (1989), expansion of the novelette published in ''Prayers to Broken Stones'' –
* ''Phases of Gravity'' (1989) –
* '' The Hollow Man'' (1992) –
* '' The Crook Factory'' (1999) –
* ''Darwin's Blade'' (2000) –
* ''The Terror'' (2007) –
* ''Drood'' (2009) –
* ''Black Hills'' (2010) –
* ''Flashback'' (2011) –
* ''The Abominable'' (2013) –
* ''The Fifth Heart'' (2015) –
* ''Omega Canyon'' (2023) –

Short stories

Collections:
* ''Prayers to Broken Stones'' (1990), collection of 6 short stories and 7 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 5 novellas/novelettes:
*: "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 5 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 stories:
* "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)
* "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, from ''Dying Earth'' series

Poems

* ''Ruby/Gem S.T.R.E.A.M.M. Poetry'' (2011)

Non-fiction

* ''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

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 ''The Iliad'' and Shakespeare's ''The Tempest''."

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

In 2009, Scott Derrickson was set to direct ''"Hyperion Cantos"'' for Warner Bros. and Graham King, with Trevor Sands penning the script to blend the first two cantos "Hyperion" and "The Fall of Hyperion" into one film. In 2011, actor Bradley Cooper expressed interest in taking over the adaptation. In 2015, it was announced that TV channel Syfy will produce a mini-series based on the Hyperion Cantos with the involvement of Cooper and King. As of May 2017, the project was still "in development" at Syfy. On November 1, 2021, Cooper and King restarted the feature film adaptation at Warner Bros. with Tom Spezialy set to write the script.

''The Terror'' (2007) was adapted in 2018 as an AMC 10 episode-mini-series in 2018 and received generally positive reviews upon release.

Awards

Wins

Locus Award
* Best Horror Novel (1990): ''Carrion Comfort''
* Best Science Fiction Novel (1990): ''Hyperion''
* Best Novelette (1991): "Entropy's Bed at Midnight"
* Best Science Fiction Novel (1991): ''The Fall of Hyperion''
* Best Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel (1992): ''Summer of Night''
* Best Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel (1993): ''Children of the Night''
* Best Novelette (1994): "Dying in Bangkok"
* Best Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel (1995): ''Fires of Eden''
* Best Science Fiction Novel (1998): ''The Rise of Endymion''
* Best Novelette (2000): "Orphans of the Helix"
* Best Science Fiction Novel (2004): ''Ilium''

International Horror Guild Award
* Best Novel (2003): ''A Winter Haunting''
Nocte Award
* Best Foreign Short Story (2010): “La foto de la clase de este año” (This Year's Class Picture).
Seiun Award
* Best Foreign Novel (1995): Hyperion
* Best Novel (1996): ''The Fall of Hyperion'' (tied with ''Timelike Infinity'' by Stephen Baxter)
* Best Foreign Short Story (1999): "This Year's Class Picture"

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.''Works in the WWEnd Database''
for Dan Simmons.

Selected nominations are listed below.

Locus nominations:

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

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

''Olympos'' (2005) – Locus Award shortlist, 2006

References

External links

* Interview by BookBanter

Dan Simmons
on Worlds Without End
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Dan
1948 births
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American horror writers
American male novelists
American male short story writers
American science fiction writers
American short story writers
Hugo Award-winning writers
Living people
Novelists from Illinois
Wabash College alumni
Washington University in St. Louis alumni
World Fantasy Award-winning writers
Writers from Peoria, Illinois
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers