Dan Simmons
There was no more talented or dependable modern writer than the recently deceased Dan Simmons. I have my differences with portions of his output, but won’t argue about his place in the horror-science fiction firmament, which was, and is, near the top.
Simmons was one of the major discoveries of the late Harlan Ellison. That’s a group that included Octavia Butler, Poppy Z. Brite, Rex Miller and Bruce Sterling (proving that Ellison, for all his faults, had an impeccable eye for talent), and Simmons, with his erudite prose and impressive grasp of history, fully earned his standing in it. His debut story “The River Styx Runs Upstream,” initially published in the April 1982 edition of THE TWILIGHT ZONE MAGAZINE, was a banger that contained what I consider one of the all-time great opening paragraphs: “I loved my mother very much. After her funeral, after the coffin was lowered, the family went home and waited for her return.”
Interesting Interview with Dan Simmons
The World Fantasy Award winning SONG OF KALI (1985), Simmons’ first novel, was an intelligent and foreboding depiction of Calcutta, India, described by Simmons as a smog-choked, overcrowded, garbage-laden nightmare fully befitting the narrator’s opening reminiscence, in which he opines that “Some places are too evil to be allowed to exist. Some cities are too wicked to be suffered. Calcutta is such a place…Calcutta should be expunged.” It’s here that an attempt is made to invoke Kali, the Hindu Goddess of destruction.
SONG OF KALI’s impact was such that on the late 1980s literary horror circuit the major topic of conversation was how great Dan Simmons was, as proclaimed by everyone from Edward Bryant to Stephen King (who declared himself “in awe” of Simmons). That praise only intensified with the publication of CARRION COMFORT (1989), a 900-plus page horror novel that, together with Robert McCammon’s SWAN SONG (1987), anticipated the genre epics that would proliferate in the subsequent decade, although CARRION COMFORT outdoes them all in imaginative heft and robust, padding-free prose.
Dan Simmons
1989 also saw the publication of HYPERION, a genre-defying science fiction epic that for many is Simmons’ key work; it was followed by THE FALL OF HYPERION (1990), ENDYMION (1996) and THE RISE OF ENDYMION (1997). There was also SUMMER OF NIGHT (1991), a Stephen King wannabe that nonetheless got a lot of positive critical attention, and once again inspired multiple follow-ups.
The indefatigable Simmons didn’t stop there. He also turned out PHASES OF GRAVITY (1989), a philosophical sci fi novel, and THE HOLLOW MAN (1992), a dark, nasty little number about a guy who can read minds, a “talent” that isn’t nearly as much fun as it might seem.
In his later years Simmons found a way to do what appears to be the key longing of every genre scribe—to write historical fiction—without losing his readership. That latter designation is especially important, as fellow writers who turned to historical fiction, such as John Brunner with THE GREAT STEAMBOAT RACE (1983) and Robert McCammon with the never-published WWII saga THE VILLAGE, essentially destroyed their careers doing so.
Dan Simmons
With THE TERROR (2007), Simmons adroitly side-stepped the fates of Brunner and McCammon by combining historical detail with the horrific/speculative elements for which he was known. About the discovery of a snow monster during Sir John Franklin’s failed 1845 Arctic expedition, THE TERROR is a novel I’ve always found overwrought, with Simmons falling prey to the research-heavy bent of so much historical fiction (I certainly have no problem with voluminous research, but do object when it gets in the way of the storytelling). It was, however, a success, spawning a 2018 TV series and a string of historical horror novels by Simmons, including DROOD (2009) and THE ABOMINABLE (2013).
THE TERROR TV Series (2018) Trailer
Another development that occurred in Simmons’ later years was a rather hard turn to the right politically. His 2011 novel FLASHBACK was an unabashed right wing screed in the form of a paranormal thriller (inspired by Simmons’ 1993 novella of the same name, which used the same conception for a left-leaning screed about “all of us still emerging from the Reagan era in which the nation seemed to be dreaming only of its past while mortgaging its future”). This explains why Simmons got so little mainstream attention in recent years, and was branded a “hermit.” Even his demise has received scant attention.
I know my affections will always be with that amazing run of Dan Simmons novels from the late eighties and early nineties. I say that’s enough to cement a legacy; in fact, it’s more than enough.