Ilium by Dan Simmons

Ilium is a fantastic exploration into a Wide range of topics, and a fresh new writing style that makes you want to finish the book from the first moment you start. Combining science fiction with so much more, it amazed me and instantly became one of my favorite books. However: be warned, the story is very complicated, and at times you struggle to comprehend the brilliance of it all. 

You might be wondering, what makes this story so great? Well, first of all, it's a story about a professor who was resurrected by the "Greek Gods" to study a real version of th'e Iliad, being acted out on the plains of a not-so-real Troy. Now, the gods are not really the "gods" of ancient times. They are nano-tech wielding "post-humans" which have long since left Earth behind. Meanwhile, on Earth, the real "old­ style" humans are happy in their ignorance; all their work is done by robotic "servitors" and they "fax" (instantaneously teleport) from city to City, unaware of the universe of events which are about to unfold. 

Now the gods are causing quite a problem. You see, when they "quantum teleport" between Mount Olympus (actually the one on Mars, which is terraformed) and the ancient reality of Ilium, they essentially rip holes through the universe. The moravecs (intelligent bio-robots) that live on the moons of Jupiter pick up this activity and decide to send a mission to Mars to find the source of the ruckus. I don't want to spoil the book, because just when you think you know the whole story, Simmons blows it up in your face. Enjoy! 

Submitted by Max