Dan Simmons Books

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Dan Simmons is a successful American author that has written novels in various genres, including horror, science, fiction, and fantasy. Born in 1948 in Peoria, Illinois, Simmons attended Wabash College (BA in English) and Washington University, St. Louis (Masters in Education).

He sparked an interest in teaching after spending some time in inner-city Philadelphia. The author was working with Steve Brooks to teach ghetto children.

Following his graduation from Wabash College, Simons joined an experimental graduate program at Washington University. In the years he spent teaching, the author distinguished himself, receiving recognition from the Colorado Education Association.

At one point, he was a ‘Colorado Teacher of the Year’ finalist. The author loved teaching because he had more freedom than most teachers. During his days as a sixth-grade teacher, he could basically teach whatever he wanted so long as his students scored well on their standardized tests. He could create any curriculum that suited him.

In the final years of his teaching career, Simmons joined a gifted program called APEX that the district killed after he left. By that point, the author was writing and publishing novels.

Simmons started reading at an early age. He consumed anything and everything he came across at home, including comic books and science fiction magazines. In school, he got in trouble for reading books the nuns considered too advanced for his age.

Luckily, when he entered third grade, they took him to the library and permitted him to borrow whatever he wanted. Writing was just as important to Simmons as reading.

As a boy, he would use his vibrant imagination to create frameworks for plays and backstories for toy characters. In third grade, he started writing simple stories and disseminating them among his classmates.

By fourth grade, Simmons had typed out a science fiction story. He even penned a sequel to ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ Naturally, his teachers took offense to his activities, scolding him whenever they intercepted his stories.

‘Song of Kali’ was the author’s first published novel. He never intended to write it. But his mind concocted a story that wouldn’t let him rest until he had written it. He wrote it in 1982 and published it in 1985.

Finding a publisher was not easy. The author’s story was too dark for conventional publishers at that time. Simmons had given up hope on finding a publisher when he encountered Harlan Ellison at a workshop. Harlan was a legend, and his words essentially terrified the author into getting published.

Most people know Simmons for the Hyperion novels. They may not realize that he created the series because he wanted to buy a house. His agent told him that he would get a $25,000 advance if he wrote two SF novels.

‘Hyperion’ was his first long-form science fiction story. Once he finished ‘The Fall of Hyperion,’ Simmons realized that the world he created had the potential to sustain more stories, which is why he wrote ‘Endymion’ and ‘The Rise of Endymion.’ Though, he waited four years after finishing ‘The Fall of Hyperion’ before dipping his toes back into the Hyperion world.

Dan Simmons Awards

Simmons has won World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Awards.

Dan Simmons Books into Movies

‘The Terror’ became a 10-episode miniseries on AMC.

Best Dan Simmons Books

Many people think that the author uses his novels to attack organized religion and the Catholic Church. But in truth, he loves organized religions. The church in his science fiction novels has no relation to the church today. Simmons’ best books include:

Hyperion: Seven pilgrims are traveling to Hyperion in search of answers. But Hyperion is no ordinary world. The planet is home to large structures that travel through time. Within the Valley of the Time Tombs, the Shrike waits, a harrowing creature that some worship and others fear.

The Fall of Hyperion: The saga that Simmons started in ‘Hyperion’ continues in the sequel. In the universe the author created, humanity is no longer bound to earth. They have an empire consisting of numerous worlds connected by farcasters.

But their future hangs on a knife’s edge. Humanity relies on artificial intelligence to predict human events and then chart a way forward.

But things are changing. The AI cannot account for the Shrike and Hyperion. Therefore, with the Ousters invading, it cannot see the outcome of the conflict.

Meanwhile, seven pilgrims were sent to Hyperion on a suicide mission. To accomplish their goal, they must seek out and decipher the true nature of the Shrike, a dangerous entity that haunts the frightened inhabitants of the planet.

When Does The Next Dan Simmons book come out?

Dan Simmons doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Omega Canyon and was released on January, 1st 2020.

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