Fires of Eden By Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons is one of my favorite writers and has been for many years now. I found his novels “Drood”, “Endymion” and “Hyperion” excellent in every way rating them five stars for each. “The Terror”, “Illium” and “The fall of Hyperion" all received four stars out of five. Yet even the best of authors such as Mr Simmons occasionally can write a novel that will not entertain as much as many of his others.
This, I am afraid, is one of those. It is still a good novel and had it been from an author that was new to me this would have had a great review but Mr Simmons has written so many excellent novels that perhaps I just expect a little more from him.
This comedic horror novel, spans two centuries and is set in Hawaii where the gods of the mountain decide to wreak revenge upon unsuspecting Japanese businessmen on holiday.
Add into this, roiling cauldron, Mark Twain’s female companion upon another trip to the island. The story is told deftly (as you would expect from an author of such great stature) and It is certainly worth noting that Mr Simmons has conquered yet another genre in the writing of this novel. Not his best novel but still very enjoyable, well written, planned and executed. To anyone that has not read one of Mr Simmons books, you will love this, it is excellent but when you read another of his (and you will) you will realize that this novel is on one of the lower rungs of the authors lofty and impressive list of books.

