Illinois Authors

The Illinois Center for the Book banner

Dan Simmons

Born: 1948 in Peoria, Illinois
Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: Dan Simmons was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1948, and grew up in various cities and small towns in the Midwest, including Brimfield, Illinois.

Biography: Dan Simmons received a B.A. in English from Wabash College in 1970, winning a national Phi Beta Kappa Award during his senior year for excellence in fiction, journalism and art. He then received his Masters in Education from Washington University in St. Louis in 1971. He then worked in elementary education for 18 years becoming a full time writer - 2 years in Missouri, 2 years in New York and 14 years in Colorado. He now lives in Colorado.


Awards:
  • World Fantasy Award for Best First Novel.

Primary Literary Genre(s): Fantasy; Fiction; Mystery

Primary Audience(s): Adult readers

Email: bingo@erinyes.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1522945291#!/pages/Dan-Simmons/9688755059?ref=search&sid=1535835302.3124057991..1=dan=simmons
Website: http://www.dansimmons.com
Dan Simmons on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=dan+simmons


Selected Titles

A Winter Haunting
ISBN: 9780061803239 OCLC: 841332324

HarperCollins, [Place of publication not identified] : 2009.

A once-respected college professor and novelist, Dale Stewart has sabotaged his career and his marriage -- and now darkness is closing in on him. In the last hours of Halloween he has returned to the dying town of Elm Haven, his boyhood home, where he hopes to find peace in isolation. But moving into a long-deserted farmhouse on the far outskirts of town -- the one-time residence of a strange and brilliant friend who lost his young life in a grisly accident back in the terrible summer of 1960 -- is only the latest in his long succession of recent mistakes. Because Dale is not alone here. He has been followed to this house of shadows by private demons who are now twisting his reality into horrifying new forms. And a thick, blanketing early snow is starting to fall ...

Black Hills /
ISBN: 031600698X OCLC: 319501147

Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown and Co., New York : 2010.

Haunted by Custer's ghost, and also by his ability to see into the memories and futures of legendary men like Sioux war-chief Crazy Horse, Paha Sapa plans to silence his ghost forever and reclaim his people's legacy--on the very day FDR comes to Mount Rushmore to dedicate the Jefferson face.

  Black Hills :
ISBN: 1607883465 OCLC: 503048996

Hachette Audio ; [New York] : ℗2010.

Ceremoniously attending the battlefield death of General George Armstrong Custer at Little Bighorn, a young Sioux warrior invokes the general's spirit, who haunts the Native American with visions of the pasts and futures of legendary historical figures.

Children of the night
ISBN: 9781250017949 OCLC: 872643664

St. Martin's Press, New York : 2014.

Simmons writes like a hot-rodding angel. 'Stephen King An evil legacy comes to life in this classic and ultimately human novel about believable vampires, featuring a brand-new introduction by Dan Simmons. Children of the Night will take you to a place that no one knows'yet all of us fear. In a desolate orphanage in post-Communist Romania, a desperately ill infant is given the wrong blood transfusion'and flourishes rather than dies. For immunologist Kate Neuman, the infant's immune system may hold the key to cure cancer and AIDS. Kate adopts the baby and takes him home to the States. But baby Joshua holds a link to an ancient clan and their legendary leader'Vlad Tepe, the original Dracula ' whose agents kidnap the child. Against impossible odds and vicious enemies' both human and vampire ' Kate and her ally, Father Mike O'Rourke, steal into Romania to get her baby back. A mesmerizing tour through the ghostly, gray tatters of Romania. 'Publishers Weekly Simmons gives a chilling description of post-Ceausescu Romania and neatly ties the vampire legend into political history to create a new and clever twist to the idea of the vampire's craving for blood. 'Library Journal His best novel ever' Toothsomely well written. 'Kirkus Brilliant ideas' The most rigorous and interesting scientific rationale for vampirism I've ever seen' You keep turning the pages. 'Locus.

  Children of the night /
ISBN: 1250009855 OCLC: 25409356

Putnam's Sons, New York : 1992.

In Romania to help treat rare blood ailments, hematologist Kate Neuman adopts a child whose body is capable of accepting any type of blood, and soon she is tracked by superhuman members of a Romanian underground.

  Darwin's blade
ISBN: 9780316403641 OCLC: 852216891

Darwin Minor is an expert in accident reconstruction, but a series of seemingly random, or artfully staged, fatal car wrecks has him puzzled. Why would anyone commit fraud at the cost of his own life?

Darwin's blade /
ISBN: 0380789183 OCLC: 45230251

William Morrow, New York : ©2000.

Darwin Minor is an expert in accident reconstruction, but a series of seemingly random, or artfully staged, fatal car wrecks has him puzzled. Why would anyone commit fraud at the cost of his own life?

Fires of Eden /
ISBN: 0399139222 OCLC: 30670938

G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York : ©1994.

In Hawaii, people are murdered as demons seek to rid the island of tourist resorts. Caught in the middle is Eleanor Perry, studying similar events in the previous century, those against Christian missionaries. A horror novel with a parallel by the author of Children of the Night.

  Fires of Eden.
ISBN: 9780747250050 OCLC: 32508297

Headline, London : 1994.

  Flashback :
ISBN: 9780316006972 OCLC: 668192238

Little, Brown, New York : 2011.

America, 2036. Powerful magnate Hiroshi Nakamura needs ex-cop Nick Bottom's services, and, in particular, his memories. As head of the original investigation into the murder of Nakamura's son, Bottom's flashbacks hold the key to solving what was the toughest case of his career. But as Nick delves deeper, the harder it becomes to trust those around him. And when he uncovers a connection to his wife's death, it is not only Hiroshi Nakamura who wants answers.

Flashback :
ISBN: 0316101982 OCLC: 756585626

Reagan Arthur Books, New York : c 2012.

  Hard as nails
ISBN: 9780316213424 OCLC: 898164348

Investigating an abandoned amusement park where several dead bodies have been found, former private investigator Joe Kurtz and his parole officer find themselves targeted by numerous adversaries.

Hard as nails /
ISBN: 0312994680 OCLC: 56557210

St. Martin's Paperbacks, New York : 2003.

Hard freeze :
ISBN: 0312989482 OCLC: 52986117

St. Martin's Paperbacks, New York : 2003, ©2002.

Hardcase /
ISBN: 0312980167 OCLC: 45879677

St. Martin's Minotaur, New York : 2001.

Ex-con Joe Kurtz is hired by a Buffalo mob boss to find a missing accountant.

Ilium
ISBN: 9780061794988 OCLC: 877894611

HarperCollins e-Books, [Place of publication not identified] : 2014.

The Trojan War rages at the foot of Olympos Mons on Mars -- observed and influenced from on high by Zeus and his immortal family -- and twenty-first-century professor Thomas Hockenberry is there to play a role in the insidious private wars of vengeful gods and goddesses. On Earth, a small band of the few remaining humans pursues a lost past and devastating truth -- as four sentient machines depart from Jovian space to investigate, perhaps terminate, the potentially catastrophic emissions emanating from a mountaintop miles above the terraformed surface of the Red Planet.>

Ilium /
ISBN: 0380817926 OCLC: 61501349

HarperCollins, New York : 2005, ©2003.

The Trojan War rages at the foot of Olympus Mons on Mars - observed and influenced from on high by Zeusand his immortal family - and twenty-first-century professor Thomas Hockenberry is there to play a role in the insidious private wars of vengeful gods and goddesses. On Earth, a small band of the few remaining humans pursues a lost past and devastating truth - as four sentient machines depart from Jovian space to investigate, perhaps terminate, the potentially catastrophic emissions emanating from a mountaintop miles above the terraformed surface of the Red Planet.

Lovedeath /
ISBN: 0446517569 OCLC: 27815635

Warner Books, New York, NY : ©1993.

A series of five novellas that explore the connection between love and death.

  Lovedeath.
ISBN: 074724345X OCLC: 30776552

Headline, London : 1993.

Olympos
ISBN: 9780061801884 OCLC: 1051060548

HarperCollins, [Place of publication not identified] : 2009.

Beneath the gaze of the gods, the mighty armies of Greece and Troy met in fierce and glorious combat, scrupulously following the text set forth in Homer's timeless narrative. But that was before twenty-first-century scholar Thomas Hockenberry stirred the bloody brew, causing an enraged Achilles to join forces with his archenemy Hector and turn his murderous wrath on Zeus and the entire pantheon of divine manipulators; before the swift and terrible mechanical creatures that catered for centuries to the pitiful idle remnants of Earth's human race began massing in the millions, to exterminate rather than serve. And now all bets are off.

Olympos /
ISBN: 0380817934 OCLC: 70809758

A companion to Ilium finds the briefly allied Achilles and Hector laying siege to the home of the gods, inadvertently triggering a massive conflict between humanity and such powerful beings as Setebos, Prospero, and Caliban.

Phases of gravity
ISBN: 9781497638570 OCLC: 903557077

Richard Baedecker is a man adrift, searching for a lost sense of purpose. A former astronaut, Baedecker once walked on the moon, briefly escaping the tidal pull of gravity itself. Sixteen years later, gravity and other entropic forces have overtaken him. At this critical moment, against the unlikely backdrop of Poona, India, Baedecker encounters a remarkable young woman named Maggie Brown, who will point him toward the places of power he has left behind and help him rediscover his essential self.

Phases of gravity /
ISBN: 0759254419 OCLC: 166428760

[Olmstead Press], [Chicago, Ill.] : 1999.

Richard Baedecker, the aptly named hero of this extraordinary novel, is a man adrift, searching for a lost sense of purpose. A former astronaut, Baedecker once walked on the moon, briefly escaping the tidal pull of gravity itself. Sixteen years later, gravity and other entropic forces have overtaken him. At this critical moment, against the unlikely backdrop of Poona, India, Baedecker encounters a remarkable young woman named Maggie Brown, who will point him toward the "places of power" he has left behind and help him rediscover his essential self.

  Summer of night /
ISBN: 0312550677 OCLC: 682894395

St. Martin's Griffin, New York : 2011.

In the summer of 1960, in Elm Haven, Illinois, a sinister being is stalking the town's children, and when a long-silent bell peals in the middle of the night, the town residents know that it marks the end of innocence.

The abominable /
ISBN: 0316198838 OCLC: 843025891

"A thrilling tale of high-altitude death and survival set on the snowy summits of Mount Everest, from the bestselling author of The Terror It's 1924 and the race to summit the world's highest mountain has been brought to a terrified pause by the shocking disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine high on the shoulder of Mt. Everest. By the following year, three climbers -- a British poet and veteran of the Great War, a young French Chamonix guide, and an idealistic young American -- find a way to take their shot at the top. They arrange funding from the grieving Lady Bromley, whose son also disappeared on Mt. Everest in 1924. Young Bromley must be dead, but his mother refuses to believe it and pays the trio to bring him home. Deep in Tibet and high on Everest, the three climbers -- joined by the missing boy's female cousin -- find themselves being pursued through the night by someone. or something. This nightmare becomes a matter of life and death at 28,000 feet - but what is pursuing them? And what is the truth behind the 1924 disappearances on Everest? As they fight their way to the top of the world, the friends uncover a secret far more abominable than any mythical creature could ever be. A pulse-pounding story of adventure and suspense, The Abominable is Dan Simmons at his spine-chilling best"--

  The abominable :
ISBN: 0316198846 OCLC: 862040950

A thrilling tale of high-altitude death and survival set on the snowy summits of Mount Everest, from the bestselling author of The Terror. It's 1924 and the race to summit the world's highest mountain has been brought to a terrified pause by the shocking disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine high on the shoulder of Mt. Everest. By the following year, three climbers -- a British poet and veteran of the Great War, a young French Chamonix guide, and an idealistic young American -- find a way to take their shot at the top. They arrange funding from the grieving Lady Bromley, whose son also disappeared on Mt. Everest in 1924. Young Bromley must be dead, but his mother refuses to believe it and pays the trio to bring him home. Deep in Tibet and high on Everest, the three climbers -- joined by the missing boy's female cousin -- find themselves being pursued through the night by someone. or something. This nightmare becomes a matter of life and death at 28,000 feet - but what is pursuing them? And what is the truth behind the 1924 disappearances on Everest? As they fight their way to the top of the world, the friends uncover a secret far more abominable than any mythical creature could ever be. A pulse-pounding story of adventure and suspense, The Abominable is Dan Simmons at his spine-chilling best--

The crook factory
ISBN: 9780316216104 OCLC: 843127600

Mulholland Books/Little, Brown and Co., New York : 2013.

It's the summer of 1942, and FBI agent Joe Lucas has come to Cuba at the behest of the Director to keep an eye on Ernest Hemingway in the Caribbean. Lucas thinks of it as a demotion--a babysitting job for a famous writer who has decided to play spy, assembling a team of misfits including an American millionaire, a twelve-year-old Cuban orphan, a Spanish jai alai champion and more in a would-be espionage ring Hemingway dubs the Crook Factory.

The crook factory /
ISBN: 0380973685 OCLC: 39724197

Avon Books, New York : ©1999.

Novelist Ernest Hemingway creates a spy ring in Cuba to combat German agents during World War II and the novel describes his adventures as he chases enemy submarines with his fishing boat. Narrating is an agent planted by the FBI to keep an eye on the ring, a man who never read a word of Hemingway. Famous people make appearances, including spy Ian Fleming, author of James Bond books. By the author of Fires in Eden.

The terror
ISBN: 085750391X OCLC: 1005121817

The most advanced scientific enterprise ever mounted, Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition in search of the fabled North-West Passage had every expectation of triumph. But for almost two years his ships HMS Terror and Erebus have been trapped in the Arctic ice. Supplies of fuel and food are running low. Scurvy, starvation and even madness beging to take their toll. And yet the real threat isn't from the constantly shifting, alien landscape, the flesh-numbing temperatures or being crushed by the unyielding, frozen ocean. No, the real threat is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness. It stalks the ships and snatches men. It is a nameless thing. At once nowhere and everywhere, this terror has become the expedition's nemesis . . .

 

 

Accessibility