Ahira's Hangar

This novel is a bit hard to classify, as are many of Dan Simmon's books. I suppose if I had to choose one category to place it in, I would choose "environmental fable" which in itself contains such disparate works as the movie Godzilla to a serious science fiction novel like Davis Brin's Earth.

This rather unique work, is, sadly, currently out of print in the US (according to the bookseller websites I have been checking out). However, I was able to find a used copy at Amazon. It only arrived yesterday, so I have not had a chance to read it yet, but the reader reviews and literary critiques at Amazon were for the most part glowing, and I am looking forward to it...


Quote:At first only the wind is screaming...Guests are disappearing from the Mauna Pele, a luxurious resort for the mega-rich on the Kona coast of Hawaii. By over developing paradise, billionaire Byron Trumbo has unwittingly reopened a centuies-old battle between Pele, goddess of volcanos, and her immortal enemies. Giant beasts are spotted, paying guests turn up dead and dismembered, volcanic erruptions fill the sky with smoke and flame, while fast-moving lava flows dangerously close to the resort. Byron Trumbo is not one to allow mere deatils to stand in the way of his business negotiantions. He invites his Japanese buyers to Mauna Pele so that he can finalize the sale, even while events proceed out of his control. Also at the Mauna Pele are two remarkable women : college professor Eleanor perry and the totally indomitable Cordie Stumfp. This disparate trio join forces to face down natural catastrophe, supernatural mystery, and the wrath of the immortal enemies of the volcano goddess Pele.
Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i></i>

I am about a third of the way through the book, and it is fun to run into an old friend from Summer of NIght...the tough-as-nails little girl Cordie is still tough-as-nails as an adult.
Supernatural goings-on at a ritzy resort in Hawaii, mixed in with some Mark Twain. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I finished late last night, and really enjoyed it. I really liked the way Simmons interbraided the story set i nthe present day with a story (told in the diary of a relative of one of the main characters) with Mark Twain as a major character. He mixes in all sorts of myths and legends fro mthe Hawaian Islands...and we get to meet Cordie as an adult -- and get to see another of his recurring characters, Mike - as a husband and father, so we get an update on him since his adventures in Summer of Night and Children of the Night. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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