The anticipation was great. The tome, when it finally arrived, was huge. But now, after sorting through hundreds of pages of screwups, close shaves, players whose identities have been carefully obscured, conflict with deadly stakes, and high-ranking players with a major-league god complex, I can now affirm... Ilium by Dan Simmons is a hell of a read.

As with his earlier epic SF, Hyperion, this is the first volume of a projected two-volume series, ending on a cliffhanger. Which is fine with me, so long as the series stays at two volumes...