Dan Simmons facts for kids

Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American writer. He is famous for his exciting stories in science fiction and horror. He also writes fantasy and thriller books. Sometimes, he even mixes these different types of stories in one novel!

Dan Simmons wrote the popular Hyperion Cantos and Ilium/Olympos series. His book Song of Kali won a special prize called the World Fantasy Award. He also created a detective character named Joe Kurtz for some of his mystery and thriller stories.

About Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons was born in Peoria, Illinois. He started writing stories when he was a kid. He wanted to amaze people with his tales. He went to Wabash College and earned a degree in English in 1970. Later, in 1971, he got another degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

He began writing short stories, but his big break came in 1982. A famous writer named Harlan Ellison helped him. Ellison invited Simmons to a special writing workshop. Simmons saw Ellison as a mentor and friend. He says Ellison was the reason he decided to become a full-time writer.

Simmons's short story "The River Styx Runs Upstream" won first prize in a contest. It was published in Twilight Zone Magazine. Soon after, his first novel, Song of Kali, came out in 1985. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as an elementary school teacher until 1989. As of 2007, he lives in Longmont, Colorado.

Scary Stories (Horror Fiction)

Dan Simmons is known for his scary stories, also called horror fiction.

The Elm Haven Series

Summer of Night (1991) is a book about a group of pre-teen friends. They live in Elm Haven, Illinois, in the 1960s. The friends team up to fight an ancient evil that scares their town. This book is similar to Stephen King's It. Both books are about small towns and kids facing a very old evil.

In the next book, A Winter Haunting (2002), one of the friends, Dale Stewart, is now an adult. He goes back to his childhood home. He wants to understand old mysteries that still bother him.

Other characters from Summer of Night also appear in other books:

• Children of the Night (1992) features Mike O'Rourke. He is now a Roman Catholic priest. He goes on a mission to investigate strange events in a European city.
• Fires of Eden (1994) includes the adult Cordie Cooke.
• Darwin's Blade (2000) is a thriller. Dale's younger brother, Lawrence Stewart, has a small role in it.

Other Horror Books

After Summer of Night, Simmons mostly wrote science fiction. But in 2007, he wrote The Terror. This book mixes history with horror. His 2009 book Drood is about the last years of writer Charles Dickens' life. It focuses on his unfinished book, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Stories Based on History (Historical Fiction)

Dan Simmons also writes historical fiction. These are stories that take place in the past.

The Terror

The Terror (2007) is a great example of his historical horror. It tells a made-up story about Sir John Franklin. He led an expedition to find the Northwest Passage in the Arctic. His two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, get stuck in the ice. The captains and crew try to survive. But they are also hunted by a monster in the cold Arctic land. This novel was later made into a TV show.

The Abominable

The Abominable (2013) is another historical fiction book. It's about a group of five climbers in the 1920s. They try to climb Mount Everest. They are looking for the body of a cousin of one of the British climbers.

Books on Screen (Adaptations)

Many of Dan Simmons's books have been made into movies or TV shows, or are planned to be.

In 2004, it was announced that his novels Ilium and Olympos would become a film. This story is a huge adventure. It takes place over 5,000 years and across the whole solar system. It uses ideas and characters from Homer's Iliad and Shakespeare's The Tempest.

In 2008, famous director Guillermo del Toro was set to direct a movie based on Drood. This project is still being worked on.

In 2009, there were plans to make the Hyperion Cantos into a movie. Later, in 2015, the TV channel Syfy announced it would make a miniseries based on the Hyperion Cantos. Actor Bradley Cooper and producer Graham King were involved. As of 2021, Cooper and King are working on a feature film adaptation for Warner Bros.

The Terror (2007) was made into a AMC 10-episode miniseries in 2018. It got very good reviews when it came out.

Awards and Recognition

Dan Simmons has won many important awards for his writing.

Awards Won

He has won the World Fantasy Award for his novel Song of Kali. He also won the Hugo Award for his science fiction novel Hyperion. The Hugo Award is one of the most important awards in science fiction.

Here are some of the awards Dan Simmons has won:

He has also won many Locus Awards for his novels and novelettes (short novels). These include:

• Carrion Comfort (Best Horror Novel, 1990)
• Hyperion (Best Science Fiction Novel, 1990)
• The Fall of Hyperion (Best Science Fiction Novel, 1991)
• Summer of Night (Best Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel, 1992)
• Ilium (Best Science Fiction Novel, 2004)

He won the International Horror Guild Award for A Winter Haunting (Best Novel, 2003). He also received Seiun Awards in Japan for Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion.

Nominations

Dan Simmons has been nominated for many other awards too. These include the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Nebula Award, and more. Being nominated means his work is highly respected in the world of books.

See also

In Spanish: Dan Simmons para niños