Ilium vs Olympos: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Greek Gods, Gods, Imaginary wars and battles, Greek Mythology, Time Travel, Mythology
Ilium
“Rage. Sing, O Muse, of the rage of Achilles, of Peleus' son, murderous, mankiller, fated to die, sing of the rage that cost the Achaeans so many good men and sent so many vital, hearty souls down to the dreary House of Death.”
From the author of the Hyperion Cantos -- one of the most acclaimed popular series in contemporary science fiction -- comes a powerful epic of high-tech gods, human heroes, total war, and the extraordinary transcendence…
vs
Olympos
“Helen of Troy awakes just before dawn to the sound of air raid sirens.”
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 one observer --…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Ilium is the quickest read — about 10 hours vs 16 for Olympos.
- Ilium has the widest readership — 33223 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Ilium | Olympos | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (33223) | 4.0 (21150) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (216) | 3.7 (121) |
| Google Books | 4.0 (3) | 3.5 (5) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (240) | 4.5 (163) |
Reception
| Ilium | Olympos | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 33223 | 21150 |
| Editions | 22 | 13 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 33347 | 10533 |
| Reading it now | 1632 | 586 |
| Written reviews | 1621 | 885 |
| Wikipedia attention | 4133 | 1816 |
| Pages | 592 | 891 |