After finishing this novel, I'm still not 100% sure what I think about it. First off, it takes place in Hawaii, a place I have never been nor do I know all that much about. There is a tremendous amount of Hawaiian mythology in this book and to be honest with you, I have no idea if Simmons made it all up or not. I'll give him credit, if he made it up, it certainly sounds plausible for Hawaiian mythology. Simmons' writing style is high quality, but there are bits and pieces that detract from the book as a whole. The one paragraph synopsis is as follows: An enormous resort was built in Hawaii by a real schmuck of a businessman (Trumbo). He's demolished quite a bit of nature to construct the thing and now wants to unload it on a group of Japanese buyers. They all meet at the resort to seal the deal, unfortunately two of the local volcanoes begin erupting and people start disappearing and reappearing in bits at pieces. Trumbo's soon to be ex-wife, soon to be ex-girlfriend, and current fling all show up to make things worse for him. Add in a professor with a diary from her distant relative that seems to follow the same series of events from over a hundred years ago, a plump little housewife from the Midwest with a gun and a foul mouth, and an assorted cast of other guests and you have quite the mix of personalities. The lava starts flowing, business negotiations heat up, and the number of people in the resort dwindles while a select few try to solve the "mystery" by using the diary. First, this book is billed as horror, but other than people disappearing and pieces of them reappearing at in-opportune times, it never really felt like a horror book. So if you are looking for a nail biter, look elsewhere. Second, it becomes very apparent what is going to happen about a chapter before it happens, so there are no surprises. Perhaps I've just over-read the horror genera and have developed a "sixth sense" about horror novels, but nothing in here surprised me, there were no shockers. I would have to say that my biggest complaint with the book is that the "present day" characters are almost ridiculously stereotypical. It almost started to remind me of "Scooby Doo 2" (the live action one). You have the big bad business man, his 3 stereotypical women, the blatantly obvious good guys, your standard plethora of henchmen, and the native people who want to protect their lands. The most interesting parts of the book were the Diary excerpts; unfortunately their placement in the text of the main story left a little to be desired. Not only were the breaks between the two stories at inopportune times, but the diary chapters pretty much told you exactly what would happen in the following "present day" chapter. I was fairly disappointed with that. I know that I have pointed out a lot of negative, but have given the story 4 stars. Simmons is a brilliant writer, his words (even the profanities) flow with beauty and even if you don't like the story, or hate the characters, you can't help but to admire his prose. I don't think this was one of his better books, but I still think it was an excellent book on the whole.
Dan Simmons is a good writer. However, that is only hinted at in Fires of Eden. The story started well, but I found it growing growing increasingly tiresome as the pages wore on. The villain was cartoonishly greedy and vulgar. Another primary protagonist was barely more believable. And Simmons attempts mixing horror and farce with the result being neither scary nor funny. I like Dan Simmons because many of his books betray deep historical and literary research on his part (e. g. the Franklin Expedition in The Terror, Greek mythology in Olympos, Charles Dickens in Drood). The research behind this novel involved Hawaiian mythology, but the writing accompanying it sometimes seems so pulpish that I was tempted to think in spots that Simmons had only done the book as a toss-off to justify his research trips to Hawaii as a tax write-off. (Glaring example of sloppy writing: in one instance a security man asks whether he should consult with the local police and "Five-O." Doesn't Simmons know there is no such thing as "Five-O" except in a television show? The security guy might as well ask whether he should send for Magnum P. I.) Having spent some time on the Big Island of Hawaii myself, I enjoyed Fires of Eden inasmuch as it made me nostalgic for my sojourn there. Simmons describes the setting well. But unless one wants to engage in similar nostalgia, I can't really recommend the book to anyone else.
What do You think about Fires Of Eden (1996)?
Two thirds of this novel are very good. The last third ventures into ludicrous territory. With that out of the way, it was good to see Cordie Stumpf nee Cooke back in action. There wasn't enough of her in Summer of Night but I'm glad she's here and in cracking good form. In all, I'd describe this book as serviceable horror and it does serve quite nicely as a travelogue for Hawaii's Big Island and a minor exposition of the native culture and religion of the islands. Shame about that ludicrous last third though.
—Peter Greenwell
I have never been to Hawaii, but I really want to go. After reading Dan Simmons's "Fires of Eden", I really REALLY really want to go. It's not a nonfiction travelogue. It's a horror novel. It's one of the funniest horror novels I've ever read. And it made me want to visit Hawaii. It also made me hungry, but that's neither here nor there. The story takes place on the Big Island, the island of Hawaii, on a mega-resort called the Mauna Pele on the Kona Coast. The owner of the resort is a sleazy super-rich dude named Byron Trumbo (clearly modeled after Donald Trump) who is trying to finalize the sale of the resort with a Japanese buyer before the press gets wind of the fact that guests keep disappearing or getting killed at an alarming rate. Apparently, the vengeful Hawaiian male gods Kamapua'a, Pana-ewa, and a few others with way too many syllables have been summoned and are ripping the souls out of the bodies of numerous guests. They are upset at humans for destroying the land by putting up tacky hotels and golf courses. The goddess Pele, who is not so happy about the so-called "progress" either but nevertheless protects the island, is under attack. It's up to the timid not-so-old-maid college professor Eleanor Perry, and her new friend, Cordie Stumpf, to help Pele and save the island. And the world. They're on vacation (sort of), but they've come prepared to battle demons and gods. This is a fun and silly read from an author who, in my estimation, can do no wrong. There is a lot to enjoy in this novel, from the descriptions of the beautiful Hawaiian scenery, to the stories of Hawaiian folk tales and legends, to Simmons's break-neck suspense, to his wonderfully lovable and believable characters. There is even a parallel story involving Samuel Clemens, who visited Hawaii in 1866. If you're not a fan of Dan Simmons, this may not be his most exemplary work. It is, however, an entertaining supernatural suspense thriller-comedy (think "Ghostbusters" in Hawaii) that will take you on a mental vacation for a few hours.
—Scott Rhee
This book has been sitting on my shelf for around 20 years. I finally picked it up and can't say I was terribly pleased.Simmons always does tons of research for his books. Sometimes the end result is too much detail and too little plot. That would be the issue here. The other problem is that what little plot there is is not very good.This novel is the story of two women that go to an exclusive resort in Hawaii and become fast friends. The villian, the resort owner, is trying to sell the place. While all of this is happening two volcanoes are threatening the whole island with magma.There are moments of enjoyment, but they are ruined by frequent story shifts. The novel is divided between the story of the girls, the story of the owner, and diary entries. This style frequently leaves you pissed that the good plot is being left for a shitty one.Final complaint, this novel literally "jumps the shark". There is a scene involved a women who can't swin who saves a boy from a shark. So many illogical things happen in 3 pages that it drove me nuts. Simmons has done way better.
—Phil Zimmerman
