Ilium - Dan Simmons

On the dark plain of Ilium Greeks and Trojans are locked in combat for the ninth year of their brutal war. On each side the great heroes wreak havoc. Arms and legs are lopped off, heads go spinning away as blood gouts out in crimson fans, arrows plunge into men's guts and end up protruding from their anuses... While the heroes battle it out, the Gods cavort on Mount Olympos. Zeus, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo, scheme, aid and abet their favourites, playing cruel and brutal games of manipulation. Scuttling here and there to assist them are the lesser deities, such as Melete, the Muse, who musters a small band of Scholics to monitor the fighting ...  Read the complete review