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By: Dan Simmons (Author)
Reviews
Josh Mauthe –
An ambitious, imaginative tale full of craft, character, worldbuilding, and stories to tell
I didn’t know that Dan Simmons’s Hyperion was essentially the first half of a story that was split into two sections for publishing purposes (per the author, anyway) up until close to the end, and I wish I’d been aware of that going in – it would have helped me perhaps get a better sense of the structure of this strange, ambitious tale. Inspired by the storytelling pilgrims of The Canterbury Tales, Hyperion is the story of seven people chosen to go on a pilgrimage to the ruined, haunted world of Hyperion, to see the Shrike – a mythical, deadly figure which is said to grant a wish under certain circumstances, though no one seems to come back alive from this pilgrimage. As our pilgrims make their way, each tells their own tale of how they came to be on this journey, and in doing so, Simmons gets to let his imagination roam freely, giving us one found narrative of an explorer who finds a doomed tribe, another a hard-boiled detective tale, a third an action-packed military story, and so forth. During our seven narratives, Simmons carefully gives us clues and ideas about the nature of the Shrike, how this world came to be, and a sense of the larger galactic picture – all of which comes together by the end of the book, as lots of small details snap into place and we get a sense of maybe how the Shrike came to be, the role this pilgrimage is playing, and what the larger stakes are. Hyperion ends at a climactic point, one that works as a nicely ambiguous ending even as it’s clear that there’s a second part to come; thankfully, the second book is long since published, so I can see where the story goes from here, because I was completely fascinated by this dense, rich narrative. The characterization provided through each story, the rich range of imagination across the sprawling saga, the careful and thoughtful worldbuilding – Hyperion sucked me in pretty early on and never let go (even though the first couple of pages are a pretty bad example of XKCD’s Fiction Rule of Thumb). I have no idea where this tale goes from here, but that’s okay – with something this fascinating, I’m glad for the unpredictability.
Adam –
Great Story, Unsatisfying Ending
I took 1 point off for the ending but you will want the sequel. Loved the world, characters were interesting with varied motivations. Sol and Rachael were my favorites. The priest tale was also very twisted and the author did a nice job of sprinkling in the horror elements. Action, romance, love, mystery monster, space, time, many worlds, journey to the unknown, a must have for any sci-fi collection.
Augie Ray –
A wonderful start to an amazing series
This is a (mostly) spoiler-free review of the entire Hyperion Cantos–all 2300 pages of it.The Hyperion Cantos is a commitment that pays off for the patient and attentive reader. Dan Simmons has created what may be the most believable, rich and vibrant world in fiction since Tolkien. This is world-building at its grandest, and yet for all the factions, planets and races, the novels rarely lose their focus on the people. But readers need to be warned–this is complex, intricate stuff. Having spent the better part of two months in the world of Hyperion, I couldn’t tell you how many characters, places, and cultures this story encompasses–easily a 150 or more. This is not light reading.The first book, Hyperion, is a terrific read. It is almost more a collection of short stories, all happening in the same universe but with wildly different tones and themes. Each story leaves an impression, which is essential not just to this book but to all of the books in the series. it requires patience, since each detailed story stands alone with little overlap, other than that the character telling it with other characters on a journey. I was disappointed in the ending, or non-ending, but as noted by the author, Hyperion really isn’t a book unto itself but merely the first half of a story that continues in book two.The second book, The Fall of Hyperion, concludes the story begun in the first, introducing still more characters and zipping back and forth through time. Unlike the first book, this is a more cohesive novel, as the characters that were introduced so independently in the prior book finally come together, fall apart, live, die or disappear in mysterious ways.The third book, Endymion, marks a fresh start–connected to the first two, but with mostly different characters and a more episodic style of storytelling. The depth of Simmons’ universe is still here, with actions and reactions occurring in very distant and diverse settings. I couldn’t help but feel that Simmons got a little caught up in exploring church politics in this novel, which, while important for the plot, began to feel like a few details too much in an already exhaustive universe.And the minor flaws of the third book explode into serious problems in the overly long, slow and frustrating fourth book, The Rise of Endymion. While the story finally gets around to concluding in a fitting and emotional fashion, it sure takes its time. Everything wonderful about Simmons’ world-building becomes a pitfall in this novel. The poetry and philosophy that lifted the other novels begin to feel like a university course, the wonderfully complex Hyperion universe becomes an unnecessarily crowded and obsessively detailed place, and the wonderfully creative plot begins to feel overstuffed with too many meandering subplots and unnecessary detours.I was almost angry reading the last book. Having committed to 2,000 pages, it felt like a slog to get to the end. I wondered if Simmons had an editor, since I couldn’t shake the feeling that two or three hundred pages could’ve been cut not only without losing anything but maybe even improving the focus of the story. Huge portions are dedicated to the adventures of the character telling the story in flashback, so Simmons’ constant attempts to create tension about whether he lives or dies is wasted since–news flash–he lives to tell the story. A hundred pages or more are spent on exposition as characters try to explain in awkward ways what the hell happened and is happening. And Simmons’ desire to create living places becomes almost obsessive. In one scene, a character learns that the enemy has arrived and determines he must rush to warn others–but instead of rushing, what occurs is a half dozen pages of insane detail about the geography of the planet as THREE DOZEN individual peaks, ridges, cities, temples and moons are named, almost NONE of which have anything to do with the subsequent plot.The disappointing conclusion didn’t prevent me from enjoying Simmons’ world and story. The Hyperion Cantos works as both a marvelous story and an amazing accomplishment of rich, viable, science-fiction world building.
Tom lys –
This is the best science fiction I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying. Fantastic
Cliente Amazon –
I really enjoyed this journey!I am a fan of tales within tales with a tale (within reason), and not a line is wasted by Dan Simmons in this story of seven pilgrims who, through a series of brilliantly paced and skilfully crafted shifts in perspectives, gradually discover that their individual stories are in fact more closely entwined than they could ever have imagined, or ever wanted, before they embarked on what might prove to be a fatal voyage to encounter a mysterious and lethal entity that has, in one way or another, touched all their lives.This milieu-spanning tale involves travel between the stars, and in time. There are galactic and personal battles, intimate moments, painful revelations, beguiling future technologies, reflections on religions and the development of society, scenes of brute force orchestrated (perhaps) by the human Hegemony or (perhaps) by the unknowable TechnoCore AI, or perhaps by other forces all together.Dan Simmons’s shimmering prose pulls us along as, by turns, we zoom in on profound yet delicate explorations of what makes some people who they are, and then zoom out to embrace the universe the author so credibly conjures up for us.There are twists and revelations and not every mystery is dispelled, as the reader is swept towards the final moments of the book, but not the final moments of the story. I can’t wait to continue the tale in The Fall of Hyperion.(Just one technical remark, and it’s not meant ungraciously. As far as I could see, there was only one typo in the whole Kindle edition which I read.)I think I might have read this book 35 years after everyone else who had the joy of reading it when it first came out and before it won awards and acclaim, but I am really glad I finally discovered it.
lethenarl –
My english level is C1 yet while reading this book, I had to keep looking at the dictionary in every page like at least 4-5 times. This is good in a way, improving my vocabulary yet I can not really get into the book on the other hand because of this issue.
Arjit –
Maybe one of the best i have read yet, reminds me of chaucers works. Very relevant after 30 odd years of release.
Josh Mauthe –
An ambitious, imaginative tale full of craft, character, worldbuilding, and stories to tell
I didn’t know that Dan Simmons’s Hyperion was essentially the first half of a story that was split into two sections for publishing purposes (per the author, anyway) up until close to the end, and I wish I’d been aware of that going in – it would have helped me perhaps get a better sense of the structure of this strange, ambitious tale. Inspired by the storytelling pilgrims of The Canterbury Tales, Hyperion is the story of seven people chosen to go on a pilgrimage to the ruined, haunted world of Hyperion, to see the Shrike – a mythical, deadly figure which is said to grant a wish under certain circumstances, though no one seems to come back alive from this pilgrimage. As our pilgrims make their way, each tells their own tale of how they came to be on this journey, and in doing so, Simmons gets to let his imagination roam freely, giving us one found narrative of an explorer who finds a doomed tribe, another a hard-boiled detective tale, a third an action-packed military story, and so forth. During our seven narratives, Simmons carefully gives us clues and ideas about the nature of the Shrike, how this world came to be, and a sense of the larger galactic picture – all of which comes together by the end of the book, as lots of small details snap into place and we get a sense of maybe how the Shrike came to be, the role this pilgrimage is playing, and what the larger stakes are. Hyperion ends at a climactic point, one that works as a nicely ambiguous ending even as it’s clear that there’s a second part to come; thankfully, the second book is long since published, so I can see where the story goes from here, because I was completely fascinated by this dense, rich narrative. The characterization provided through each story, the rich range of imagination across the sprawling saga, the careful and thoughtful worldbuilding – Hyperion sucked me in pretty early on and never let go (even though the first couple of pages are a pretty bad example of XKCD’s Fiction Rule of Thumb). I have no idea where this tale goes from here, but that’s okay – with something this fascinating, I’m glad for the unpredictability.
Adam –
Great Story, Unsatisfying Ending
I took 1 point off for the ending but you will want the sequel. Loved the world, characters were interesting with varied motivations. Sol and Rachael were my favorites. The priest tale was also very twisted and the author did a nice job of sprinkling in the horror elements. Action, romance, love, mystery monster, space, time, many worlds, journey to the unknown, a must have for any sci-fi collection.
Augie Ray –
A wonderful start to an amazing series
This is a (mostly) spoiler-free review of the entire Hyperion Cantos–all 2300 pages of it.The Hyperion Cantos is a commitment that pays off for the patient and attentive reader. Dan Simmons has created what may be the most believable, rich and vibrant world in fiction since Tolkien. This is world-building at its grandest, and yet for all the factions, planets and races, the novels rarely lose their focus on the people. But readers need to be warned–this is complex, intricate stuff. Having spent the better part of two months in the world of Hyperion, I couldn’t tell you how many characters, places, and cultures this story encompasses–easily a 150 or more. This is not light reading.The first book, Hyperion, is a terrific read. It is almost more a collection of short stories, all happening in the same universe but with wildly different tones and themes. Each story leaves an impression, which is essential not just to this book but to all of the books in the series. it requires patience, since each detailed story stands alone with little overlap, other than that the character telling it with other characters on a journey. I was disappointed in the ending, or non-ending, but as noted by the author, Hyperion really isn’t a book unto itself but merely the first half of a story that continues in book two.The second book, The Fall of Hyperion, concludes the story begun in the first, introducing still more characters and zipping back and forth through time. Unlike the first book, this is a more cohesive novel, as the characters that were introduced so independently in the prior book finally come together, fall apart, live, die or disappear in mysterious ways.The third book, Endymion, marks a fresh start–connected to the first two, but with mostly different characters and a more episodic style of storytelling. The depth of Simmons’ universe is still here, with actions and reactions occurring in very distant and diverse settings. I couldn’t help but feel that Simmons got a little caught up in exploring church politics in this novel, which, while important for the plot, began to feel like a few details too much in an already exhaustive universe.And the minor flaws of the third book explode into serious problems in the overly long, slow and frustrating fourth book, The Rise of Endymion. While the story finally gets around to concluding in a fitting and emotional fashion, it sure takes its time. Everything wonderful about Simmons’ world-building becomes a pitfall in this novel. The poetry and philosophy that lifted the other novels begin to feel like a university course, the wonderfully complex Hyperion universe becomes an unnecessarily crowded and obsessively detailed place, and the wonderfully creative plot begins to feel overstuffed with too many meandering subplots and unnecessary detours.I was almost angry reading the last book. Having committed to 2,000 pages, it felt like a slog to get to the end. I wondered if Simmons had an editor, since I couldn’t shake the feeling that two or three hundred pages could’ve been cut not only without losing anything but maybe even improving the focus of the story. Huge portions are dedicated to the adventures of the character telling the story in flashback, so Simmons’ constant attempts to create tension about whether he lives or dies is wasted since–news flash–he lives to tell the story. A hundred pages or more are spent on exposition as characters try to explain in awkward ways what the hell happened and is happening. And Simmons’ desire to create living places becomes almost obsessive. In one scene, a character learns that the enemy has arrived and determines he must rush to warn others–but instead of rushing, what occurs is a half dozen pages of insane detail about the geography of the planet as THREE DOZEN individual peaks, ridges, cities, temples and moons are named, almost NONE of which have anything to do with the subsequent plot.The disappointing conclusion didn’t prevent me from enjoying Simmons’ world and story. The Hyperion Cantos works as both a marvelous story and an amazing accomplishment of rich, viable, science-fiction world building.
Tom lys –
This is the best science fiction I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying. Fantastic
Cliente Amazon –
I really enjoyed this journey!I am a fan of tales within tales with a tale (within reason), and not a line is wasted by Dan Simmons in this story of seven pilgrims who, through a series of brilliantly paced and skilfully crafted shifts in perspectives, gradually discover that their individual stories are in fact more closely entwined than they could ever have imagined, or ever wanted, before they embarked on what might prove to be a fatal voyage to encounter a mysterious and lethal entity that has, in one way or another, touched all their lives.This milieu-spanning tale involves travel between the stars, and in time. There are galactic and personal battles, intimate moments, painful revelations, beguiling future technologies, reflections on religions and the development of society, scenes of brute force orchestrated (perhaps) by the human Hegemony or (perhaps) by the unknowable TechnoCore AI, or perhaps by other forces all together.Dan Simmons’s shimmering prose pulls us along as, by turns, we zoom in on profound yet delicate explorations of what makes some people who they are, and then zoom out to embrace the universe the author so credibly conjures up for us.There are twists and revelations and not every mystery is dispelled, as the reader is swept towards the final moments of the book, but not the final moments of the story. I can’t wait to continue the tale in The Fall of Hyperion.(Just one technical remark, and it’s not meant ungraciously. As far as I could see, there was only one typo in the whole Kindle edition which I read.)I think I might have read this book 35 years after everyone else who had the joy of reading it when it first came out and before it won awards and acclaim, but I am really glad I finally discovered it.
lethenarl –
My english level is C1 yet while reading this book, I had to keep looking at the dictionary in every page like at least 4-5 times. This is good in a way, improving my vocabulary yet I can not really get into the book on the other hand because of this issue.
Arjit –
Maybe one of the best i have read yet, reminds me of chaucers works. Very relevant after 30 odd years of release.