Hyperion

Rating:
Summary: The Canterbury Tales in Outer Space
Review: Though I'm not usually a heavy Sci-Fi reader this book was recommended to me and once I started it I couldn't put it down. I'd have to give it 5 stars. It is a beautifully-written epic tale about 6 pilgrims, all with their own dark tale, all prepared to meet the terrible Shrike. This book can't be explained, it has to be read and experienced firsthand. It is important to note that in order to get the entire story one must also read "The Fall of Hyperion." I liked the allusions to classical literature and found each tale fascinating.

Rating:
Summary: Not simply, just unmistakingly....
Review: I wrote a review of the book in March, 1997. It didn't do the book justice. What review could? Surely no words can be as great as a story they try so hard to bestow an opinion of greatness upon. That's what gets me. Reviews can only be, at best, if they're meant to praise the review item, a mere faint translucent footprint of the item.

Is "get it" good enough? Is "just don't read any more reviews if you're intelligent enough to grasp the book and read the damn thing already and enjoy the ride, which you will"... good enough? How about "sensitive only need apply"? What about "I beg you, if you are possibly open minded and have an imagination, just get it"?

Everyone has a different opinion. It's a given. I can't force you to like this book the best, and if I could I wouldn't want you to. But I do care about the potential of the more capable readers to enjoy it, their opinions I'd like to debate the merits with... or enjoy in tandom the brilliance.

Sometimes it's all about mood. Are you in the mood for a deep book? If not, you will not see the depth, will miss the point. Same with anything I suppose.

Give it a chance. Be alone. Read it. That's it.

Rating:
Summary: Sentimental, single-minded hogwash
Review: Am I the only one who actually sees through this book?

Apparently Simmons can't make a character who doesn't wallow in loss of love...(forgive me if I don't do this in order)

Priest's Tale: The only "original" concept of the book. Still bogged with cliches...

Soldier's Tale: Kassad falls in love with Moneta, loses her. BOO HOO

Poet's Tale: Falls in love with poetry, loses his skill. BOO HOO

Detective's Tale: Falls in love with an AI, loses him. BOO HOO

Scholar's Tale: Falls in love with daughter, loses her to backwards-time disease. BOO HOO

Consul's Tale: Good part spent describing how age seperates his grandparent's love. BOO HOO

Yes, you may say it's the common thread between them, but can Simmons not make them more diverse.

Another bone to pick: Simmons writes in a disjointed style. He will get to a climax (or at least the sort of climax you can expect to find in a romance novel) and then stop, put in background information about how the character can solve it, and then the character does just that. It gets rather annoying after a while. AND HE WRITES IN THIS STYLE FOR ALL OF HIS CHARACTER'S STORIES: they are different people, telling them different ways, yet he remains in the same style.

By the Consul's tale it was too much. PUT THE DARN THING IN ORDER! It would be when the starship pilot was 27, next page:19, next page:24, etc. You get so fed up with him jumbling the story around in an attempt to be profound.

The ending was the biggest stinker. Novels that make up an epic usually have some resolution at the end of each volume. Instead Simmon's last page might as well have been a sales pitch for the second novel, which I will not be reading. Avoid at all costs. If this is "hard" sci-fi then Jane Austen is too.

Rating:
Summary: THE best science fiction book I have ever read
Review: Hyperion is a wonderful read, almost as good the second time around. The first tale, about the priest, is absolutely spell-binding. It has been my experience over and over when I give someone this book that they say they COULD NOT stop reading the first tale no matter what else was happening around them. The story about Rachel and her father is also tremendously moving and harrowing, especially if you are a parent, but not in the way of so many books and movies these days of "child in danger from another person." You have to read it to see what I mean.

As you get into the sequels, I thought the story progressively became more strained and metaphysical in a silly way. But you'll have to read them, because once you've started Hyperion, it's like a drug, YOU CAN'T STOP! Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Possibly my favourite sci-fi ever
Review: Hyperion is truly incredible. As well as being a science fiction version of the Canterbury Tales, it also sets out a breathtaking and at the same time chilling vision of what humanity's future might be like. It creates a spectacular and wonderfully detailed world where citizens step through farcaster portals to have lunch on another planet, mysterious artificial intelligences scheme and plot, so-called 'barbarian' Ousters migrate between the stars, and a terrifying demon-machine called the Shrike stalks the area around a set of mysterious artifacts which appear to be travelling back in time. This world is populated with all sorts of fascinating characters and cultures, such as an artificial recreation of the poet Keats, a girl doomed to age backwards and a planet of peaceful environmentalists crushed for daring to resist modernisation.

This first book of four, consisting almost exclusively of the stories told by seven pilgrims (a priest, a soldier, a poet, a scholar, a detective, a starship captain and a diplomat) as they travel across the planet Hyperion to meet the Shrike, is essentially a gigantic prologue which sets the scene for the tumultuous events of The Fall of Hyperion. It builds up a picture of the Hegemony (the 'established' human grouping) as what I take as being the author's idea of the inevitable product of today's Western civilisation, and establishes the background to the crisis that has brought the seven pilgrims together, which appears at first to be a simple war of aggression by the Ousters but turns out to have much deeper ramifications involving the AI TechnoCore, the Shrike and the future of humanity. The stories they tell also leave many unanswered questions and mysteries that will hopefully leave the reader running to find the second book. Each one is distinct - some horrific, some merely moving, all intriguing. I have to say that the Priest's Tale, the first to be told, will always be special because it left me thinking: 'Wow! Could this get any better?!' And best of all, because this is the first book, you don't have to grimace too much at the annoying continuity errors that increasingly crop up as the series progresses.

As I said, the book leaves many questions to be answered in the next one. However, the greatest mystery of Hyperion is not the unknown purpose of the Shrike or the sinister plans of the Core. No, the greatest mystery of Hyperion is: WHY DOESN'T THE CONSUL HAVE A NAME?! ;-)

Rating:
Summary: Best Science Fiction
Review: This book, or more accurately, series of books, are easily the best science fiction books I have ever read. Beyond that I would say that they are in the top 10 books of any genre that I have had the pleasure to read. Even if you are not "into" sci fi please read these books. Begining with Hyperion and ending in Rise of Endymion these four books are a masterwork for any author. Simmons improves, exponentially, from book to book and that is saying a great deal considering that Hyperion is a very entertaining and interesting book. If you are into religion, philosophy, technology, psychology, sociology or just interested in life, read these books. Also, they are worth a purchase not just a library loan. Simply, in a word: read!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best sci-fi works out there
Review: I'm a big fan of science fiction, but I am a little picky about what I read, and judging from the cover it seemed like the book would revolve around a mechanical monster and a space war. While that's actually true, I'm extremely glad I didn't just dismiss this book, because it's absolutely wonderful, even moving. Each of the stories which makes up most of Hyperion are excellent by themselves; ranging from adventure, love, or a poignant tale about a father and daughter -- but combined with the other stories they weave together to make a larger theme and of course, lots of foreshadowing of things that will come up in the next book, Fall of Hyperion. Believe me, you will have to read this after finishing Hyperion.

Rating:
Summary: wide-ranging and fun, but top heavy
Review: This is extravaganza-sytle sci-fi, very glitzsy and ambitious but at times the concept overshadows character development and plot. The shrike is a wonderful invention, lurking and mysterious as are the supposed enemies returning from space. But the catholic themes, the poetry, the AI domain, and the evolution of man are all a bit much after a while. It is a good read, but it lost me at times.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Great Series
Review: First off, like others have said, this needs to be read with its follow on novel "Fall of Hyperion," it's really one long story published in two seperate novels. Hyperion is a tale of a group of intersteller travelers on a pilgrimage to the planet Hyperion. The story then brakes into a sort of "science fiction" Canterberry Tales. Each traveller must relate his or her own story of why they are on the pilgrimage. These tales could have apeared in sci-fi magazines as seperate stories, they are all that good. The charatcters all come to life through Simmons' clear storytelling. It is very well written and contains enough action to keep the story moving. I highly reccomend readers get all four books.

Rating:
Summary: All roads lead to Rome or Hyperion?
Review: This book was excellent on many different levels. Richly developed characters and a world that is wonderfully described with all its mysteries. I enjoyed all the characters and their past stories and how they were drawn to the world of Hyperion. They say all roads lead to Rome. Well, in this book the end of the road isn't Rome but Hyperion. All roads truly do lead to Hyperion. They led me there and I'm thankful. You'll be too!