Hyperion

Rating:
Summary: Beatifully Written
Review: There are a few science fiction novels that have kept me riveted to my seat, and this is one of them. I like to compare the series to Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game", but I secretly like the "Hyperion" series better (Sorry, Orson). It says in the bio that Simmons is actually known for his horror, but he wrote this series as if he had been writing sci-fi for his entire career. Simmons has created an intricate universe that is so complex that the reader is left wondering how it should be put together. The solution is not clear until the end of the entire series, where Simmons has written one of the best climaxes I have ever read.

I am trying not to say anything about the actual story because only Simmons can tell it in the way it should be told, but I strongly suggest this series to true sci-fi fans. I dare myself to say that it is as fundamental as Asimov's "Foundation" series, as thought provoking as Frederick Pohl's "Gateway" series, and, as mentioned before, as thoroughly readable as Orson Scott Card's "Ender" series.

This first installment to the series reminded me of Canterbury Tales. Simmons also seems to really like John Keats, and there are many connections to the real life of John Keats woven into this epic tale. "Hyperion" is devoted almost entirely to background and character development. The second book, "The Fall of Hyperion" could almost exist independently of the series, and it is marvelously written. Very intense. The third book "Endymion" is an unexpected change from the story, and at first the reader may be anxious to get back to the previous situation, but I assure you it is worth the wait. The conclusion, "The Rise of Endymion" is by far the best book. New characters and old characters are united, an incredible fight ensues, and some incredibly hard-core characters are introduced.

Simmons is a creative author. There are many concepts that he introduces, some of which are fundamental to the storyline (like "farcasters"... portals that punch holes through space-time linking distant points in space), and others that are merely mentioned for dramatic effect (like combat suits that dissipate heat from laser shots through superconducting circuitry).

For any story, there must be conflict. Simmons creates three (3) incredibly complex character sets: The Hegemony of Man (humanity, in all of its selfish glory), The TechnoCore (a virtual "datumplane" of highly evolved AI), and the Ousters (space-inhabiting humans, evolved and adjusted to low-g environments, among other things), all of whom are in battle with one another. This first book introduces the reader to these complex characters, though the rest of the story awaits in the remaining 3 books (which are incredible, by the way).

On a final note, The Shrike is the coolest character ever created in a novel. The purpose of the Shrike will escape you for the first few books, but as more is learned, the impressive duties of the Shrike will be revealed. I am the Shrike's biggest fan.

A+++

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Sci-fi out there
Review: I got this book because of a review I read here on Amazon, and I was not disappointed. Simmons is a top-notch author who was able to weave six equally exciting and captivating stories into this epic novel. I only finished Hyperion last night and want to get the next one to discover the mystery of the Shrike and the Time Tombs.

Simmons uses a mixture of horror, tragedy, poetry and action to tell a story of pilgrims on a journey to the Shrike. He uses their stories to deal with faith, fatherhood, love, mystery and intrigue as the pilgrims go with hidden stories that eventually are told. They also go as the human race begins its apparent decline into interstellar war and a total end to humanity itself. Simmons ability to tell each tale with a different writing style highlights his ability to be both captivating and eclectic.

I eagerly await the continuation of this novel to see where he is leading. This story is complex and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. I like that. It makes me want more!

Read and Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting.
Review: I'm not sure what I was expecting out of this book, but I never would have expected this. Simmons has crafted an interesting book here. Not only interesting story-wise, but in how he told the story as well. This book seems to be six novellas wrapped together by the plot of the book as a whole. Each novella focuses on one of the six main characters in the book. There are two things interesting here. The first is the fact that each story contains one element in common with all the rest. The second is that each novella is written with a different voice. Simmons shows his versatility as an author by giving each story a different feeling. We get a reading of journal entries, a hard boiled detective story, an emotional family story, a tale of debauchery and struggle to survive, a military story, and a story of political intrigue. Each one sounds almost as if it were written by a different author. This was a stroke of brilliance by Simmons.

My one real complaint about the book is that it didn't accomplish much as a whole. It was mainly a setup book for the sequel, FALL OF HYPERION. We get expansive character development, an introduction into Simmons' universe, and the main characters go on a journey so that Simmons can truly launch the story in the next book. We don't even find out what the major driving force of the epic is until about 50 pages into the second book. Without reading the second book, this will be a disappointment story-wise.

Other than that, it was a very interesting read. I enjoyed the characters...they were all unique and vivid. They had diverse backgrounds and motivations and it was interesting to see them all drawn together by that single common thread.

If you're looking for action driven sci-fi with space battles, you won't get much of that here (wait for the second book), but Simmons does provide our imaginations with some interesting technology (although, I do wish he'd explained some of it better at the beginning of the book rather than in the middle of the second book). Just make sure you have the second book handy when you finish this one...you'll want to jump straight into it.

Rating:
Summary: Highly entertaining
Review: I found Dan Simmon's Hyperion to be an entertaining, thought-provoking and compelling novel. The stories of each of the pilgrims were masterpieces of short fiction in their own right. Although I would recommend this book to any science fiction fan, I give it 4, rather than 5, stars as I found Simmons' writing to be at times over-descriptive and somehow lacking the true can-put-it-down momentum of a master storyteller. Although I am one to appreciate some ambiguity at the end of a novel, I felt like after all the build-up, Simmons owed us more at the end of the story than the obvious compulsion to turn to the next book in the series. With the right ending, I would have been left thinking about the many great themes in the work. Instead, I just found myself feeling empty and disappointed. Nonetheless, I certainly look forward to continuing this series.

Rating:
Summary: A great book - Canterbury tales revisited
Review: Not only is the story itself wonderful and addictive, but for those sci-fi fans out there, Simmons creates a wonderfully new and fresh perspective and vision (as the series progresses you will see exactly how large and complex this vision is). As well, I particularly enjoyed this book, with its series of tales told by fellow travellers - reminiscent on the Canterbury Tales of Chaucer, yet new and different. This book - this series is one of the great works of fiction to come along in a good while.

Rating:
Summary: It ain't a Hugo winner for nothin'
Review: No doubt that after so many years of Sci Fi junk out there some one was bound to spring forth as a leader in the genre. Thank god it appears that wait is over. Hyperion is, in a word, awesome. The tales of the seven pilgrims bound for Hyperion kept me riveted to the pages. I couldn't put it down! And that's a rarity for me (I usually read right before bed to help me sleep...but this kept me awake burning the midnight oil). It is a huge push forward for the science fiction community as a ligitimate genre. Thank you Mr. Simmons. I would rank this book right up there with Dune and Lord of The Rings. Truly magnificent.

Rating:
Summary: Those who complain about cliffhanger ending miss the point
Review: First, this is, together with the other works in the cycle ("sequels" and "series" do not do these books justice) a spectacular novel.

Yes, Hyperion leaves many questions unresolved. But it is not a matter of a "cliffhanger" ending designed to make you buy the next book. If you pick up any of the subsequent books looking primarily for answers to earlier questions, you are likely to be disappointed. For every question that the subsequent books answer-which they do only intermittently and incidentally-they open another. Sometimes two. You will not find here any tidy endings or easy answers. Rather, these novels revel in ambiguity. It is not accidental that most of the internal narrative of Endymion and Rise of Endymion was written by a man in a Schrödinger's cat box.

The novels employ a variety of complex narrative strategies to explore complex ideas and present a complex multifaceted story. If you want everything neatly resolved, and all questions answered, there are any number of books that will meet your needs. This, however, is not one of them.

The structural, thematic, and detail-level allusions to other literary works (and especially to Keats) are there for those who want to seek them out, but do not get in the way of more casual readers. This is one of the finest and most literate novels of the second half of the twentieth century, far better than most of what you will find published as "literary fiction". It dabbles in many genres (most obviously science fiction), but transcends genre as surely as Ulysses or Moby Dick or Huck Finn or Maus. Naturally, this leads to disappointment for certain science fiction fans who prefer strict adherence to genre conventions; virtually all the negative reviews on Amazon seem to fall into this category.

If you appreciate superior storytelling, sophisticated narrative, imaginative ideas, and a profound concern with the human condition, this book should be at the top of your reading list.

Rating:
Summary: The Canterbury Tales with a Scifi twist.
Review: I originally read this book when it first came out and was on the bargin bin heap. Simmons weaves a masterful story, but and it is a big but. He has taking great classical English Literature and re-written it. This is simple a space age re-write of Chaucers the Canterbury Tales. If you enjoy Scifi read this book it will expose you to one of the Great Literary works in the English Language. The Canterbury Tales!

Rating:
Summary: the consummate sci-fi novel
Review: This is the dream of the sci-fi novel reader come true: It is highly imaginative, it has a great intricate plot which unfolds marvelously, the writing is very good, the characters are interesting and well developed, and there is plenty of suspense and action. The only caveat to reader is that the book has no definite ending and there are 3 more books that continue the storyline.

Rating:
Summary: SF's Canterbury Tales
Review: The book is sort of a collection of several pilgrims telling their reasons for making a pilgrimage to the planet of Hyperion, home of the Time Tombs and the mysteriously lethal Shrike. It's quite fantastic, and framed by a story that lends an eerie urgency to the tales.

A number of the tales are quite moving, particularly those of the priest and the wandering Jew. Simmons has several interesting things to say about religion, so be prepared to see challenges to your own beliefs, whatever those may be. This is not a novel that shies away from tackling tough issues, and Simmons does so in some fairly unconventional ways.

It's quite fantastic; this is definitely not hard SF. The focus is on character development; in fact, it could almost be said that the tales are each extended character sketches. A warning: this book doesn't stand on its own too well, thus the four stars. It works best as a part of the series of novels that Simmons has based on Hyperion. Once you're done -- well, you're not. The story hasn't ended, it just stops. This works on two levels: one as an introduction to the next novel, "The Fall of Hyperion"; and two, as a statement on the essential unknowability of the universe.