Rating: 
Summary: This is the best book I've ever read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: "Hyperion" barely edges out "Dune" and "Romance of The Three Kingdoms" as the best book I've ever read. What's not to like?! The individual tales run from exciting adventures to haunting love stories. For the most part, Mr. Simmons has a moving style that always involves you in the plot and characters. Granted, it's slow, but maybe people could learn to ENJOY the description. Finally, although the framework is little more than a setup for the sequel, the actual stories can be read on their own if that bothers you.
Rating: 
Summary: 2 Gems, 5 stones, 1 piece of censorable material.
Review: After reading all the conflicting reviews "Hyperion" has received, as well as reading the book itself, I tought that perhaps a self-conflicting review was in order. "Hyperion" is really composed of seven tales, embedded in a story about a pilgrimage. Each tale is told by a different character explaining how he ended up on this journey.
The tales themselves do feel like they are being written as they are told, although they seem to be spoken with practically the same voice.
Of those tales two are outstanding:
- the poets tale, containing a hilarious situation in which the poet achieves true artistic depth.
- the scholars tale, with it's hauntingly familiar human tragedy. This is prime time SF, containing an echo of emotions and tragic moments all of us encounter in our own lifes, but in an inherently alien situation. On the bad side, the framework story of the pilgrimage itself in the present moment is boring. In fact it is so bad, that it feels like a sorry excuse, an artificial literary form without substance. There's worse to come:
At least according to what I gathered from other reviews, "The Fall Of Hyperion" is really the second part of this book. But as a book that is published, bought and regretably read as a self contained unit, "Hyperion" is without doubt the most infuriating & insulting book I've ever read. The tales artfully build up suspence, which the boring and mercifully short sections of framework story cannot destroy, and then...
I don't know, maybe the editor stuck the last 2 pages in.
They don't belong. They're stupid. They're an insult to anyone who buys and reads the book. Maybe like the author, I should end on a sour note, but as I do have respect for my readers, I will conclude instead that the two priceless gems this book contains, make it a good read.
In fact, if you don't have the sequel, just read those two stories. The less you read of the framework story the better.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling story, but you have to like the style
Review: Reading the reviews of others, I was fascinated by the given scores: either 9 to 10, or below 3. So, you like the book or not. Allow others to give their opinions. Personally I liked the book. Currently I am rereading it for the sole purpose of being able to read the last two volumes of the four-book series. The first two are jewels. Let's keep it to that.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I cannot understand all the whining people do about the reader needing to find the second book "The Fall of Hyperion" in order to answer some of the questions from the first novel. Why not be happy about the fact that Simmons has created an incredible and complex world that we get to enjoy in MULTIPLE large novels rather than only a single book. This ranks as one of the finest SF novels I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Approaching a new level for sci-fi
Review: With the exception of some bland dialogue and what seem to be a few gratuitous and obnoxious sex scenes, this is the book that could introduce a new level to Science Fiction. The structure of the book imitates The Cantebury Tales, and the underlying subtext to the overall plot is grand on an epic scale. Each character (except the Tree guy) has a story to tell, and each story reveals a piece to the looming danger of the Shrike (Now that is one bad ass dude). I found each story to have its own unique style and perspective, a novella in its own right. The narrative style, while sometimes can ramble onward, paints an extremely vivid and colorful picture of this unusual future. Each of the stories also has various connotations to other works of literature, including various Greek mythology and many classical poets, including Keats. Might I ask Mr. Simmons... Oh, do you like Keats? And, I'd be sure to have this book land upside my head. Some characters and people/place names, at least one subplot, and even some style comes from Keats' own works. This is not quite what I'd call a bulb-burner - I found it enthralling but I could put it down; it gets real thick at times, and you need to read the lesser quality sequel to get any closure to the story. But if you want a modern day classical science fiction/fantasy epic.... this book will blow you away. Books like this could give an author a Clarke/Asimov/Heinlein reputation. If Simmons keeps it up and gets a couple of movies based on his books.. his fate will be that of a Sci-Fi master.
Rating:
Summary: Love It or Hate It - This Book Always Draws a Response
Review: I find myself somewhat amused by the radical differences of opinion which reviews of this book contain. I'll add my two cents. First of all, it is certainly true that the book can only stand as part of a series, and is incomplete alone. The same can be said of many of the best sf books ever written. It was never intended to stand alone. Second, as to the book being pointless, I couldn't disagree more. Perhaps a familiarity with Keats helps, but many seemed to love it anyway. Both the book and it's namesake do very much have a point. I ask you to reconsider what you read and think about what the purpose of this pilgrimage is. My take? Great writing, great plot, great theme. This is one difficult book to put down, so make sure you can get the rest of the series quickly when you finish the first book. Otherwise, you may have to suck it up and pay those overnight delivery charges. Rather than repeat many of the things which have already been said below, I can sum up my review with this comment. I think John Keats (the real one) would have loved it.
Rating:
Summary: Hyperion
Review: Hyperion is a powerful Science Fiction novel. Each of the pilgrims' stories are novels in themselves. Simmons take several great ideas and roles them into a great read. Only problem with this book is the constant sex scenes which kept it from getting a 10
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Amazing, I have never read anything like it. I wish it never ended. It's definitly the ride of a lifetime
Rating:
Summary: wow!!
Review: I haven't read such an engrossing epic since I read The Hobbit. Dan Simmons' writing style is phenominal and the stories he tells are well thought out. The "pilgrims" on their journey to Hyperion chronicle their stories in a way that is detailed - yet not tiresome. In addition, the future that in which Hyperion exists could be a novel unto itself. While some other readers felt cheated that the book seemed to end to soon - I felt that it ended at the right point in the story. Unfortunately it leaves you aching for more. If you find yourself intensely enjoying Hyperion about 1/2 way through I would recommend that you obtain a copy of Return to Hyperion to continue with the story. This book also opened me up to the other works of Dan Simmons - all of which are great books - Simmons is probably the most versatile author on the market today (SF, Fiction, Horror, NonFiction) and it is time well spent to familiarize yourself with his writing.
Rating:
Summary: Personally, I love this book. But judge it for yourself...
Review: My review is aimed for Hyperion and its sequel : The fall of Hyperion, because you cannot judge it without reading those two books. Well, I really liked these books. They have everything needed to become a bestseller in this genre : fast paced action (space battles between Hegemony fleet and Ousters swarm), mystery and the un-explained (the Time Tombs which moving backward through time, the cruciform parasites with ability to make someone immortal), an interesting characters (personally I loved Brawne Lamia and The Consul characters, because Mr. Simmons had developed those two throughout the story), and even the love scene (between The Colonel and his mysterious lover, although sometimes quite vulgar). Among sci-fi books that I've ever read, Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion is the books that I always recommend my friend to read it (along with a few titles, like Ender's Game for instance). Only one minor critics : it seems that Mr. Simmons was infatuated with a poet named John Keats and had given him a major role in this story (although indirectly). Please, not all of your readers came from a culture who knew this personna!
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