Rating: 
Summary: Difficult to match
Review: With Frank Herbert's "Dune", by far the best SF novel I've ever read... and I mainly read SF!
Extremely well-written, with extensive literary references. Dan Simmons has taken care of developing the personalities of the various charaters; but most importantly for SF readers, the technology foreseen by Simmons is a) staggering; b) totally plausible.
I truly envy those of you about to embark on this adventure. By the way, Book 3 is out and it's called "Endymion".
Ed.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece -- But You Need Both Halves
Review: The award-winning Hyperion and its sequel harken back to Chauser's Canterbury Tales. A group of pilgrims are on a journey to a holy shrine, each with a separate tale of tragedy and loss that compell them to make the trip. Along the way, all but one are destined to be taken by the Shrike, a horrifying creature with tremendous powers over time and space. The Shrike will grant the sole survivor a single wish.
With most stories, the author keys you in to the story's hero early on. Implicitly, you know that this character will surmount all obstacles and win the day. In Hyperion, you are left wondering who will be the survivor. You become heavily involved with each character as they recount their individual stories and what has compelled them to make the harrowing trip. The stories are all moving, and each character has a sufficiently worthy reason for making the trip that the heavy odds against succeeding are worth it.
The characters and settings are so well wrought that the story comes to life, making the book impossible to put down.
One caveat -- don't buy the first book by itself. The two novels are clearly a single story in two volumes. Hyperion is intimately connected to its sequel, and you won't get the full impact of the story by reading just the first half
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!!
Review: Dan Simmons is certainly one of the greatest authors alive today. The Books in the Hyperion Cantos are intelligently written with a true sense of wonder. Anybody who reads these books and doesn't like them are just announcing thier lack of intelligence. Simply a must read for anyone serious about thier sci-fi. Sensational!!
Rating:
Summary: A book that is a wholly inaccurate example of a trilogy!
Review: A milestone, a true classic by any standards.
This book describes the travels of two of the most unastounding people you are ever likely to meet. But they are both wonderfully funny with a humour only Douglas Adams can create.
The two characters are Arthur Dent (a human with a wholly unleathal temperament, yet vicious wit) and his companion Ford Prefect (an alien skilled with the use of towels the most useful thing in the known universes).
Ford works on a book called the hitchhikers guide to the universe and rallys Arthur's help after Earth is destroyed by a race of Aliens called the vogons in order to make a intergalactic bypass. There are many parts to the 'increasingly inaccurately entitled trilogy'. The book describes their adventures around the universe in an unamerican kind of way. An english sense of humour by an english author, this is absolutely unsurpassed as it has no equal. Read, Read, Read.
Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: Probably the two best books I've ever read.
The second book in particular keeps you hanging on to the many possible outcomes without making you feel too distant from the main players.
The only reason for not getting a maximum is the story about the Consul & his mat in the first book, which to be honest I found a bit dull.
Rating: 
Summary: What's all the hubbub, bub?
Review: A couple of good yarns (the priest's tale is especially good), but otherwise nothing special. The stories are supposed to have a common thread that just isn't there. There is no ending. This is a rip-off. This book was obviously written with the intention of forcing you to buy the sequel. And from all I've heard, the next two books in the series are written in just the same way. Shine it on, big time
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: Hyperion & The Fall of Hyperion:
Simply the BEST sci-fi books I ever read
Rating:
Summary: Eclipsed by What?
Review: I read this book four years ago, and it still is omnipresent inmy mind before I attempt to read anything else. The sad butmagnificent story of Paul Dure, the commanding presence of Kassad, the epic poem by Silenus, pure tragedy of Rachel W., mystery of Lamia, and the heartbreaking joy of the remembrance of Siri -- reading, to me, simply at its best.
Rating:
Summary: Canterbury Tales Meets Foundation Series
Review: This is an awesome piece of literature and will appeal to all avid readers of epic series. The plot unfolds like an explosion of events and implications and is supported by a cast of believable and interesting characters. Looking at the series as a whole, ( Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion & Endymion ) there are a series of political intrigues that keep you turning the pages
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Sci-Fi novels in the past 20 years
Review: The structure, plot, and pace of this book is excellent. The technologies and futuristic society Simmons has created are reasons alone to read this book. It's scary, funny, poignant, but over-all... mindblowing
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