Hyperion

Rating:
Summary: If not the best, then one of the best, books I have read.
Review: I really enjoyed Hyperion. The richness of the detail was astounding. When reading it, it almost seemed as if you were on the Templar treeship getting ready to undertake the pilgramage to the valley of the shrike. The way Dan Simmons intertwined the stories of the pilgrams was masterful. Throughout,his imagery and imagination were so good that any one of their tales would stand alone, and in the collective they made Hyperion one of the best and most enjoyable books i've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: An absolute masterpiece!
Review: I looked at and pick up the book Hyperion lots of times over several years, then finally picked it up when I had a little extra money. Fifty pages in, it blew me away. I never knew how good SciFi could be! This is the story of seven pilgrims who set forth on the world Hyperion toward the elusive Time Tombs and the shrike that waits among the shadows they hold over the human race. Each holds their own secrets. Most of the book is a telling of each (but one) one's story and why it led them to this place, and each story lays into place the setting of the incredible universe and the buidling blocks of the plot that will be used in The Fall of Hyperion and Endymion. This a book that is incredibly smart, so don't try to read it if you like junk reading, using religious theology and philosophies, descriptions of the interworkings of poetry and writting. The different stories leave you in a varity of states, stunned, shaken by power and horror, eagerly awaiting answers raised by them, and feeling a lose of a character you barely knew. An turly great book. Dan Simmons is pure genius

Rating:
Summary: Blown Away
Review: Tell me, do you want a good book? I know I do. So, if you are interested, pick up _Hyperion_ and read it. It will blow you away. Trust me, or don't, but read it anyway. You'll be glad you did.

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Summary: Amazingly Complex World that left me riveted
Review: Both Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion are some of the best Sci Fi that I have read in a long time. Will there be another book after Fall of Hyperion ??

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Summary: Highly imaginative, epic in scale!!
Review: Just look at the other scores on this page!! The two best SF books I've read in the past few years have been Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos) and A Fire Upon the Deep. Excellent book!! Simmon's imagination blew me away. He has created a huge and complex universe populated with fantastic yet believable characters. This book is a classic in it's own time...READ IT

Rating:
Summary: Great Story. Excellent writing. Good character development
Review: One of the best books I have ever read. If you read any Sci-Fi books this year, I recommend you try this one. I read Sci-Fi hoping that the author will present ideas beyond my imagination. At the same time I hope that it will be well written and has characters which have depth. This book had a great story and was well written. One of the few gems I have been able to find.

Rating:
Summary: Something for everyone
Review: The epic saga of Hyperion has something for every reader. The narrative follows a group of pilgrims traveling to the remote world of Hyperion to meet the Shrike, a fearsome being who, according to legend, will grant the wish of one pilgrim, and kill the others. The pilgrims decide to pass the time of their journey by telling the stories of why they have decided to seek the Shrike. Each story takes the reader to another world and together they weave together a wonderfully detailed tapestry of the imaginary universe created by Simmons From graphic horror to religious introspection to book-noir detective adventure, each story offers something different, while still contributing to the narrative as a whole. Everyone will find something to love. This book should be read in conjuction with its sequel, "Fall of Hyperion" which concludes the adventures of the pilgrims, and ends with events of astounding scope. As usual, Simmons writes on many levels. If you want a great, easy-to-read adventure, it is that. If you want a deeply philosophical study of the relationship between God and His creations, and between man and his creations, it is that. No matter how you look at it, you can't loose with "Hyperion"!

Rating:
Summary: If you like to label people, don't read Dan Simmons
Review: In fact, the only label you can put on Simmons books is a warning label: CAREFUL, sticky substance, will not let go of hands (or mind) until completely read. Don't believe me? Just try to put it away once you've started it. Stopping an atomic reaction is simple by comparison. I read horror. I read science fiction, poetry, and sometimes I read about religion and philosophy. I like to mix it up a little. So does Dan Simmons. The only difference: he does it in one book. On the surface, this story is a gripping mix of Clive Barker-like horror and SciFi worldbuilding and imagination that Greg Bear and Asimov would be jealous of, but underneath there is so much more. Simmons plays with time-lines better than Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction, adresses more issues (from poetry and religion to the self-fulfilling prophecy) than Frank Herbert, and all that in a gripping literary fashion. If you like horror, you'll like it. If you like SciFi, you'll thoroughly love it. But if you like both, and you like something a little deeper, then not reading this one will be the one mistake you'll regret the rest of your life.

Rating:
Summary: The best series since Foundation
Review: This book, along with The Fall of Hyperion and Endymion, make up the best series of science fiction books since Asimov's Foundation series. I could hardly put any of the books down. I especially like the way he incorporates the poet John Keats into a story based far in the future. OUTSTANDING!

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!!!
Review: Arguably the best science fiction novel ever written. Complex, characters and plot ensure a wonderful read. At the end you will be disappointed that the story has been finished