Hyperion

This is less one sci-fi novel and more a collection of short stories as we get to know this Pilgrim Fellowship on their way to undermine the Hegemony. All stories are radically different but equally interesting. What a ballsy way to start a book with the Priest's tale! I was cast down an oubliette of horrors only to be yanked out of a funk by Kassad's warrior tale—very cool Edge of Tomorrow Live Die Repeat vibes. The Poet's Tale was a dirty-mouthed romp with a few laughs and a ton of time-trippy scenery. I welcomed Silenus sardonically chewing scenery for most of the book. Wientraub's tale was equal parts heartwarming and heart-wrenching. Then, Brawne Lamia's tale felt like a noir nod to Bladerunner. Merin and Siri's story was a little creepy, but I was a too enthralled with time debt details and couldn't look away. Still wondering why dolphins would miss sharks? All in all this was a fun read, but I'm kind of peeved the book ended before delivering the goods.

Probably my favorite science fiction book (and series) I've ever read. Hyperion is written in a style similar to The Canterbury Tales, in which a series of stories are told by the main characters. Each story is a gem in itself, but alude to the larger storyline. The scope of the story is ambitious - spanning time, planets religion and love.

The world of Hyperion is about to be invaded, and the consul for the Human Hegemony is tasked take a ship to evacuate their inhabitants. During the trip, he is accompanied by other ten travelers, all going in a pilgrimage to meet the Shriek. This mysterious creature is said to grant a wish from one member of the group that seeks him, and kill the others.

From these passengers, one of them is believed to be working with the invading force, and the consul is tasked to find out the traitor.

The crew decide that to improve their chances of survival, they should each share their stories about why they are going to seek the Shriek. After all, unlike other pilgrimage groups, they were chosen by the Church of the Shriek.

This is the introduction of the book. The rest of it is the stories of each of the eleven passengers.

The first story is about a Christian priest, who has previously been to this world with an exiled fellow, and it is because of him that he is on a pilgrimage. His is a story about man trying to save his religion from extinction.

The second story is from a war veteran general, and his story starts in his youth at a training computer that simulates a medieval setting. His is a story about the first women he loved.

I stopped reading here. Both these themes does not interest me. Lost love and lost faith. But mainly I did not like the sub-stories in themselves. Not much going on but the perceived emotions of the characters in them.

Probably my favorite science fiction book (and series) I've ever read. Hyperion is written in a style similar to The Canterbury Tales, in which a series of stories are told by the main characters. Each story is a gem in itself, but alude to the larger storyline. The scope of the story is ambitious - spanning time, planets religion and love.

Lately I've been trying to read more short stories as I enjoy the experimental creativity and focus of a lot of them. Hyperion is like a bunch of short stories woven into a larger plot and I was completely into it (I guess I should read Canterbury Tales at some point too). I read this along with friends in a Slack group where we discussed each chapter individually as we finished them, and that was a great way to digest it.

Most of the stories here are extremely well realized, an intriguing idea with more and more information revealed at the right pace and playing upon your expectations based on the information you know outside of that story. A lot of neat storytelling tricks that worked really well for me.

My only really complaint is that while this book still works on it's own, it's clearly a big setup for the next book in the series, so the end was a bit anticlimactic even if it was still enjoyable.

Was a reach to give this three stars, though it's considered a classic. This story failed for me in two different ways. First, the story is structured around vignettes told by multiple narrators. The quality of these stories varies widely. One of them was so schlocky I could hardly finish it. Two of them were brilliant, so I guess that redeemed the story enough for me. Second, there was absolutely no resolution. The finalization of the story is dependent on the sequel, which totally aggrevates me.

Probably my favorite science fiction book (and series) I've ever read. Hyperion is written in a style similar to The Canterbury Tales, in which a series of stories are told by the main characters. Each story is a gem in itself, but alude to the larger storyline. The scope of the story is ambitious - spanning time, planets religion and love.

Based in form on Canterbury Tales, a group of pilgrims travel to the planet Hyperion, the Time Tombs and the Shrike and tell their personal stories on the way. I thought the setup was clumsily written and needed a re-write to make those initial conversations more organic.

The pilgrims and their stories cover a wide range of experiences and are told in varying voices. There is existential horror, space opera, self indulgent extravagance, noir detective, love story, and political intrigue.

By the time of story three or four we realise that there are interlinking threads between them. The last story reveals the undercurrents of manipulation and betrayal that have brought these people together.

The Time Tombs are a continuing mystery, said to be moving backward through time. They are inhabited/guarded by a blade covered monster called the Shrike. Also called the Lord of Pain, it impales victims on the Tree of Pain. The origin of the Shrike is not revealed but it appears to have been recently released and causes mass death and people are fleeing the planet.

The book ends in absurdity with the pilgrims holding hands as they walk to the Time Tombs, singing We're Off to See the Wizard. Book #2 waits in the wings.

Half a story.

If I knew that this book was just a warm up to the 2nd book, I wouldn't have decided to read it.

This is the origin story of the pilgrimage, telling the tales of each individual on why they are on the journey to the Shrike. Each story is told in a distinct way, that you do feel each character's voice is unique. With that being said, I only really enjoyed the first story as it was filled with suspense and some horror. The rest, I had to chore through.

I did manage to finish the book, although it was a challenge to stay motivated. The story is told well and it is somewhat fun, where I can see people liking this, however it just wasn't for me.

2 stars because I can see that there obviously is quality in the writing and I did enjoy the first pilgrim's story.

Fantastic read.

Sex, religion, poetry, philosophy and more are present and handled well. The sci-fi aspects are well done and without distracting miss-predictions that plague sci-fi novels that try too hard to guess the future.

I really enjoyed the format the book was written in and the styling choices that came along with that. Specifically how each individual story was written with a very distinct style. The characters were pretty well fleshed out and interesting, however if I had to nitpick I would say they fall a little bit too cleanly into stereotypes. Despite that minor nitpick I liked all the characters and the way in which we get to know them.

I know it's pointless to say, because I've so often read these words and completely disagreed with them, but it's a must read sci-fi novel in my eyes. Looking forward to diving into the next book in the series.

Could have been interesting if not so long winded, and if all the interesting characters weren't dead or re-youth-ified before the story actually starts.

The 2nd half of the priest's story hooked me, but most of the rest of the book was just all the self-congratulatory, boring nonsense I hate in English lit set in space (and a version of space which isn't particularly interesting).

Captivating book that acts as a sort of sci-fi Canterbury Tales. Overall world building and scene-setting felt a bit stronger in the start of the book than it did in the last quarter (specifically during some of Brawne's story, but I'll leave it at that to avoid spoilers), but that doesn't detract too much from the overall enjoyment.

Would've been a 5/5 starred novel, but I felt that leaving the payoff for the true “ending” for book #2 was unfortunate. I'll still read book #2, but surely I won't be happy about it.

I've finished this. 5/5 I don't think I fully understood every bit of it but it was all so beautifully constructed and crafted, every chapter was so distinct from the others and so compelling in their own rights. I've seen books being marvelous with world-building, or character development, but never really quite both at once and this one really did that so well. This book definitely demands rereads. I also liked that it had some really good female characterisation for a book published in the late 80s.

There were a few minor flaws here and there, like the writing could've been a little less flowery and descriptive, but that's also probably my own modern sensibilities talking. I also found Siri's story a bit anticlimactic, it somehow wasn't as compelling to me as everyone else's stories, but the Consul's second part really tied everything together. Some general thoughts of the ending: I really liked that we had a Fellowship moment at the end with the pilgrims being united for one moment in the damn book, and that's *after* they find out who the spy is too. I can't say I completely understand the Consul's motivation yet though but thats mainly cos the politics is so complex that I haven't quite wrapped my head around it yet. I couldn't really choose which one was my fave chapter - they were all really interesting and brought something new and thought provoking to the table.

I'm very glad I read this and would absolutely need to read the next one, also because I can't imagine how they would structure the next one now that we already know the pilgrims' backstories.

I had trouble getting into this book, but once I did, I enjoyed it quite a bit.I has the characters telling their backstories, and it does a good job of using different narratives, so the stories feel like they are being told by different people. I did enjoy some stories more than others, but that's ok.One major complaint, this book and its sequel, [b:The Fall of Hyperion 77565 The Fall of Hyperion Dan Simmons http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1329610795s/77565.jpg 1882596], were written as 1 book basically, so the first book ends at a very bad place if you aren't planning to jump right into the 2nd book...

Hyperion continued to annoy me all the way to the very end, but I can't deny the presence of some bright spots that made it worth the journey. Final thoughts below. Expect spoilers.
Dan Simmons is still the most frustrating author I can recall reading. He has this tendency to be on the verge of creating a masterpiece, then decides to paint a stripe of gun-metal grey across the middle.
The central conceit of Hyperion is so well designed and is what ultimately kept me clinging to this book. The parts where he leans into the existential horror of it—that is, the Priest's tale and the Scholar's tale—are exquisite. These stories are some of the highest calibre cerebral sci-fi I've read. If he had decided to write all 6 tales in this style, this book would have easily made my all time list.
It was a wise decision for Simmons to place the Priest's tale at the beginning, because without it I may not have had the good grace to endure the rest. I'm discovering I have almost zero interest in reading action for the sake of action. Both the Soldier's tale and the Detective's tale suffered from this. If you must have a complex action sequence, I think it's imperative the reader understands why they should care about the outcome. The metanarrative must supercede the narrative.
Simmons has a puerile streak which undermines his worldbuilding. He seems to think the reader will struggle to relate to events, places, and people in his future world unless they are connected to events, places, and people of the present day, which leads to some really hokey and tasteless inclusions. “AIDS 2 virus”. “The First and Second Holocaust”. “The New Prophet”. “New” anything, for that matter.
Let's talk about the ending. Simmons's choice to insert his short story "Remembering Siri" is such a bizarre choice in pacing, and it was at this point that I lost faith that he would pull the strands together. I think this could have been safely left out. The rest of the Consul's tale actually did pull the strands together in a sense, only for Simmons to seemingly abandon the story on the edge of a cliff, forcing the reader to buy the next book in the series.
All the way along, I've been trying to work out what this book reminds me of, and I think I finally worked it out. When it comes to stories based around intrigue, withholding answers, bizarre twists, frustrating directions, and a sense the writer didn't really know where they were going, there's no better example than Lost. It probably won't surprise you to know I lost my patience and stopped tuning in after season 2.
I won't be reading The Fall of Hyperion, at least for a while. I'm calling your bluff, Dan Simmons. I'd rather leave the story at this point without knowing what happens.
For Duré and Weintraub, however, I will never forget Hyperion.

At first I didn't like the story. It was boring for the first few chapters. Lots of exposition. But by the middle of the first tale told I was hooked. There are a group of people brought together for a Shrike pilgrimage and to pass the time they tell a tale of why they are going to Hyperion. I think my favorite tale was the Scholar's and my least favorite was probably the Consul's which is the last one. It does end on a small cliffhanger though so now I just have to get the next one.

Set 800 years in the future, this is a story where women breast boobily and all cultural references date from the 19th and 20th centuries. Having said that, the book still manages to build an imaginative view of a future, albeit one that is often jarringly anachronistic. An interesting read, although I am not sure I can face the sequels, despite the very inconclusive ending that is crying out for a sequel.