Reviews - Hyperion | The StoryGraph

5.06k reviews for:

Hyperion

Dan Simmons

4.24 AVERAGE

naomi_n0609's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

literarycolin's review against another edition

3.0

Hyperion starts strong with fascinating world building and character development but loses steam in the last couple of sections of the novel. The overarching narrative that ties together the various stories falls a bit flat at the end. Simmons still scores major points for solid prose overall and for Martin Silenus being one of the most hilariously memorable characters of all time.

astakolafs's review against another edition

4.0

It’s about the journey, not the destination.
Maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way.

All jokes aside, this was a fantastic book.
It was wonderfully written and full of interesting concepts and narratives.

My favourite stories were the priest’s tale “The Man who Cried God” and the scholar’s tale “The River Lethe’s Taste Is Bitter.” Both being solid science fiction, the former a very classic kind of sci-fi with intense horror elements, and the latter more philosophical and utterly heartbreaking.

I picked this book as my book club’s January 2022 book, and I do not regret it at all. I was a bit taken aback by the horror elements (something that made me doubt that this was a good choice for the book club), but the text stretches over so many themes that it’s really a fantastic book to discuss. I was curious to know which stories my friends related to or liked, and if we’d have similar takeaways from the stories.

The book ends on a reference from one of my favourite movies ever. I feel like it does have a solid ending, and can definitely be read on its own. But I did finish the book early and ran to the next book The Fall of Hyperion, finishing it before the book club was set to meet to discuss the first book.
I’d say that reading the second book is not necessary, although I totally understand wanting to know more after the book ends (as it does really just end in the thick of it).

gemgemthegreat's review against another edition

4.0

Intense and quite brutal. Kept astounding me that this book is almost 40 years old, parts were so relevant to current political/environmental climate of today. I can’t really fault this book, the only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is there were a few parts that were a bit of a chore to get through as I didnt connect to them as much as other ‘parts’. A heavier read fur sure but will eventually read the second book of the series as it feels likes the first half of a larger novel.

aloxela's review against another edition

4.0

I definitely enjoyed it overall, some stories more than others though. There was a surprising amount of sex in the book, and I feel like it lacked a bit of closure. But overall really good, impressive world building and pacing.