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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
Hyperion is an interesting book in a number of ways. It's a sendup of the Canterbury Tales, replete with references to Keats. The majority of the story focuses on the seven pilgrims making a trip to the world of Hyperion to visit the Shrike, which is apparently set to extinguish life in the universe. They're there to try to either sacrifice themselves in the hopes of stopping the Shrike, or overpowering it themselves directly. The pilgrims all realize that they each have deep, dark secrets, and if they're going to bare their souls before the Shrike, they should know everything there is about each other before facing an all-powerful being. And so we launch into the Priest's Tale, the Soldier's Tale, and so on.
The premise is pretty thin, if not slightly ridiculous, but the storytelling more than makes up for it (despite the fact that Simmons occasionally gets a little carried away with his prose. A sky is always lapis, for example).
Each of those tales is marked by a mysterious, unexplained event that borders on mysticism. Not exactly hard sci-fi.
By far the most compelling is the Scholar's Tale, which focuses on Sol Weintraub and his daughter, Rachel, who was studying something known as the Time Tombs, when she was affected by an unexplained occurrence. As a result, Rachel is aging backward in time. Benjamin Button this ain't, for as Rachel grows younger, she loses her memories, and Sol is forced to watch his daughter's identity slowly unravel every morning when she wakes up, and over time, loses the traits and knowledge that makes Rachel, Rachel.
This book could be read as a standalone, but it's clearly meant to be read with The Fall of Hyperion, the next in the series. It's also an example of what science fiction does best - it can flesh out an allegorical message into actual plot events. No starship troopers blowing up aliens on a pock-marked desolate battlefield here. Even the soldier isn't exempt from the mysterious and unexplained.
The premise is pretty thin, if not slightly ridiculous, but the storytelling more than makes up for it (despite the fact that Simmons occasionally gets a little carried away with his prose. A sky is always lapis, for example).
Each of those tales is marked by a mysterious, unexplained event that borders on mysticism. Not exactly hard sci-fi.
By far the most compelling is the Scholar's Tale, which focuses on Sol Weintraub and his daughter, Rachel, who was studying something known as the Time Tombs, when she was affected by an unexplained occurrence. As a result, Rachel is aging backward in time. Benjamin Button this ain't, for as Rachel grows younger, she loses her memories, and Sol is forced to watch his daughter's identity slowly unravel every morning when she wakes up, and over time, loses the traits and knowledge that makes Rachel, Rachel.
This book could be read as a standalone, but it's clearly meant to be read with The Fall of Hyperion, the next in the series. It's also an example of what science fiction does best - it can flesh out an allegorical message into actual plot events. No starship troopers blowing up aliens on a pock-marked desolate battlefield here. Even the soldier isn't exempt from the mysterious and unexplained.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read The Terror before Hyperion and liked his horror quite a bit better. The storytelling of Hyperion really reminds me of the TV series, Lost. Too much random worldbuilding that peaks in a sort-of uninspiring way (wow, the pyramid is going BACKWARD in time). I did enjoy a few of the stories quite a bit, with the Priest being the highlight. But some stories, like the Noir detective stuff, were a real snoozefest. I'll pass on Hyperion part 2.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The plot of the actual pilgrimage to the Time Tombs was considerably less interesting than the stories of how the characters came to be on the pilgramage. This isn't a criticism of the plot, but rather a testament to the incredible vignettes where each of the characters are given their time to shine. The Scholar's Tale made me ugly cry.
2.5? This book wasn’t what I hoped it would be. Very impressive writing between characters/voice of the author changes smoothly. Not my plot style and I am not willing to commit to 500 more pages to get the story I waited around for all of book one.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It took me many years to finally pick up this book and read it. A friend gifted me a copy, and I kept putting it off. Another friend lent me an electronic copy as well. I finally started to read it on a long flight and with zero expectations besides a memory of a previous attempt to read it.
Hyperion was not what I expected. It starts off talking as if you already know the world and the characters background and everything. Which is really difficult to understand. It takes at least a third of the way through before you actually get some idea of world-building. I think this is a book that takes more than one read through to truly 'get it'.
I enjoyed the format of reading a different story from each perspective and the different characters.
Hyperion was not what I expected. It starts off talking as if you already know the world and the characters background and everything. Which is really difficult to understand. It takes at least a third of the way through before you actually get some idea of world-building. I think this is a book that takes more than one read through to truly 'get it'.
I enjoyed the format of reading a different story from each perspective and the different characters.
This is FAR from my usual genre, but I was intrigued at the idea of a story similar to the Canterbury Tales set in space and I am always attracted to stories with excellent world-building. The universe in the story is rich and complex, and the author weave in details throughout, assuming that the reader is astute and picks up on subtle details. My only complaint is the ending, but I'll eventually get around to reading the sequel.
Wow, what an incredible story. There are so many amazing SF ideas packed into this book. Each “tale” feels like it could be its own novel. The ending is unfortunately a cliffhanger, but I know that there are more books so that is ultimately fine. Very high quality!
Engrossing, captivating, and an incredibly drawn universe.