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josiah17's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Well, I was really hoping I'd love this book, but I didn't. I did come to like it in the end, but it was still mostly a mixed bag for me.
Dan Simmons has good prose, but the execution of his writing ultimately lacked something that couldn't allow me to feel immersed enough throughout portions of the book. Part of that is his lack of description when it comes to the super futuristic technology and terminology he's created.
The book is also structured in a way that I didn't expect. It's essentially broken into 6 different tales with an overarching narrative that sorta pulls them together.
In order, The Priest's Tale kicked things off in a fascinating manner. The beginning of the tal added to my sense of confusion from the beginning of the novel where the overarching plot is introduced. But the end of the story left me wanting to explore more of this intriguing religion and the world of Hyperion.
The second tale was The Soldier's Tale. This one followed a military soldier of Palestinian descent (awesome!!!) who falls in love with a mysterious woman he meats during a training simulation. A lot of the futuristic technology and weaponry is present in this tale, so I unfortunately the tale suffered from a lack of imagery and detail to me. But it has a really solid twist at the end which had me quite shocked.
Next was The Poet's Tale, which was somewhat interesting and presented more intrigue regarding Hyperion and the Shrike. Just solid altogether, with a good ending especially.
Now, the following tale was truly exceptional. The Scholar's Tale was such a a brilliant stretch of writing. Completely emotionally gut-wrenching. I thought it was perfect, and almost makes this book reading just to experience that story.
The fifth story was The Detective's Story. Nothing outstanding. And actually pretty weird. A woman falling in love with an AI inhabiting the body of a human. Or at least I think that's what was going on. Pretty forgettable.
The final story was The Consul's Tale. A decent look at some of the oppression by the Hegemony, and another love story in a sense. The story ultimately provided a better look at the working factions of this fictional universe and the motivations and intentions of said factions. Or at least that's my perception. If you can't tell already, this book was definitely confusing and overwhelming.
I'm still glad I read this book even if it didn't live up to the hype. Perhaps I could've set better expectations for myself had I know the structure of the book. Anyways, decent read. I can see why people like it, but I won't be reading more of the Hyperion series.
Dan Simmons has good prose, but the execution of his writing ultimately lacked something that couldn't allow me to feel immersed enough throughout portions of the book. Part of that is his lack of description when it comes to the super futuristic technology and terminology he's created.
The book is also structured in a way that I didn't expect. It's essentially broken into 6 different tales with an overarching narrative that sorta pulls them together.
In order, The Priest's Tale kicked things off in a fascinating manner. The beginning of the tal added to my sense of confusion from the beginning of the novel where the overarching plot is introduced. But the end of the story left me wanting to explore more of this intriguing religion and the world of Hyperion.
The second tale was The Soldier's Tale. This one followed a military soldier of Palestinian descent (awesome!!!) who falls in love with a mysterious woman he meats during a training simulation. A lot of the futuristic technology and weaponry is present in this tale, so I unfortunately the tale suffered from a lack of imagery and detail to me. But it has a really solid twist at the end which had me quite shocked.
Next was The Poet's Tale, which was somewhat interesting and presented more intrigue regarding Hyperion and the Shrike. Just solid altogether, with a good ending especially.
Now, the following tale was truly exceptional. The Scholar's Tale was such a a brilliant stretch of writing. Completely emotionally gut-wrenching. I thought it was perfect, and almost makes this book reading just to experience that story.
The fifth story was The Detective's Story. Nothing outstanding. And actually pretty weird. A woman falling in love with an AI inhabiting the body of a human. Or at least I think that's what was going on. Pretty forgettable.
The final story was The Consul's Tale. A decent look at some of the oppression by the Hegemony, and another love story in a sense. The story ultimately provided a better look at the working factions of this fictional universe and the motivations and intentions of said factions. Or at least that's my perception. If you can't tell already, this book was definitely confusing and overwhelming.
I'm still glad I read this book even if it didn't live up to the hype. Perhaps I could've set better expectations for myself had I know the structure of the book. Anyways, decent read. I can see why people like it, but I won't be reading more of the Hyperion series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, and Gore
Moderate: Body horror
mice_are_nice's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Grief, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Drug use, Ableism, and Chronic illness
Minor: Child death
powellki's review against another edition
Boring as fuck, language is old and I can tell it was published the same year I was born. Chapters are ridiculously long, to the point it should be noted it's basically 7 short stories with only a semi-locked in plot for the rest of the book. Hard pass on the Jesus allegory of the first story where the Jesuit Priest keeps calling a group of people "small re***ds" and comparing them to children. Only made it slightly into story 2 when the sex scene was just so laughable that I couldn't continue. There was no way the position being described could be performed if the two people are in the stated positions (or unless the female was a.) an illusion, b.) a contortionist, or c.) just dislocating her arm to perform said acts). -10/10 do not recommend. Don't see why it's considered a "pillar of Sci-Fi."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Ableism, Body shaming, War, Sexual content, Self harm, Murder, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Body horror, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Torture, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicide, Slavery, Medical trauma, and Medical content
mheath31's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It's the best sci-fi I've ever read. BUT do not go out and start reading this book right away. If you're seeing this review, you've probably read some things about being in the right mindset for this book. You've probably seen words like "disturbing" or maybe even "horrifying."
It's pretty much all true, but I think I might've made it worse in my head? It's hard to tell now that I'm on the other side, living this post-Hyperion life. If you've read anything about this book, you know it's a collection of short stories within the same universe revolving around the world of Hyperion and the mystical Shrike creature that promises to bring pain to humanity.
The first two stories, are probably the most graphic / grotesque. I learned my lesson about reading it at night. I'd say, if the Shrike shows up, just put the book down and go to bed.
The other thing about this book is that it's hard sci fi. I'll admit that I got a little confused by some of the players and concepts at the end. I'm actually excited to loan it out so that I can get insight from another reader. I'll also probably read it again. There's a ton of focus on time and a few theories within the book that aren't cleared up in the end, but I suspect to resolve in the second book.
In summary, walk, don't run, to pick up Hyperion. And by walk, I mean, walk slowly whilst preparing yourself for some intensity and some very violent scenes. But, ultimately, get ready for some great writing and amazing storytelling.
It's pretty much all true, but I think I might've made it worse in my head? It's hard to tell now that I'm on the other side, living this post-Hyperion life. If you've read anything about this book, you know it's a collection of short stories within the same universe revolving around the world of Hyperion and the mystical Shrike creature that promises to bring pain to humanity.
The first two stories, are probably the most graphic / grotesque. I learned my lesson about reading it at night. I'd say, if the Shrike shows up, just put the book down and go to bed.
The other thing about this book is that it's hard sci fi. I'll admit that I got a little confused by some of the players and concepts at the end. I'm actually excited to loan it out so that I can get insight from another reader. I'll also probably read it again. There's a ton of focus on time and a few theories within the book that aren't cleared up in the end, but I suspect to resolve in the second book.
In summary, walk, don't run, to pick up Hyperion. And by walk, I mean, walk slowly whilst preparing yourself for some intensity and some very violent scenes. But, ultimately, get ready for some great writing and amazing storytelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, War, Grief, Cursing, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Alcohol, Violence, Animal death, Gore, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Torture, Murder, and Medical trauma
Minor: Car accident and Pregnancy
alica2's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I feel like I always say I'm never into sci-fi novels set in space, but when it's good it's just so chef's kiss. The writing gripped me from the very beginning, and even though it took me a little while to become familiar with the terminology and setting, I never felt confused or frustrated. The universe also felt full in a way that seems difficult for many space-based sci-fis to nail properly, and I particularly enjoyed the culture-building on gravity-heavy Lusus, politics of planets in the Web vs those beyond its control, and of course descriptions of Hyperion itself (especially the grass fields with strands so tall and sharp that they can only be navigated by giant wagon-ships). It was also setting up some interesting dynamics with AI, so I'm looking forward to learning more in the sequels...
One thing that did feel kind of clunky to me was the general structure and pacing, since the story is basically just all of the main characters sharing their backstories while traveling on a (likely doomed) pilgrimage on the planet Hyperion. However, I ended up being so compelled by each character's story that it didn't matter how awkwardly the transition scenes began. All of the stories added some intriguing mystery to the pilgrimage and made the book almost feel like a thriller. Also Sol's story made me cry ;3;
Another drawback is that the story isn't actually complete in book 1, which I guess is acceptable since I knew this was part of a series, but I was still kind of expecting the main plot to have some sort of wrap-up. There were also some slurs that I was not expecting (the main one I can think of right now is the r-slur, and there was also possibly the f-slur). I think there were only a handful of instances of them, but they were still jarring.
One thing that did feel kind of clunky to me was the general structure and pacing, since the story is basically just all of the main characters sharing their backstories while traveling on a (likely doomed) pilgrimage on the planet Hyperion. However, I ended up being so compelled by each character's story that it didn't matter how awkwardly the transition scenes began. All of the stories added some intriguing mystery to the pilgrimage and made the book almost feel like a thriller. Also Sol's story made me cry ;3;
Another drawback is that the story isn't actually complete in book 1, which I guess is acceptable since I knew this was part of a series, but I was still kind of expecting the main plot to have some sort of wrap-up. There were also some slurs that I was not expecting (the main one I can think of right now is the r-slur, and there was also possibly the f-slur). I think there were only a handful of instances of them, but they were still jarring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Dementia
Moderate: Gore
clemencepct's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Gore
bandolyre's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Depressing Canterbury Tales in Space, what more could you ask for?
The story is told in a series of vignettes, one from each character's point of view. Some are very serious, some lighthearted, but ultimately all are tragic in their own ways and help develop the world of the Hegemony and the story of Hyperion and The Shrike.
The book is absolutely magnificent in its story telling: each character feels totally unique in their storytelling style, so that the book feels like it has 6 authors instead of one, but the cohesion of these stories' intersections is something special.
There is one particular vignette that has haunted me for days since I finished the book:the story of Rachel and Sol Weintraub absolutely destroyed me as a parent to a young child. I can't think of the last time I was moved by a book so much.
Read Hyperion; don't not read Hyperion. You'll enjoy it if you like:
- space travel time dilation hijinks
- razorblades the space monster
- Persian space marines
- star ships made out of trees
- drunken poetry
- creepy crucifixion imagery
It's a wild ride and I really enjoyed it.
The story is told in a series of vignettes, one from each character's point of view. Some are very serious, some lighthearted, but ultimately all are tragic in their own ways and help develop the world of the Hegemony and the story of Hyperion and The Shrike.
The book is absolutely magnificent in its story telling: each character feels totally unique in their storytelling style, so that the book feels like it has 6 authors instead of one, but the cohesion of these stories' intersections is something special.
There is one particular vignette that has haunted me for days since I finished the book:
Read Hyperion; don't not read Hyperion. You'll enjoy it if you like:
- space travel time dilation hijinks
- razorblades the space monster
- Persian space marines
- star ships made out of trees
- drunken poetry
- creepy crucifixion imagery
It's a wild ride and I really enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, War, Child death, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Genocide, Medical trauma, and Sexual content
luketheduke022's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I think it deserved the Hugo/Nebula when it was published for its originality, but it hasn't aged well at all. Read it for the historical value, not as a shining example of strong Sci Fi...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, War, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship
It's worth reading! Just a bit of a slog for me.missdanielle's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Violence
garrettrook's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Sexual content