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“It occurs to me that our survival may depend upon our talking to one another.”
A group of seven pilgrims are sent to the planet Hyperion, a colony world guarded by the inscrutable killing machine known as the Shrike. During the journey, the pilgrims, each of whom has a personal link to Hyperion, begin to tell each other their stories, and realize that things are much more complicated than they thought. Overall, the series is inspired by the unfinished epic poem Hyperion by John Keats. The first book is modeled after The Canterbury Tales, especially in how each of the pilgrims has an opportunity to tell an individual story. There was a time in my life when classic science fiction like this would seem too dense and feel inaccessible to me, but I found myself easily falling into this world despite my struggles with reading this exact book when I was younger. You need to be patient with this book at times. This book could be considered a collection of novellas or short stories interconnected with a bigger narrative that is woven throughout, and readers will need to exercise some patience when the narrative switches from story to story, and perspective to perspective. I had trouble attaching myself to the world and the characters at first, but the second that the characters sat down to tell their own stories, I was hooked. Every word is precise and weaves the world of this story in a way that captures the reader each time, which prevents the reader from drifting off between short stories. Each tale weaves together a larger narrative while exploring one character at a time. I loved the mystery and horror elements to this classic science fiction story. The Scholar’s Tale was uniquely intriguing and heartbreaking, I loved the exploration of Rachel’s character and her condition. While I did love these individual tales, I only disliked and felt like the pacing was halted with the final one, The Consul’s Tale. It just felt like it halted the story’s pace right at the climax and didn’t realistically feel like the time for another character to tell another story. It didn’t help that the final tale was the weakest of them all. It’s hard to rate this book because it truly is the first half of a greater story. That being said, the first two-thirds of this book were the strongest, and each tale fleshed out a character in the modern timeline, with the conclusion of every tale transitioning the story into the second book as the characters reach their destinations. This book won’t be for everyone, and it should be seen as half of a larger story. I enjoyed this book, and I’m curious to see if they’ll continue this quality of writing into the second instalment and the climax of the story.
“In such seconds of decision entire futures are made.”
A group of seven pilgrims are sent to the planet Hyperion, a colony world guarded by the inscrutable killing machine known as the Shrike. During the journey, the pilgrims, each of whom has a personal link to Hyperion, begin to tell each other their stories, and realize that things are much more complicated than they thought. Overall, the series is inspired by the unfinished epic poem Hyperion by John Keats. The first book is modeled after The Canterbury Tales, especially in how each of the pilgrims has an opportunity to tell an individual story. There was a time in my life when classic science fiction like this would seem too dense and feel inaccessible to me, but I found myself easily falling into this world despite my struggles with reading this exact book when I was younger. You need to be patient with this book at times. This book could be considered a collection of novellas or short stories interconnected with a bigger narrative that is woven throughout, and readers will need to exercise some patience when the narrative switches from story to story, and perspective to perspective. I had trouble attaching myself to the world and the characters at first, but the second that the characters sat down to tell their own stories, I was hooked. Every word is precise and weaves the world of this story in a way that captures the reader each time, which prevents the reader from drifting off between short stories. Each tale weaves together a larger narrative while exploring one character at a time. I loved the mystery and horror elements to this classic science fiction story. The Scholar’s Tale was uniquely intriguing and heartbreaking, I loved the exploration of Rachel’s character and her condition. While I did love these individual tales, I only disliked and felt like the pacing was halted with the final one, The Consul’s Tale. It just felt like it halted the story’s pace right at the climax and didn’t realistically feel like the time for another character to tell another story. It didn’t help that the final tale was the weakest of them all. It’s hard to rate this book because it truly is the first half of a greater story. That being said, the first two-thirds of this book were the strongest, and each tale fleshed out a character in the modern timeline, with the conclusion of every tale transitioning the story into the second book as the characters reach their destinations. This book won’t be for everyone, and it should be seen as half of a larger story. I enjoyed this book, and I’m curious to see if they’ll continue this quality of writing into the second instalment and the climax of the story.
“In such seconds of decision entire futures are made.”