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laurelcloud 's review for:
Hyperion
by Dan Simmons
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
I have complicated feelings about this book. This thing felt never-ending, and not in a good way. I mean, it IS a very long book but it also manages to be incredibly uninteresting for almost that entire time, it's kind of impressive how boring it is.
And yet! I have to admit, it's pretty much only the concept of the Shrike that really kept me going. I freaking LOVE the concept. This creature sounds amazing and I genuinely might continue on with this series despite my dislike of it for the Shrike alone. I want to know more!
But the dislike is BIG. This book is heavily racist, heavily misogynist, so extremely anti-Indigenous that it frankly makes me sick. It's ableist, it's zionist, it's Islamophobic, pedophilic, it's truly patriarchal white supremacist colonizer sludge. BUT.... The Ousters give me hope. I'm a little conflicted because this book was so deeply offensive all the way through... And then we got to the Consul's story and he has this great insight into Ouster culture which makes me think, or at least hope, that it was kind of The Point for the book to be as politically and culturally backward as it was for the Ousters, who seem to be much more ethical and empathetic, to come into the story and fix the way things are? I was surprised by how uninventive and unchanged the world and culture seemed in this distant future setting, but maybe the Ousters are able to fix this or at least show a different culture that was able to evolve and creature a better society. Maybe I'm being naive here, but I do see a way forward where this series can redeem itself.
This book also isn't particularly well written. To me this felt a lot more like background ideas that someone would write for all their characters that really didn't need to be so fleshed out and should not have made the final cut. This book was ENTIRELY prologue. Nothing happens. It's all backstory. And backstory for absolutely unbearable characters, at that. I didn't like any of them except maybe Kassad sometimes. I found it strangely beautiful that in such a racist book there existed a Palestinian character in like the 2700s? 2800s? 3000s? Not sure on the year but this was a deeply meaningful inclusion. His story was also, in my opinion, far and away the best of them all. Weird, sure. And strangely horny, too, though I found that surprisingly true of the whole book. It would have been great if a single character had safe sex but that does not happen even once. At least there were also several unplanned pregnancies that followed, that was realistic, though upsetting.
Because the author was so insistent on name-dropping Keats at every turn (very, very annoying), I decided to read the poem Hyperion by Keats after finishing the book, thinking I'd find some hints of anything there but they truly have nothing in common at all. I found it strange that the author used this as the title at all. They both mention clouds more frequently than most other texts? That's about it as far as I could tell. The poem was pretty though, despite the abrupt unfinished non-ending. But really, what is the author's deal with Keats? He's a fine poet but this book has nothing to do with that, we're in space about to start an interstellar war with Edward Scissorhands the God. Why is Keats here?
Dude, that melanin pill though. ☠️☠️ I don't even know what to say about that except Yikes. But I could not not mention it. I'm still cringing just at the thought.
I truly despise most of the characters in this book more than words can say. If I ran across Merin Aspic in real life, I'd kill him with my bare hands. I hate Sol, I hate Martin, I hate Father Hoyt, Brawne sucks. I don't know enough about Het Masteen to say, the Consul is iffy, and Kassad I'm sort of okay with. And I still somehow want to read more of this series. Maybe that says more about me and my affinity for science fiction at any cost though. I don't recommend this to anyone but the most avid of science fiction readers and even then, you can take it or leave it. It's a massive book, it's a slog to get through, and I don't even know if it's worth it. The end was one of the worst book endings I've ever read in my life. They fucking linked arms and sang the wizard of oz song? On their pilgrimage to their deaths? What an utter embarrassment to this author. I would be MORTIFIED if I wrote something so shit. But maybe I should be mortified that I read it and haven't yet been put off. If I read the second book, I'll come back and give an update on whether or not it actually was worth it.
And yet! I have to admit, it's pretty much only the concept of the Shrike that really kept me going. I freaking LOVE the concept. This creature sounds amazing and I genuinely might continue on with this series despite my dislike of it for the Shrike alone. I want to know more!
But the dislike is BIG. This book is heavily racist, heavily misogynist, so extremely anti-Indigenous that it frankly makes me sick. It's ableist, it's zionist, it's Islamophobic, pedophilic, it's truly patriarchal white supremacist colonizer sludge. BUT.... The Ousters give me hope. I'm a little conflicted because this book was so deeply offensive all the way through... And then we got to the Consul's story and he has this great insight into Ouster culture which makes me think, or at least hope, that it was kind of The Point for the book to be as politically and culturally backward as it was for the Ousters, who seem to be much more ethical and empathetic, to come into the story and fix the way things are? I was surprised by how uninventive and unchanged the world and culture seemed in this distant future setting, but maybe the Ousters are able to fix this or at least show a different culture that was able to evolve and creature a better society. Maybe I'm being naive here, but I do see a way forward where this series can redeem itself.
This book also isn't particularly well written. To me this felt a lot more like background ideas that someone would write for all their characters that really didn't need to be so fleshed out and should not have made the final cut. This book was ENTIRELY prologue. Nothing happens. It's all backstory. And backstory for absolutely unbearable characters, at that. I didn't like any of them except maybe Kassad sometimes. I found it strangely beautiful that in such a racist book there existed a Palestinian character in like the 2700s? 2800s? 3000s? Not sure on the year but this was a deeply meaningful inclusion. His story was also, in my opinion, far and away the best of them all. Weird, sure. And strangely horny, too, though I found that surprisingly true of the whole book. It would have been great if a single character had safe sex but that does not happen even once. At least there were also several unplanned pregnancies that followed, that was realistic, though upsetting.
Because the author was so insistent on name-dropping Keats at every turn (very, very annoying), I decided to read the poem Hyperion by Keats after finishing the book, thinking I'd find some hints of anything there but they truly have nothing in common at all. I found it strange that the author used this as the title at all. They both mention clouds more frequently than most other texts? That's about it as far as I could tell. The poem was pretty though, despite the abrupt unfinished non-ending. But really, what is the author's deal with Keats? He's a fine poet but this book has nothing to do with that, we're in space about to start an interstellar war with Edward Scissorhands the God. Why is Keats here?
Dude, that melanin pill though. ☠️☠️ I don't even know what to say about that except Yikes. But I could not not mention it. I'm still cringing just at the thought.
I truly despise most of the characters in this book more than words can say. If I ran across Merin Aspic in real life, I'd kill him with my bare hands. I hate Sol, I hate Martin, I hate Father Hoyt, Brawne sucks. I don't know enough about Het Masteen to say, the Consul is iffy, and Kassad I'm sort of okay with. And I still somehow want to read more of this series. Maybe that says more about me and my affinity for science fiction at any cost though. I don't recommend this to anyone but the most avid of science fiction readers and even then, you can take it or leave it. It's a massive book, it's a slog to get through, and I don't even know if it's worth it. The end was one of the worst book endings I've ever read in my life. They fucking linked arms and sang the wizard of oz song? On their pilgrimage to their deaths? What an utter embarrassment to this author. I would be MORTIFIED if I wrote something so shit. But maybe I should be mortified that I read it and haven't yet been put off. If I read the second book, I'll come back and give an update on whether or not it actually was worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Colonisation
Moderate: Pedophilia