El primer libro me gustó mucho, te lo va contando todo desde el punto de vista de los protagonistas ( los peregrinos ), se hace muy entretenido de leer, ciertamente algunas historias podrán gustar más que otras. Pero el conjunto es muy bueno.

El segundo libro me gustó bastante menos, me pareció muy confuso la manera que tiene el autor de explicar la trama. Los cambios en la linea temporal lían bastante.... Aunque ciertas partes de libro ayudan a tener una visión más completa del universo de Hyperion, especialmente sus mundos.

Hyperion
Seven hundred years in the future mankind is dispersed throughout the galaxy. Old Earth is long gone, the victim of an unfortunate incident involving a miniature black hole. The core of the Hegemony, the government of most of humanity, consists of the WorldWeb; planets that are connected by instantaneous transportation devices called farcasters. Planets that are not yet connected by farcaster must be reached by starship. Although most starships are equipped with faster-than-light Hawking drives, travel between the stars still requires a significant amount of time.

The story centers around the colonial planet of Hyperion; a backwater world outside of the WorldWeb. The planet is well known for the mysterious "Time Tombs" that are surrounded by an anti-entropic force field (which actually causes the Time Tombs to move backward through time) and the creature known as the Shrike. The Shrike is a horrifying four-armed monstrosity that has glowing crystalline eyes and is covered in metallic blades and thorns. The Shrike has been limited to the area immediately around the Time Tombs for centuries but has recently begun to range farther and farther from them. The creature is worshiped by the powerful Church of the Shrike, which believes that the Shrike will be instrumental in the end of mankind. Until recently the Church had sponsored pilgrimages to the Time Tombs. Many of these pilgrimages ended without any survivors. With the Shrike's newfound mobility indicating that it may finally begin the Apocalypse, the pilgrimage that comprises most of the book may very well be the last.

Unlike prior pilgrimages, none of the current group of seven pilgrims is a member of the Shrike Church, although all have some connection to Hyperion or to the Shrike. Like the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, each pilgrim tells his or her story. The stories are what make Hyperion really interesting. Some are told in the first person while others are told in the third person. One is told as a series of journal entries while another is told according to a person's stream of consciousness. Some of the stories are filled with action, a couple are more horrific, and a couple are heartbreaking. The motive and character of each pilgrim is exposed as his or her story is told. The stories build on each other, gradually revealing more and more about the nature of the Hegemony and about the role of Hyperion and the Shrike in the fate of humanity. Also revealed is the basic relationship that humanity has with the highly evolved artificial intelligences (AIs) that form the TechnoCore. Once slaves to humanity, the AIs of the Core declared independence centuries before the opening of Hyperion, declaring themselves as allies and friends to the Hegemony of Man instead. At least that's what the AIs claim. There are factions within the Core that see humanity as a parasite and a distraction from their goal of developing an Ultimate Intelligence; effectively a deus ex machina.

In addition to the Shrike, the Hegemony now finds itself threatened by the Ousters; a lost branch of mankind. As humanity left the doomed Earth for other inhabitable worlds, the Ousters refused to be dependent on the Core's technology, choosing to cut their ties with the rest of mankind and to dwell between the stars in vast fleets. The Ousters particularly abhor the Core-controlled farcaster system.

The story is grand in its scope and Simmons' worldbuilding is some of the best I've encountered. To top it off, Simmons doesn't forget to give the reader a cast of interesting, fully fleshed out people. I've read too many science fiction novels written by authors that were so fascinated by the fictional worlds they created that they forgot to give us a plot or characters that we'll care about.

The Fall of Hyperion
The Fall of Hyperion is narrated very differently and has a broader focus than Hyperion. The viewpoint character is a "cybrid"; a being whose body is fully human but whose intelligence is an AI that is shared between its body and the Core. This particular cybrid, a replica of the 19th century poet John Keats, has the ability to dream events happening elsewhere. It is through these dreams that we find out what's happening to the pilgrims featured in the first novel. Although the pilgrims' experiences continue to be an important part of the story, much of the novel's focus is on the organization of Hegemony itself, the conflict between the factions within the Core, and the invasion by the Ousters.

Many of the mysteries and apparent contradictions introduced in the first novel are explained in this book. After the buildup that the Shrike received in Hyperion I had been certain that it would be impossible for Dan Simmons to reveal its origin and purpose without disappointing the reader. Not only was I not disappointed, but the truth behind the creature turned out to be even more interesting than I thought it could be. Even after we know what the Shrike is, the creature loses none of its menace.

The Fall of Hyperion is even more epic in its scope than Hyperion. The story is about nothing less than the destruction of worlds, the clash of gods, and the fate of humanity. Despite this, Simmons gives us a great cast of complex, believable characters. I love a story with a noble protagonist and Simmons' books gives us several. I have a soft spot for characters who choose to face certain death because of loyalty and friendship.

Hyperion Cantos illustrates Dan Simmons' talent for prose. His writing is perfectly balanced between the bare-bones simplicity of an Orson Scott Card and the over-abundant descriptiveness of a Greg Bear. While I enjoy Card's writing, I feel that Bear's approach meanders too much from the plot and the characters. Although the worlds that Simmons has created, Hyperion's Valley of the Time Tombs, and the Shrike are all lovingly detailed, it's never to the point of distraction. Thanks to the grand scale of his stories and his writing style, I will definitely be seeking out more of Simmons' novels, especially the final two books of the Hyperion saga: Endymion and The Rise of Endymion.

This story is beyond amazing!
I have never read anything like it before and it totally blew my mind!!

One of the rare few books that I just couldn't put down

One of the most magical SF novels I've read. The literary framework of Chaucer used to tell this tale helped make this the best SF I read in the 90s.

En realidad són 4,5 estrellas.

"Los Cantos de Hyperion" de Dan Simmons es una obra maestra de la ciencia ficción que logra tejer una trama compleja y fascinante a través de la interconexión de historias individuales de personajes en un universo rico y detallado. Esta novela, que forma parte de una serie, se destaca por su capacidad para fusionar elementos de la mitología clásica con la ciencia ficción de manera magistral.

Al igual que en la mitología griega, donde los gigantes cayeron en una épica batalla contra los dioses olímpicos, los personajes de "Los Cantos de Hyperion" se enfrentan a desafíos titánicos y enfrentamientos de proporciones épicas en su lucha por la supervivencia y el entendimiento de los enigmas del universo.

"Pero mientras la faena es pesada y repetitiva, según descubrí, la mente no sólo está en libertad de viajar a climas más imaginativos, sino que huye a planos superiores.

Por otra parte, la alusión que hace el autor con la canción "Somewhere over the rainbow" del clásico filme "El Mago de Oz" se entrelaza sutilmente en la trama de la novela. Al igual que el arcoíris representa un puente entre mundos, las peregrinaciones de los personajes a través del espacio y el tiempo en Hyperion son análogas a esa búsqueda de un lugar mejor, un destino más allá de las adversidades y desafíos. Así como Dorothy anhela un lugar donde los sueños se hacen realidad, los personajes persiguen sus propios anhelos y deseos en un universo en constante cambio y peligro. La canción de Judy Garland sirve como un recordatorio constante de la esperanza y el anhelo de un futuro mejor, un tema que resuena a lo largo de la obra de Simmons.

"Las turbas tienen pasiones, no cerebros".


Lo que me llama la atención, de manera especial es la manera en que Simmons aborda cuestiones contemporáneas (la novela fue escrita en los noventa) y las proyecta en un futuro distante (no tan distante). Simmons nos confronta con dilemas éticos que desafían las percepciones convencionales del bien y el mal. Los personajes enfrentan decisiones difíciles y a menudo se ven obligados a cuestionar sus creencias y valores fundamentales. La ambigüedad moral es una constante a lo largo de la novela,

En resumen, "Los Cantos de Hyperion" es una obra que trasciende los confines de la ciencia ficción, mezclando la épica de la mitología griega con la exploración de los límites del conocimiento y la condición humana en un futuro distópico.

Simmons logra así crear una experiencia literaria que es tanto intelectualmente estimulante como emocionalmente conmovedora. TOTALMENTE RECOMENTABLE. Entra dentro de mis tops de sci-fi. Así pues continuaremos con la siguiente parte "Endymion".

"...cuando todo lo demás es polvo - la lealtad a los seres humanos es lo único que podemos llevarnos a la tumba. La fe -la verdadera fe- consistía en confiar en ese amor."

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's very well written and in places I thought it was outstanding, but every now and then I would hit a patch that really wasn't doing it for me. Being the omnibus edition this is a novel of two parts and although the story is one, the two novels are presented rather differently.

Volume one is very much sectioned up into separate life stories told by the main characters of the book, some were fantastic while others a bit more of a slog. I have to say I'm not much of a fan of this format as it often makes me feel like I reading a collection of short stories rather than a novel and had the stories been revealed in a more integrated manner they may have balanced each other out and been more enjoyable.

Volume two not only expands and focuses on the most enjoyable parts of the first half but also continues the story in a conventional manner, as such I enjoyed the second novel far more than the first. I guess you could read the second novel on it's own but you would be missing out on a huge amount of character development so it really is best to read the two together.

So which aspects of the story did I struggle with? It has lots of random poetry thrown in. Given that one of the main characters is an AI persona derived from the real world poet John Keats this is understandable, but I'm really not a fan of poetry and don't really expect it in the middle of a SciFi novel. It was a distraction that pulled me out of the story every time as I had to decipher what the hell it was supposed to mean and I eventually found myself just skipping over any verse that appeared mid chapter as it really wasn't necessary to the story. There is also a lot of religion woven into the story due to several characters in the book being priests and the story itself having religious tones, but again it's just not my thing and at this point in our future I find it hard to believe that anyone would still be peddling this nonsense.

Everything else was fantastic, well written, imaginative and well fleshed out, but those niggles will probably stop me from reading another Dan Simmons novel.

Primo romanzo del ciclo fantascientifico Canti di Hyperion, ma per le modalità di costruzione il finale risulta sì aperto al seguito, ma conservando un buon tasso di autoconclusione, rendendo piacevole una lettura del ciclo anche non continuata. E piacevole è dire poco, dato che il libro ti ammalia, ti calamita alle sue pagine, che si consumano in un soffio. Infatti il primo capitolo, più che fare avanzare la trama (si ha infatti solamente il viaggio dalla nave-albero templare alle tombe del tempo su Hyperion, viaggio abbastanza lineare, nonostante gli imprevisti), fornisce gli antefatti della vicenda, in una costruzione a tasselli davvero ammirabile. Nel corso del viaggio infatti i membri della compagnia raccontano la loro storia, o meglio, cosa della loro vita li ha resi eleggibili per il pellegrinaggio alle tombe del tempo. Dal prete che trova una misteriosa tribù asessuata, infestata da un parassita cruciforme e adoranti lo Shrike, al militare che incontra l’amore nei simulatori di battaglie storiche e scopre poi essere una delle forme dello Shrike, dal poeta vecchissimo che riesce a scrivere vera poesia solo quando lo Shrike trucida le persone sul pianeta (o meglio sembrano i suoi Canti ad averlo spinto), allo studioso la cui figlia rimane colpita da un’anomalia studiando le tombe del tempo e si ritrova così a ringiovanire ogni giorno invece di invecchiare, con però anche la memoria riazzerata all’epoca, dall’investigatrice che finisce per proteggere un cyborg dal Tecnonucleo, divulgando lui tutte le informazioni su quest’ultimo, compreso il fatto che esso voglia distruggere le tombe del tempo, essendo l’unica incognita nelle loro previsioni sul futuro (e sull’eventuale eliminazione degli umanoidi), dal console, che si rivela un doppiogiochista ai danni dell’Egemonia, essendo alleato con gli Ouster alla misteriosa cassa del templare, l’unico che non racconta la sua storia, essendo scomparso.
Ogni storia ha un tono e uno stile diverso, offrendoci così tanti romanzi in uno, ciascuno estremamente avvincente (sia per come è scritto, sia per il graduale svelarsi del mistero che innerva ciascun racconto) e di grande originalità. Questi in più forniscono ciascuno un piccolo tassello per ricomporre il mosaico del mistero delle tombe del tempo e dello Shrike, con sullo sfondo una lotta tra Tecnonucelo, Egemonia e Ouster, da cui dipenderà il futuro del cosmo. Proprio il mosaico incompleto potrebbe celare la risposta, ma ogni tessera fornita dai protagonisti non fornisce che una minima parte dell’intera immagine, che si concretizza piano piano, ma è ancora bel lungi dall’essere chiara alla fine del romanzo.
Ulteriore tensione è aggiunta dal fatto che ciascun personaggio a un interesse diverso nelle tombe del tempo e nello Shrike, interessi non sempre compatibili, che prefigurano quindi già lo scontro. Se quindi il piccolo mistero delle singole storie mantiene sempre la suspence al massimo, il loro interconnettersi, la diffidenza tra i personaggi e il grande mistero dello Shrike rendono elettrica anche la cornice, per una lettura che, complice anche lo stile curato e capace di evitare certe facili sciatterie, emoziona profondamente.

Finalmente l'ho finito.
Francamente un mappazzone. Non dico che sia da buttare, perchè comunque ha alcune idee geniali e si respira epicità tra le pagine, ma sono immerse in un mare di noia complice la scrittura di Simmons, estremamente barocca, ripetitiva e spesso incomprensibile.

In generale non amo la fantascienza così "spinta", preferisco quando si rimane su territori pseudo plausibili come la saga di Luna di Ian McDonald, Expanse di Corey o Martian di Andy Weir. Questo eccesso di fantasia di Hyperion l'ho trovato un po trash, ma come detto forse è una cosa che semplicemente a me non piace.

Questo malloppone contiene i primi due libri della saga, ho preferito il secondo perchè viene data qualche risposta ed è più strutturato rispetto ai racconti del primo, ma in generale tutto il libro ho dovuto leggerlo a spezzoni (me lo porto dietro da un anno) perchè dopo qualche pagina mi veniva a noia.

Como el cerrojo de un penal. Lo que uno espera tras enfrentarse a una obra de esta envergadura en un idioma impropio es que, por lo menos, le guste para que el cerebro compense el esfuero y el tiempo dedicados. Otras veces el resultado no ha sido tan bueno y uno tiende a deprimirse y pensar cosas feas, pero lo de esta vez ha sido arrebatador. Hoy tenía intención de leer apenas una horita y ya terminarlo el fin de semana, pero no he podido evitar continuar hasta que se han terminado las páginas, pasando de la humedad ocular a la carcajada breve un par de veces mientras el vello de mis brazos era incapaz de volver a su posición normal tras erizarse con violencia.

Y mira que llevaba alguna gente dándome la chapa durante mucho tiempo con que tenía que leerlas, que le hacían sombra a Dune, que estaba perdiendo el tiempo con otras cosas menores, y yo ahí, a mi pera porque las presiones sociales son apenas brisas que pasan por mi vida de ermitaño dedicado al conocimiento y... Se me está yendo de las manos. Lo que quiero decir realmente es que es una de las mejores recomendaciones que me han hecho jamás, y que le gustará a cualquiera que alucine con la ciencia ficción en su vertiente de ópera espacial, así como a los seguidores de la Historia y las Artes musicales, especialmente a los egiptólogos (esas Tumbas del Tiempo) y los pianistas, porque el autor no ha escatimado en absoluto a la hora de documentarse sobre estas cuestiones. Creo que jamás vi semejante trabajo tan bien plasmado.

Las historias individuales de los protagonistas que se ven en el primer libro, magníficas, ya las hubiera querido la Dragonlance para sí (y mira que a mí me gustó la Dragonlance en mi juventud); la evolución de su historia conjunta y todo lo que pasa en la Hegemonía mientras tanto, apabullante; pero el desenlace, lo bien hilado que está todo sin que se le olvide coser unos detalles con otros... Magistral, no tengo palabras, y lo peor es que ni siquiera puedo acusarle de usar un Deus ex Machina (cough cough) porque él mismo te lo confiesa y te lo tienes que tragar de lo bueno que es.

Tan solo espero que los otros dos libros de los Cantos me apasionen tanto. Estos han sido, indudablemente, un listón que costará mucho superar. Y eso es bueno.

На „Книжни Криле” вече сме писали за „Петата купа” и „Лятото на страха” от Дан Симънс, но дори и да сте чели гореспоменатите книги, повярвайте ми, нищо не е в състояние да ви подготви за това, което ви очаква в „Хиперион”. Чета тази убийствена тетралогия, събрана в два тома с твърди корици, пълноправна (и дори задължителна!) част от поредицата „Велики майстори на фентъзи и фантастика” на изд. „Бард”. Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле": https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...

Astonishing...
Poetry and Science Fiction mixed together, like an incredibly beautiful picture that paints itself slowly before your eyes. I'd give it six stars if I could, this is a Masterpiece not just of Sci-Fi but of contemporary literature.

This particular edition is unfortunately filled with typos--pretty annoying.

La miglior saga fantastica che abbia mai letto.
Scritto magnificamente dalla prima all'ultima parola, zeppo di personaggi memorabili e di idee a dir poco geniali.
La Fantascienza al suo massimo.
E no, non sono d'accordo sul fatto che i seguiti non sarebbero all'altezza dei primi due volumi: Endymion e Il risveglio di Endymion devono essere letti per comprendere appieno le vicende e godere fino in fondo della smisurata inventiva di questo straordinario scrittore.