Az első rész ott zárult, hogy a zarándokok kézen fogva elindultak végzetük felé egy toszom nagy lépcsőn, egyfajta fiók-katarzisban részeltetve az olvasót. A második rész meg úgy kezdődik, hogy mindenki, de tényleg mindenki baromi nagy szarban van.

Ha össze kéne foglalnom ezt a kötetet, így tenném:
Hét ember a galaxis ánuszgyűrűjétől pár centire meg kell oldjon egy kérdést, mert különben az egész emberiség kipusztul. Ám mivel igazából a kérdést sem értik, ráadásul egy lázálomszerű, legyőzhetetlen entitás* is settenkedik körülöttük, ezért nagyjából annyi esélyük van, mint galambtojásnak a kerületi pingpong-versenyen. Ebből fakadóan a regény alapérzete a reménytelenség – hogy az ember nálánál sokkal nagyobb, felmérhetetlen erők játékszere, muslica a szélviharban. Mindez pedig bő 600 oldalon, hm, hát nem egy kéjutazás. Nem csoda, ha ez a permanens reménytelenségérzet belőlem kétfajta olvasói stratégiát váltott ki. Az egyik, hogy időnként inkább valami mást vettem elő helyette, hisz még a kínai totális állami kontrollról olvasni is könnyedebb túra mentálisan, mint a Hyperion. A másik stratégia meg az előre menekülés. Olvasni, minél gyorsabban olvasni, hátha a végén jobbra fordulnak a dolgok. Értve ezalatt, hogy nem az emberiség egésze pusztul ki, hanem csak majdnem az egésze.

És hát lehet gyorsan olvasni. Mert magunk közt szólva: zseniális. Sok, sok, de zseniális. Mert Simmons pontosan tudja, milyen érzést akart kiváltani belőlünk, és meg is vannak az eszközei ahhoz, hogy véghez vigye rettentő tervét. Az egy dolog ugyanis, hogy ez a könyv az írói fantázia karneválja, amiből olyan világépítő erő árad, hogy a fal adja a másikat. Az is egy dolog, hogy a benne lévő metafizikai kérdések mélysége szédítő, szerintem Heidegger is kábé ilyen elgondolkodtató dolgokat akart papírra vetni, csak hát olyan unalmasan sikerült neki, hogy nem olvasta el senki. Hanem a nyelv. Pont ma került szóba – és pont egy sci-fi kapcsán – hogy a nyelv nem önmagáért való cél, hanem eszköz, aminek feladata, hogy elmondjon egy történetet, illetve újnak ható, erős érzéseket tudjon kiváltani az olvasóból. Amennyiben egy író a nyelvet mint eszközt úgy használja, hogy ezeket a feladatokat kvázi tökéletesen elvégzi, akkor az ég adta egy világon semmi nem indokolja, hogy ne nevezzük műveit szépirodalomnak.

Ilyen értelemben pedig ki merem jelenteni, hogy a Hyperion-sorozat a XX. századi szépirodalom egyik csúcsteljesítménye.

* A Shrike. És nekem csak most esett le, hogy a Shrike magyarul tövisszúró gébicset jelent. Ami több mint stílszerű. És nézegetve ezt a képet, nos, ez a madár tényleg egy igazi szörny.

WOW. I read Hyperion a few years ago, and I always intended to pick up this book.

Where Hyperion was a collection of several impactful yet self-contained stories, The Fall escalates everything into a much grander scale. I've never read a book that dives so deeply into religion, morals, the meaning and core of humankind, the implications that AI could have on future human development...

Also, Meina Gladstone. She's is one of the most formidable badasses in the history of fiction. Atlas had the weight of the world on his shoulder - this woman had the weight of thousands of worlds on her shoulders, and she handled it with honor, dignity, and grace.

Longer review to come when my mind stop spinning from how amazing this novel was.

5+ stars and highly recommended to everyone! Both this and the prior book!

After enjoying Hyperion more then I thought I would because it turned out to be a book you can think about a little as well as just enjoy for the story, this was a let down. The whole Canterbury Tales deal was jettisoned, and it was mostly running around and space battles and Keats (yeah, I'm not sure why Keats either... I can't even think of a reason that there would be an organic shift from Chaucer to Keats). So basically what you got was your average space opera mixed in with some literary allusions that don't fully connect and also time travel, which never really bodes well for anyone (except Marty McFly). As an entertainment it's okay, which is why the two stars.

(you know what's funny, I think that he could have stuck with Chaucer and really done something with The Parlement/Parliament of Birds/Fowls/Foules, the ideas of love and competition and searching for knowledge and partnership and nature and hierarchy would have worked well with the plot. I mean, yeah, a little bit of a push but way less so then Keats (who I might mention is a character in the book, admittedly he was in the first one too, but I chose to ignore that since I could) and it would have been so elegant)

On re-read this did not hold up for me but that is mostly because I know more about my reading taste. I still enjoy the plot and world in this duology and I like this installment in the duology more than the first one but I found that knowing what was to come made re-reading worse and not better. I noticed character inconsistencies and some potential plot holes. Nothing that completely ruined my experience but having that paired with a writing style that is a bit denser than my personal preference and all the poetry and Keats's references there is not way this could be a 5 star book by my standards today.

DNF 66%.

A masterclass on how to say as little as possible with as many words as possible.

I heavily criticized the previous book for having too many sub-plots that went nowhere, but at least there was plot to these subplot. This book is mostly one narrative told from two general perspectives, either the pilgrims on Hyperion or John Keats (the 3rd) in the Web. As far as plots go, there is one, but it's slow, bloated, told with too much distance from actual events (people talking to each other about something interesting that happens elsewhere, instead of letting the reader be present in that more-interesting elsewhere), and paused over and over for random discussions of nothing in particular.

There's a war going on. We know because lots of people tell us about it, but we see none of it. Which could be fine as background for the real plot (if it existed), but it takes up way too much of the book. We have people sitting in a room, discussion strategy and military options, and it's not that bad but it just doesn't fucking end.

I'm not against books with little plot -- they are usually the best. But that requires something else to fill the void: interesting characters, interesting conversations or explorations of art, science, philosophy, etc. This book may seem like it tries to do that, but it only pretends to; the endless discussions, allegedly about philosophy or religion, are nothing more than shallow references to these subjects. The author clearly loves to write, but evidently he has nothing to say.

The endless parade of literary references, which in better books would have something to do with the story, are given here (usually) for no other reason than being literary references. Something happens, then someone says "that's exactly like in [insert literary reference]", then we never hear of it again. Repeat for an entire book.

The religious discussions, which feel like they are taking the majority of the book, are completely shallow. Word after word after word, without saying ANYTHING.

Take Sol Weintraub's quest to play Abraham (very minor spoiler, and most of it is from the previous book): A voice comes to Sol in a dream, telling him (in a more-or-less quote of the bible) to go to Hyperion and sacrifice his daughter to the Shrike. Sol then begins a life-long scholarly research into the "Abraham question", regarding the morality of sacrificing one's child to God. If you thought we get to hear any kind of interesting insight, then I'm sorry to say that we don't. After years of research, Sol finds an answer: we shouldn't sacrifice people to God anymore. That's all we're told. Then Sol goes to Hyperion with his infant daughter, meets the Shrike, and tells him he will not hand over his daughter as sacrifice. Then he sees a vision of his daughter telling him to hand her over to the Shrike, so he does.
I seriously considered deleting the book at that point. And that's one of the less-terrible of the religious "allegories". Most others are worse.

The sequel to Simmons' classic Hyperion is every bit as engaging and mind-blowing as the first book. The book picks up just where Hyperion leaves off, with the pilgrims at the Time Tombs and war with the Ousters imminent. We are presented with a few new characters - a cybrid named Joseph Severn who is far more than he appears and the CEO of the Web Meina Gladstone. Severn is capable of dreaming the dreams of the pilgrims and we follow their adventures primarily through his connection to them. The story is exciting and a page turner - I risk massive spoilers by going into any details or specifics. There are lots of mind-bending concepts here - farcasting, the All Thing, the metasphere, the River Tethys, hawking drive (and an explicit admission of this homage to Stephen Hawking) - all of which add a fantastic technical edge to the book.

Without going into spoiler territory, I thought I would talk about some of the interesting themes that are addressed in the book. The organized religions here - Catholicism, the Shrike Cult and the Templars - are all interesting studies. I suspect that Simmons is himself a Catholic due to the sympathetic treatment they receive. The Templars are environmentalists (another theme I will address in a minute), whereas the Shrike Cult are fanatical pessimists. The default religion is a form of Zen Buddhism. All of the religions take a big hit in the book. I think that Simmons was trying to show how these various ways that organized religion tries to deal with a catastrophe: denying it, embracing it, trying to manipulate it, and fleeing it. The embracing and fleeing techniques seem to have been the ones that were best rewarded.

I mentioned the environmentalist bent earlier. The Templars seem to accept the judgement in the book as payment for mankind's destruction of the environment in the galaxy, going so far as to calling the human presence a cancer. As Simmons took lots of time describing the beauty of the worlds he invented such as Maui-Covenant with its motile islands replete with dolphins and whales, he also condemns harshly the destruction wrought on them by Web tourism (by extension, the destruction of various tropical paradises by mass tourism on Earth). He seems to be a bit pessimistic about our ability to change preferring a reboot.

The theme that is the most striking and perhaps the most visionary for this work of the early pre-Facebook 90s is the Web and the Core, or TechnoCore. At the heart of these two books on Hyperion is a reflection on our endorsement of technology over humanity - our willingness to give away privacy for the convenience of access to data and experiences. There is a massive warning here of the repercussions of this surrender. Given the power that Facebook (and Apple and Google and Amazon, etc) has over nearly everyone on the planet, the lesson is even more relevant now than it was in the 90s. The nightmarish use of human brain power to feed the intelligence of the Core is has been addressed in dozens of sci-fi (The Matrix being one particularly example) movies since 1990 - I wonder if Simmons was at the origin of this trope or not. In any case, it gives me pause when I think about my own personal investment in social media and its possible long-term impact. It is certainly an aspect of the book that resonates 27 years later.

As for the narrative and the writing, it is just as well-written as Hyperion with some great poetry citations from Yeats and Keats (and my favorite character, the irascible Martin Silenas). I thought that there was a moment where the text plodded a bit towards the end (Keats sections), but I cannot really offer an example. Another thing that struck me was how unpredictable the novel seemed, particularly in the middle. In any case, it did not for me take away from the overall impression I had about this book - fascinating, visionary, and entertaining, a sci-fi classic. I wonder if the two Endymion books are as good...

This is a fantastic conclusion to this first arc of the Hyperion Cantos. While not as structurally novel as Hyperion — with its varied genre and narrative styles as stories told by each of the pilgrims — The Fall of Hyperion remains a consistently compelling narrative throughout. Simmons’ writing continues to be beautifully descriptive and evocative, elevating an already enjoyable story to further heights.

There are two more very relevant characters introduced in this book: Severn and Meina Gladstone. Gladstone is the current leader of the Hegemony (which includes most of humanity and its settled planets), focusing on her dealing with the Ouster invasion as well as the larger conspiracy behind the mysteries of the Shrike and Hyperion. Her burden of knowledge about the truth of the war and the resulting conflict of having to make hard decisions and sacrifices to save humanity’s future was very compelling, exploring her character further from the glimpse we did get from the Consul in Hyperion. It was great to see her mind working through the various plans and schemes, always being a few steps ahead of everyone else.

Severn is the primary PoV for a significant portion of this book, as we see the majority of important events involving the Hegemony’s plans through his eyes but also what is happening on Hyperion after the events of the previous book through his dreams and unpredictable visions. It works as a really great device to build tension as we incrementally find out the plight of the pilgrims and their encounters with the Shrike while also concurrently getting the larger picture of the Hegemony vs. Ousters war. As a character, Severn himself is an interesting figure — he is a cybrid, a biological machine construct whose personality is tailored to fit that of a previously living person who is at odds with his dual nature. However, I would consider the things happening around him (that he views and records) as well as the answers we get about the larger conflict and the mysteries of the Shrike and Hyperion through his investigations more interesting than him as an individual character.

The depth of worldbuilding and detail in this complex and layered plot is astounding. Some of my favourite sections of the book were Severn’s conversations with the AI Ummon. Ummon reveals a lot of very interesting information and lore about the Technocore and its factions and sheds further light on the nature of the Shrike and the Time Tombs. His speech as koans and metaphorical poetry that Severn has to decipher was a great way to disguise a large handling of exposition and make it a more active part of the story, while also being able to slip in some AI comedy. The overall truth of the conflict between the Hegemony and the Ousters is revealed, as well as more about the intentions of each of the Technocore’s factions, and this makes up the central focus of the plot. Other elements such as the nature of the Shrike and the Time Tombs are left more ambiguous although we get a better understanding of their function, which works really well to maintain their mystical aspects to not completely remove that sense of mystery and wonder.

The story being told in Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion is also among my favourite explorations of personal themes. It explores what makes something or someone human, the innate traits of empathy and compassion that extoll the virtues of the human condition contrasted with cold indifference and the violence that can be perpetrated due to being seen as the other, around which hinges the central conflict of the story. Sol Weintraub's ponderings and epiphanies about the nature of human divinity and sacrifice and love are some of my favourite pages in the book.

The John Keats references were integrated well into the story and did not feel artificially stapled on. My complete lack of knowledge of the poet’s works and life story also did not feel like a hindrance, because all the relevant information was provided in the text. So those aspects of the book I actually enjoyed as well instead of feeling like the author forcing his love of Keats into the narrative, which I didn’t think was the case. I think this book even executed those elements better than the Detective’s Tale in Hyperion did, where I occasionally felt lost in the references and overfocus on Keats.

The Fall of Hyperion successfully concludes the story begun in Hyperion. The writing helps land the emotional scenes as well as the adrenaline-filled and unpredictable action scenes. The imagination needed for the vast scale of this story being told in such a compelling and cohesive manner is incredible. And there is still a lot more to be explored in these settings. All the characters get their moments to shine and the story wraps up in a fitting way, events paralleling Martin’s unfinished in-world poem, the Hyperion Cantos. The story arc told over Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion has definitely become one of the most imaginative and compelling stories I’ve read, comfortably among my favourites.

"Nurse, this patient’s chart is very confusing.”

“Which patient, Doctor?”

“Uh..Mr. Kemper. He’s the one in the vegetative state.”

“Oh, that’s a very sad and odd case.”

“According to the patient history, he was admitted a few weeks ago with cerebrospinal fluid leaking from his nose and ears, but it seemed like he should recover. But yesterday he was brought in again, barely conscious and then he lapsed into a coma. The really odd thing is that I see no signs of injury or disease.”

“That’s right, Doctor. It was a book that did this to Mr. Kemper.”

“A book? How is that possible?”

“From what we can figure out, the first incident occured after he read Hyperion by a writer named Dan Simmons. I guess it’s one of those sci-fi books and apparently the story is quite elaborate. Anyhow, Mr. Kemper had read Simmons before and knew he likes to put a lot of big ideas in his books. But this time, apparently Simmons broke into his house and managed to directly implant much of the book directly into Mr. Kemper’s brain via some kind of crude funnel device.”

“I find that highly unlikely, Nurse.”

“Most of us did, Doctor. But Mr. Kemper kept insisting that Simmons had some kind of grudge against him. He even had a note he said Simmons had left that said something like ‘Don’t you ever learn? If you keep reading my books, I’ll end you someday.’”

“Assuming that I believed this story, I guess that Kemper’s current state tells us that he didn’t heed the warning?”

“Apparently not, Doctor. His wife said she found him having convulsions and leaking brain matter out his nose and ears again. A copy of the sequel, The Fall of Hyperion was on the floor nearby.”

“I can’t believe that reading a silly sci-fi book could turn an healthy man into a turnip, Nurse.”

“Well, when they brought Kemper in, he was semiconscious and muttering. Someone wrote it down. Let see, he kept repeating words and phrases like: Shrike, Time Tombs, the Core, God, uh…no, two gods actually, farcasters, Ousters, religion, pope, death wand, space battles, interplanetary trees, old Earth, AI, mega sphere, data sphere, The Canterbury Tales, poetry, John Keats, Tree of Thorns, and Lord of Pain.”

“Jesus! What does all that mean?”

“Someone looked it up on the web and all of that is actually in the book.”

“That poor bastard. No wonder his gray matter is fried. No one could absorb all that without permanent damage.”

“Yes, I’d think that book should have some kind of warning sticker or something on it.”

“One thing I still don’t understand, Nurse. If Kemper knew that this book would probably do this to him, why did he still read it?”

“I guess he had told several people that Hyperion was just so good that he had to know how it ended, even if it killed him.”

***************************************

I think the word ‘epic’ was invented to describe this book.

What Simmons began in Hyperion finishes here with a story so sprawling and massive that it defies description. In the far future, humanity has spread to the stars, and maintains a web of worlds via ‘farcasters’. (Think Stargates.) On the planet Hyperion, mysterious tombs have been moving backwards in time and are guarded by the deadly Shrike.

Seven people were sent to Hyperion on a ‘pilgrimage’ that was almost certainly a suicide mission, but the Ousters, a segment of humanity evolving differently after centuries spent in deep space, are about to invade. The artificial intelligences of the Core that humanity depends on for predictions of future events and management of the farcaster system can’t tell what’s coming with an unknown like the Shrike and Hyperion in play.

Battles rage across space and time and the virtual reality of the data sphere as varying interests with competing agendas maneuver and betray each other as the pilgrims on Hyperion struggle to survive and finally uncover the secrets of the Shrike. But the real reasons behind the war and it’s ultimate goal are bigger and more sinister than anyone involved can imagine.

I can’t say enough good things about the story told in these first two Hyperion books. This is sci-fi at it’s best with a massive story crammed with big unique ideas and believable characters you care about. Any one of the pieces could have made a helluva book, but it takes a talent like Simmons to pull all of it together into one coherent story.

“In the end--when all else is dust--loyalty to those we love is all we can carry with us to the grave. Faith--true faith--was trusting in that love.”

Interesting... I didn't get as pulled into this one as opposed to Hyperion. Still, a solid novel as is all of Dan Simmon's books.

4.5/5

Nakon čitanja prvog dela, mislio sam da me ništa više ne može iznenaditi. Pogrešio sam. Hiperion je bio *wow*, ali ovo je jedna BOMBA od knjige. Simons je zaista genijalan autor. Skoro je nemoguće odati ovoj knjizi počasti koje zaslužuje. Nakon pozadinskih priča likova u prvom delu, ovde konačno počinje prava akcija. Simons je dozvolio svojim junacima da budu tim, pravi tim koji je osvojio moje srce. Zavoleo sam svakoga od njih, žalio zbog nekih detalja i patio za nekim od likova. Zavoleo sam čak i loše likove, pa iz toga možete videti kako ih je Simons izgradio.

Scene su tako živopisno opisane, da vam dugo nakon čitanja ostanu u glavi. Gradjenje sveta, tehnologija, scene galaktičkog rata... sve je na maksimumu kvalitetnog opisa. Simons je tako dobro isplanirao sve, da nećete verovati šta čitate i koliko daleko doseže njegovo planiranje cele radnje. Gomila je obrta u priči, iznenadjenja i mesta gde sam zinuo od čuda i neverice. Taman kada sam mislio da shvatam gde priča ide, BUM i Simons mi pokaže da nemam pojma šta je zapravo smislio. Ova priča je mešavina religija, političke, moralne, ljubavne, realne priče smeštene u daleku budućnost, jednostavno mešavina svega što čitalac voli.

Bitno je napomenuti da je potrebno dosta koncentracije za čitanje Simonsa. Prvi deo traži odredjen nivo, dok drugi zahteva punu koncentraciju. Za tren možete preleteti dosta stranica i shvatiti da niste svesni kako je došlo do odredjenih ishoda. Zato pažljivo i razmišljajte u toku čitanja. Dosta je toga što Simons ostavlja da protumačimo sami. Svako će doživeti priču na drugačiji način, kao što će je svako drugačije razumeti.

Nakon čitanja, ostao je neki gorak osećaj. Nekako, boli me duša zbog puno čega. Ostala je ta čudna nostalgija... Želim još. Valjda je tako sa knjigama koje toliko zavolimo? Ne želimo njihov kraj. Ništa više nije isto nakon čitanja Hiperiona i njegovog nastavka. Svestan sam da ću tragati za istim kvalitetom i nadam se da ću ga nekad i pronaći. Od srca preporuka kako za ljubitelje naučne fantastike, tako i za sve ostale. Izadjite iz zone komfora. Pročitajte remek-delo. ❤️

Τελείωσα την διλογία του Υπερίωνα και το πρώτο μου σχόλιο είναι:Ουάου!Tι έπος!Και δεν ξέρω πως να συνεχίσω.Oυάου!
Έχω εντυπωσιαστεί με τη γραφή του Σίμμονς,με τη φαντασία του και με τον τρόπο που καταφέρνει να δέσει στο τέλος μια τόσο πολύπλοκη και πολυεπίπεδη ιστορία.
Με μπέρδεψε,με τρέλανε,με έκανε να αγωνιώ για την τύχη των ηρώων,με πήγε ένα απίστευτο ταξίδι στο χωροχρόνο και σε άλλες διαστάσεις και όταν τελείωσε έμεινα ζαλισμένη να σκέφτομαι τι διάβασα.
Ο τύπος έχει δημιουργήσει ένα τεράστιο σύμπαν γεμάτο διαφορετικούς κόσμους και διαφορετικους ανθρώπους και έναν παράλληλο κόσμο τεχνητής νοημοσύνης που κρύβεται εκεί που κανείς δεν μπορεί να φανταστεί.Έχει φτιάξει μια ιστορία που ξεκινάει απο τη Γη όπως την ξέρουμε και φτάνει χιλιάδες χρόνια στο μέλλον.Η θεολογική του θεωρία και το παιχνίδι του με τον χρόνο είναι mind blowing,με έκανε να παραμιλάω προσπαθώντας να καταλάβω τι μου λέει.Οι ήρωες του είναι ολοκληρωμένοι,παρακολουθησα την πορεία όλων τους με ενδιαφέρον,αγωνία και πολλές φορές συγκίνηση,δεν υπήρχε κανείς που να μου είναι αδιάφορος και η θυσία κάποιων ήταν συγκλονιστική.
Δεν ξέρω τι άλλο να πω και δεν θα προσπαθήσω καν να δώσω μια ιδέα της πλοκής γιατί πραγματικά δεν νομίζω οτι μπορώ.Θα πω μόνο οτι μου άρεσε πολύ η δράση σε αυτό το βιβλίο που ειδικά απο τη μέση και μετά είναι καταιγιστική και οι σκηνές καταστροφής απίστευτες.Μου άρεσαν επίσης μερικές χιουμοριστικές νότες που υπάρχουν,μου άρεσε το μυστήριο,μου άρεσε ο ρομαντισμός μέσα σε όλο αυτόν το χαμό,μου άρεσε που ο συγγραφέας δεν μας θεωρεί ηλίθιους,μου άρεσαν όλα τελοσπάντων.Ουάου είπα;ΟΥΑΟΥ!
ΥΓ.Χάρηκα πολύ που ψάχνωντας στο διαδίκτυο είδα οτι ο Υπερίωνας πρόκειται να γυριστεί σε μίνι σειρά.Θα περιμένω με ανυπομονησία ελπίζοντας να μην αλλάξει κάτι και να το δούμε σύντομα στην οθόνη.

3.0 Stars
Video Review: https://youtu.be/9q64BSnOQBg

After loving the end of the first book, I was surprised at myself struggling so much with this follow up novel. My main issue is with the narrative style and choices. The actual story should be quite interesting but it was told in a way that worked against itself. I wanted to be engrossed in the story but I just wasn't.