A chaotic mess sprinkled with rubies...

(The first book, Hyperion, is a masterpiece)

This continuation of the Hyperion saga seems to have been written by Dan Simmon's agent, pushing for more pages, using a neural whip on him for more cash. Ugh.

Very long-winded and dull chapters, repetition, clumsy interaction between the pilgrims and other players, religious claptrap flowing endlessly....

Simmons is clearly very (very) literate, hurray. We know that, and his inclusion of endless references to famous works and people sadly seem to be only a means to extending the page count, much of the time. (Sometimes, the poetry and references are brilliant, to be fair).

And along with all this, some genuine rubies (about half-way through) from the most interesting characters: Sol and Brawne. The Kassad romantic sequences with Moneta are often wonderful, but the battle sequences are tiresomely repetitious.

Of the overlong ending, which somehow seems rushed (strange), the stories of Moneta, Sol and Rachel are the most surprising and enjoyable.

A good editor would have stripped 150 pages from this book, and enforced a more even pacing and style on Simmons (and his agent).

Hyperion was a work of true genius. The Fall of Hyperion is merely a work of commerce.

I am a big fan of the Dune series. I thought that perhaps Dune was the greatest sci-fi fantasy could ever be, until I read Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion. It is, without a doubt, all I ever wanted, and all I didn’t know I needed, out of this genre. For those like me who thought God Emperor of Dune was the best of Dune, then these two books might be for you.

The Fall of Hyperion is tense with a sense of urgency right from the very beginning. We have characters who we got to know in the last book get picked off one by one by the mysterious robot god of death known as The Shrike, we have a baby who is reverse aging until she dies and she only has a few days left to live, an intergalactic war, and, as it turns out, a battle of the gods in which all of humanity is at stake. The stakes are high and you feel the consequences if things go bad. When it comes to the death of billions of people in a far future setting, it is hard to really feel the weight of that (think of the destruction of Alderaan in Star Wars, did it actually feel like a whole planet full of people died?) but you feel it here.

These two books are mythic and spiritual. The combination of future religions, Islam, Judaism, and Catholicism come together with Simmon’s own tale of a future where advanced AI tries to carve their own path to godhood, and humans who do the same. The whole story has a sense of pieces clicking together, like little coincidences adding up for a miraculous event.

And yet, at just a pure fantasy standpoint, the world building is rich and unique. Trees that float in space, a river that flows through portals that travel between planets, The Shrike itself, an AI names Ummon that speaks in poetry. It isn’t afraid to get weird, convoluted, or geeky. It is as enjoyable as genre entertainment as it is metaphysical musings.

Highly recommend these. I am surprised these haven’t been adapted yet. Although some elements would be challenging to adapt, this would work well for two seasons or so of a television show. There are vivid visuals here that would be beautiful to see with modern visual effects.

DNF. I had to force myself to try to read this, in the same vein I forced myself to finish Ice Station Zebra. For a Hugo winning novel, a have to ask why?

Characterization: Its been 4 years since I read the original, which sets up the 7 characters whose stories conclude in this novel. Perhaps its the long interlude, but I simply did not care what happens to each of them. And it doesn't help that many of them become incapacitated or go missing early in the novel. For that matter one of the main viewpoints is M. Severn who is a very weak character (at least after 250 pages). He is merely an observer, has no skin in the game and is never really under any kind of threat. Gladstone is more interesting, but again I simply did not care enough about the decisions she was making.

Then there are loooong passages of unmotivated description. Huge swaths of text covering in detail how characters get from point A to B. Were these scenes really necessary? What was the point to Severns brief visit to Hyperion? Or the long retracing of the consuls steps from the time tombs back to the main city? Pages and pages of boring description which do not advance the plot.

Finally I just gave up. This is not why I want to read. Clearly Simmons can write, the exposition is complex and sophisticated. But the sloooow plot development, and lack of attachment to the characters means, for me, the fall of hyperion.