The opening half of this novel is so, so good, but the second is so, so not. I love the lived-in feeling of the world depicted, and the cornucopia of ideas and images. The stories are compelling (some more than others) and the pace is addictive.

Alas, Simmons is not in authorial command of the material. In a similar work, such as The Book of the New Sun, Wolfe keeps the narrative in hand until the very end, captivating with a blend of exoticism and horror, and the reading of the book becomes an experience. Hyperion goes off the rails once all the plot machinations start churning away. The ideas are interesting, but the story isn't.

I loved, loved, loved this book when it came out, but time has not been kind...to either me or the book.

This review and the stars relate more to The Fall of Hyperion than Hyperion itself. The book is a beautiful masterpiece, capturing characters with depth and events on a grand scale, and all written before the advent of the internet (datasphere). The second book doesn't have the same creative and structured storytelling of the first book, but covers a lot of ground while explaining most of the apparent mysticism from the first book. I don't know how Simmons manages to keep track of the huge universe he has painted for us, while interweaving gems of philosophical pondering, but I've not seen much in the way of scifi that captures the true epic-ness of space the way Simmons does.

This was a vast space opera. 8.2-8.3/10

Kann ich nicht empfehlen. Wirr und schwer zu lesen. Es gibt einen klaren roten Pfaden aber der ist versteckt unter einem Berg von Nebensächlichkeiten. Die Grund Idee ist aber trotzdem gut. Nur schlecht ausgeführt

This is one of my favorite love story lines. I have even thought to name my first child Raul,,,that is if i ever put down a book long enough to make soem children LOL

Be warned: there are some spoilers here...

I really enjoyed many aspects of the Hyperion Omnibus and would certainly recommend it to anyone, however (isn’t there always one of those?), it was a bit of an up and down experience for me. The Priest’s Tale was excellent, with its cruciform parasites and how the horror of them for a catholic drove Father Dure to do what he did, and I quite enjoyed how that plot thread was woven in later on. But balanced against that, what later seemed the proselytising of the C. S. Lewis kind, with a bit of L. Ron Hubbard thrown in for good measure, had me gagging. Apparently love is a fundamental basis of the universe, whilst god, being woven in at the Planc level, transcends time and is the triune entity of the Christians ... and lo the messiah is to be born!

The Soldier’s Tale with its violence, military technology, mysterious woman (and with Kassad’s yet to be explained encounter with the shrike as the mysterious woman) I much enjoyed too, though later on this was a plot thread that tended to fizzle. The Poet’s Tale, whilst still enjoyable, suffered from a problem I felt was endemic throughout the books: too much in the way of literary allusions and pretensions. How often I found myself skipping the obsessing about Keats and pointless quotations of poetry. There’s much about the power and wonder of poetry and poets, and the implication that isn’t the pen mightier than the sword? Yeah, well, take your Parker to your next sword fight and see how you get on. The Consul’s and The Detective’s Tales were great too, but by then I was starting to get anxious about the proliferation of ideas and plot threads and the possibility of this not completing.

The setting of Hyperion was excellent, with this whole story taking place under a sky lit by interstellar war, as was the interplay between the shrike pilgrims. The tree of thorns is a horrifying image that sticks, and the time tombs were the kind of idea just about any science fiction writer would be jealous of.

The shrike itself was good whilst only glimpsed, but suffered under close inspection. My feeling was that it started out as a monster from Dr Who and was not cured of the rubber mask syndrome by the later add-ons from Alien. And, now I’m reading Endymion, by its Terminator II transformation into a good guy.

There were lots of ideas and threads needing to be tied together in these books, and so they were, sometimes very well and sometimes in a kind of soapish babble. Simmons did manage to pull the rabbit out of the hat, but it had lost one ear and most of its fur during its stay. Still, don’t get me wrong, there are hours and hours of science fictional reading pleasure here. I in fact loved the whole massive chaotic canvas of this story which, really, wouldn’t have been possible without that mass of ideas and interweaving plot threads.

Ein großartiger Science Fiction Roman - ich bin froh, ihn endlich gelesen zu haben. Das Buch ist keine "harte" Science Fiction und konzentriert sich daher nicht auf technische Beschreibungen und Ausführungen der erzählten Wirklichkeit, sondern zielt auf die großen Themen wie Gerechtigkeit, Rache, Liebe und den Sinn des Lebens ab. Die Figur des Shrikes und das Spiel mit abgefahrenen Orten wie den "Zeitgräbern", in denen Figuren aus Vergangenheit und Zukunft umherstreifen, finde ich wahnsinnig interessant. Empfehlung :).

I wish this had stuck to its more somber tonal guns in the final moments, but apart the ending leaning more saccharine, there are hundreds of pages of perfection here. Written in the 80s but feels like it predicted exactly what kind of sci-fi stories and style would permeate the culture for the following 30 years. A truly impressive work, with an instantly iconic antagonist in The Shrike.

This for me, was a very dense foray into conceptual sci-fi. The first half was fantastic, but ultimately the latter stages were difficult to engage with and I'm not even really sure if I completely understood it. I think if I was more understanding of this book, I would have a more favorable impression. Perhaps the failing is more mine than Dan Simmons'..

Hyperion: On the eve of interstellar war between the Hegemony of Man and the barbarian Ousters over the fate of Hyperion, seven pilgrims embark on a journey to the Time Tombs and their mysterious protector, The Shrike, a three meter tall, four-armed monster covered with blades. One pilgrim will have his wish granted and the others will be impaled on the Shrike's Tree of Pain. Only one or more of the pilgrims isn't what he appears to be...

Every once in a while, a book comes along that eclipses many that came before it. Hyperion is one of those books. Told with a structure similar to the Canterbury tales, Hyperion is the story of seven pilgrims on a journey that will end in death for most of them. Interested yet?

Each pilgrim tells his or her story and Simmons doesn't skimp. We get a horror story, a detective story, action, tragedy, comedy, the whole nine yards. Instead of info-dumping the back story of the complex world he's created, Simmons rations the information and doles it out one bite-sized morsel at a time, mostly in the stories told by the pilgrims. The Shrike is going to stick with me for a long time after I'm finished.

The writing is superb. Simmons continues to wow me with his versatility and the concepts he introduces are amazing. Farcasters, tree ships, time debt, reverse aging, artificial intelligence, it's amazing the sheer amount of thought that obviously went into Hyperion's conception. Surprisingly, Hyperion is a fairly easy read. I have no idea why I've waited this long to accompany Kassad, Masteen, Lamia, and the others on their journey to meet the Shrike.


Fall of Hyperion: The situation in the world web rises to a fever pitch as all out war between the Ousters and the Hegemony of Man erupts. Or does it? And what do the pilgrims on Hyperion and an artist named Severn have to do with it? Is the Hegemony of Man doomed? And what does the Core have to do with everything?

That's about all I can reveal of the plot without blowing all the twists. Suffice to say, Dan Simmons is the man. The story of the seven pilgrims continues and the plot threads hinted upon in Hyperion are tugged and stretched to the breaking point. Things that seemed of minimal importance proved to be integral to the overall plot. Questions are answered, more questions are raised, the shit hits the fan, and dogs and cats begin living together. I never would have guessed whose blood it was in the wind wagon in the first book.

I can't imagine not reading the Fall of Hyperion after reading the first book and it must have been agony for those waiting for it when it was first published. I'd better wrap this up before I start giving away plot details about Brawne, Hoyt, Kassad, and the others. Suffice to say, The Hyperion Cantos are now on my measuring stick list of books, along with the Dark Tower, The First Chronicles of Amber, and the Matthew Scudder series. Highest possible recommendation.

easy-reading für einen entspannten nachmittag

Lost access to my old account, so copy pasting the old review.

What an amazing science fiction book. A great journey in a universe set far in the future, where we are told about a world called Hyperion, home of a monster called the Shrike, and a looming galactic war. The book doesn't confuse the reader with phrases of technical jargon, instead it tells a story of hope, fear, love, revenge, justice, and of purpose.

You'll find yourself enthralled by it, and find yourself rooting for the pilgrims. Whether you like science fiction or not, it doesn't matter. This is a great literary work that anyone that loves to read will easily find themselves wanting to keep reading to see what happens next.

Deutsch:
Was für eine atemberaubende Buch. Einer riesige reise in einem Universum weit in der Zukunft wo wir wir von einer Welt namens Hyperion, heim eines Monster die man denn Shrike nennt, und einer Galakistchen krieg die über den Horizont liegt, erzählt wird. Das Buch verwirrt der Leser nicht mit technischen Jargon, sonder erzählt eine Geschichte über liebe, Hoffnung, angst, Rache, Gerechtigkeit, und Ziel.

Du wirst diesen Buch lieben, egal ob du Science Fiction magst oder nicht, denn es ist ein literarischen Meisterwerk, das jeder der es liebt zu lesen gefallen wird, und gespannt den nächsten Seite blättern, um zu lesen was am nächsten passiert.