Les Cantos d'Hypérion, tome 1

mass market paperback, 282 pages

Published Dec. 5, 2000 by Pocket.

ISBN:: 978-2-266-11139-3

(1 review)

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope--and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

15 editions

Marek reviewed The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Magnificent.

5 stars

Not without its flaws, but this, like its predecessor, stands up to time (no pun intended).

Representation of women is good for the late 80's, not great for today. Ethnicity is reasonably diverse, though you'd have to suspect the leads were all intended as white it would be quite possible to cast most of them them however you'd like to. Certainly Simmons very clearly believes an advanced human civilisation is varied across the scale, and will only get more and more varied as time goes on (this is explicitly represented in very positive terms).

The book remains an impressive combination of character drama and epic scale science fiction war. Space opera in the fantastical sense, and very explicitly and deliberately romantic (in the literary rather than relationship sense). Things certain go a bit wild, and possibly a little too magical if your tastes run to the harder stuff in speculative …

Not without its flaws, but this, like its predecessor, stands up to time (no pun intended).

Representation of women is good for the late 80's, not great for today. Ethnicity is reasonably diverse, though you'd have to suspect the leads were all intended as white it would be quite possible to cast most of them them however you'd like to. Certainly Simmons very clearly believes an advanced human civilisation is varied across the scale, and will only get more and more varied as time goes on (this is explicitly represented in very positive terms).

The book remains an impressive combination of character drama and epic scale science fiction war. Space opera in the fantastical sense, and very explicitly and deliberately romantic (in the literary rather than relationship sense). Things certain go a bit wild, and possibly a little too magical if your tastes run to the harder stuff in speculative fiction.

The conflicts seeded in the first book blossom and expand here. All of the mysterious threats that haunt Hyperion (both the first novel and the fictional world) are given articulation and texture, though not in any hurried way. It culminates in what for me is a satisfying though not comfortable conclusion.

Has always been one of my favourites and has not disappointed on this re-read. One of the best examples of its type.