Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1) in Beyond Reality

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Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)

Dan Simmons

Start date: March 15, 2025

Finish date: April 14, 2025

Discussion: Hyperion Cantos

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Hyperion Cantos

Hyperion Cantos #2: The Fall of Hyperion - finished reading (spoilers!)
By Shel , Moderator · 9 posts · 14 views

last updated May 15, 2025 07:19AM

Hyperion Cantos #3: Endymion - finished reading (spoilers!)
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last updated May 15, 2025 07:17AM

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Mar 23, 2009 Nick rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, science-fiction

This is a re-read. It's even better the second time around. "Hyperion" is the first of two novels, "The Fall of Hyperion" being the sequel of a continuous story. Dan Simmons says he wrote them as "space opera" and followed up with two books set in the same universe, but with different characters, the "Endymion" series. But Simmons also delights in telling us that he is not a sci-fi writer; his books are in many different genres, chief of which is probablhy contemporary horror (his "Carrion Comfo This is a re-read. It's even better the second time around. "Hyperion" is the first of two novels, "The Fall of Hyperion" being the sequel of a continuous story. Dan Simmons says he wrote them as "space opera" and followed up with two books set in the same universe, but with different characters, the "Endymion" series. But Simmons also delights in telling us that he is not a sci-fi writer; his books are in many different genres, chief of which is probablhy contemporary horror (his "Carrion Comfort" won the best novel byu the Horror Writers of America" back in the late '80's). (See his official website, .) As a successful multi-genre writer, Simmons confirms what "Hyperion" shows -- that his books are excellent examples of the postmodernity of genre writing.

I find the Hyperion series to be a sort of flip-side to the novels of Umberto Eco. Eco's "The Name of the Rose" uses the popular mystery novel genre, but turns the basic properties of the mystery novel on their end by bringing up questions of contemporary (and historical) philosophy, signs and signifiers in language itself, and the relationship of such concerns to genre novel writing. In Eco, the philosophy actually becomes foreground. Simmons, on the other hand, spins a pulp-fiction yarn in traditional "space-opera" fashion, but still he weaves in questions of literary theory (John Keats permeates the work, even to the point of becoming a character in it) and the philosophy of creativity, especially creative evolution per Teilhard, and how this aesthetic relates to romantic poetics, and in turn to contemporary genre writing.

Twenty years ago, on first reading Hyperion, I did not go on to read the sequel. This time I started again at the beginning and continued on through the two volume epic. "The Fall..." abandons the Canturbury Tales-like format of "Hyperion" wherin each of a group of pilgrims relates his/her story within the framework of a larger mission. This format is one of the attractive features of the first book. It presents different aspects of the Hyperion universe from seven different points of view, each one reflecting and adding to the entire storyline. The second volume has a more straightforward storytelling style, smaller chapters alternating between locales and characters, between the pilgrims who have reached their goal and now face life-and-death adventures, and the various diplomatic warrooms where the leaders of humanity play with the fate of the known worlds.

And though "The Fall" completes the story, for twenty years I have never felt like I was shortchanged in stopping with "Hyperion" on my first read. That novel itself is big and boisterous and full of felt-life. The sequel, though perhaps not as grand, is a pleasant fulfillment of the story. In the Dan Simmons output, both books remind us that pulp literature can transcend its genre, even while spinning a good tale. ...more

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Sep 02, 2009 Wealhtheow rated it it was ok

I read this at least ten years ago. What I remember: an archaelogist somehow disturbs an alien artifact, and from then on ages backward instead of forward. Her family is desperate to find a cure before she de-ages out of existence. Then I remember getting really bored and barely managing to finish it.

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Oct 29, 2010 Michelle rated it really liked it

This was a re-read, and I think the last time I read it I had not actually read anything of The Canterbury Tales - I didn't pick up on that theme before, but it was a very clear influence this time! I do wish that Simmons had been able to publish this along with The Fall of Hyperion as a single volume or as a set at one time... though if it had to be split up, the ending that is also a beginning is a good place to do it... ...more

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Dec 17, 2010 Adrienne rated it liked it

Shelves: owned, science-fiction

This was an enjoyable sci-fi story told in the style of the Canterbury Tales, where seven people are chosen to travel to Hyperion on a pilgrimage to see the Shrike, a monster that's struck fear into pretty much everyone in this galaxy.

I was hooked pretty early on by the Consul's thoughts about the Shrike, but most of the book was the individual characters telling the stories of how their pasts are connected to the world of Hyperion.

I liked most (but not all) of the individual characters' backsto ...more

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Jun 16, 2009 nimrodiel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, 2009-books-read, reread

This still has to be one of my all time favorite science fiction books of all times. It gets re-read every couple of years.

I really enjoyed this audio version of the book a lot. The narrators did a superb job of creating the voices of the characters that I have come to love since the first time I read the book over a decade ago.

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