Reviews
updated review 1/14
i read dan simmons’ hyperion for the first time a year ago, around october 2024, and dnf’d it one chapter in. a friend of mine had recommended it to me (yes, it was a guy), and with the way he hyped it up, my expectations were high. so you can imagine my disappointment when i realized how much it bored me. recently, i decided to give it another try, and (surprise!) i hated it.
to preface, i am not a sci-fi kind of person and don’t usually go for sci-fi reads. the idea and themes of the story itself were fine and left so much room for potential, but what automatically threw me off was the dialogue and descriptions. they felt flat to me, but i wasn’t going to base my review too much on that because i assume that, around the time it was written, this was considered fine. (i’m trying to be nice)
that doesn't stop me from saying that reading this felt meaningless. i have never had to force myself through a book so much. it was agonizing, and i am aware of how dramatic this sounds. this book felt bloated and heavy, carrying way more than it could handle. how much info-dumping can one gal take?? it was just TOO much. 500 pages crammed into 6 chapters—are you out of your mind? nothing stood out to me, nothing caught my attention. I could read a dictionary and feel more emotionally invested. the excessive explanations were mind-numbing, as a writer, surely there are ways to allude to your world-building/plot without babbling away?? surely??? oh, and the references—don’t piss me off, you’re already bleeding me dry.
that’s whatever. one of the major things that ruined this read for me was the way he writes women. or better yet, the way he describes women. it fucking REEKS! has this man never interacted with one before??? why is it that breasts are described almost every time a woman is introduced? what are these odd and freakish sexualizations of female characters? the sex scenes were hard to read, and with the added violence, it made me squeamish. what did bro have going on when he wrote this?? safe to say, i did not like this book—just like many other women—simply because it was not written for us. it’s written for men, everything about this is male gaze-y. and ok, cool, do that all you want, but at least make the rest of the plot salvageable. 0.5/5 stars.
This novel (or collection of shorty stories) really captured my imagination and sparked my love for reading again at 35. I was moved by many of the stories but particularly the Scholar and the Consul. Both stories concern the topic of love and how the passage of time impacts our relationships. As someone that was recently just married, it made me better appreciate the love I have in my life. A friend told me once that science fiction acts like a mirror for the reader. I think this book exceed as a mirror. It was also just plain fun to read.
On par with DUNE for sheer, dizzying inventiveness.
Highly enjoyed this epic science fiction. It's a series of short stories told during a journey, each tied to the strange planet Hyperion and bizarre nightmare creature known as the Shrike. The only slightly annoying detail is that the book is only the first half of the story, with the various characters plots, begun with their stories, not really played out until you read the sequel the Fall of Hyperion.
Excellent premise, great prose and writing style, but it all got a bit too overcomplicated for me in the end. I felt not everything was resolved and I was left filling in too many gaps without enough information. Still, would recommend to fans of horror sci-fi.
(Edit: The sequels would probably answer a lot of the open questions, and I haven't had the chance to read through them)
A Classic SF book with many genres packed in a great fashion. We got Space Opera, Time travel, Thriller, Mystery, a bit of Horror, etc etc. I enjoyed each of the stories and did not feel bored with the characters, they all were interesting in some way. Don't know why I've waited for so long to read this book.
Starts terribly, with a brooding protagonist playing a grand piano outside in a storm. Also, despite being set in 3200CE or whatever, it makes dozens of of leaden references to the culture of C20th Earth. But the structure (6 tales from 7 travellers, cf. Chaucer) and the sheer variety of styles and themes soon kicks in and drags you through a delicious cyber-goth intrigue. The poet character is annoying, but he’s meant to be. (The key problem of metafiction: to write a great poet character, you really have to be a great poet yourself. Nabokov was, but even he dodged the issue by making Pale Fire about a flawed poet.) At one point it implies that Keats’ poems were retrocaused by schemes of time-travelling AIs, which is a thing I must admire.
Ouch. I’d heard so much good about this book. Have to say, it didn’t do it for me. I enjoyed parts of it for sure, but overall it was disappointing. I only finished it because I had about 100 pages left when I realised it wasn’t going to end well, but I felt I’d slog through it just in case. Feels fine to have ticked a “classic” off my list, but wouldn’t recommend it as an enjoyable read.
a masterpiece
Outstanding
Instant favorite!
The sheer number of amazing sci-fi concepts not just broached, but fully fleshed out and realized in this novel is staggering. Frank Herbert wishes he could have done this much world building in the first Dune book.
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I think this is what they call a 'tour de force.' Ambitious sci-fi that does an incredible job of world-building. The story is told through long flashbacks from each of seven travelers — apparently an homage to the Canterbury Tales — and each section is wildly different and creative, with great twists and turns, leaving you wondering how they could possibly all merge. Couple of warnings though: it can get really dark; it's male-centric with a little bit of women-written-by-a-man syndrome; it's got some weird future Catholicism (why is it always Catholicism in sci-fi?); there's a bunch of classical references I couldn't fully appreciate; and it ends in a huge cliffhanger, so save room to continue straight into the sequel.
Awesome introduction to what seems an awesome scify universe
The Sol/Rachel story is enough on its own to net 5 stars for me. Can't wait to read Fall.
Alla fine ci sono arrivato anch’io. E devo dire che confermo: affascinante. Per almeno un paio di motivi. Pro: 1. Il mondo costruito è così grande e ambizioso che spesso nel leggerlo mi domandavo come Simmons avesse fatto. Così tanti dettagli, descrizioni di ambienti, paesaggi, pianeti, come se fossero vivi e reali. Decisamente un bello sforzo. 2. La storia di sviluppa attraverso i racconti dei pellegrini. All’inizio non sappiamo niente di questi personaggi, così come loro non sanno niente gli uni degli altri. Ma con il passare dei racconti conosciamo ed impariamo ad apprezzare le storie di ognuno, così come gli stessi pellegrini si sentono progressivamente sempre più vicini gli uni con gli altri. 3. (Lo so, avevo detto un paio…) Anche solo il racconto di Sol (la storia di Rachel) o quello del Console (La storia di Siri) valgono il libro. Contro: - Le prime 100 pagine, o almeno fino a metà del primo racconto sono difficili. Ci sono tante (troppe) cose da capire per immaginare l’universo di Hyperion e quando il libro inizio non sappiamo quasi niente dei pellegrini. (Come essere da soli a un matrimonio dove conosci solo uno degli sposi.) - Se non si ama Keats e la sua poesia, alcuni momenti del libro possono essere noiosi. Ma sempre meglio delle 3.000 canzoni in Lord of the Rings, no?
Incredible. Rachel's story had me in tears and completely heartbroken.
I read Hyperion when it first appeared in paperback many years ago. I bought a copy recently as I had given my first copy to someone who never returned it. I picked it up again and started reading and couldn't put it down. I have to say that it is one of the most enjoyable and intriguing books that I have ever read. This book just works on so many levels. Brilliant!
I have really mixed feelings about this book. Parts of it were gripping and imaginative; parts of it felt like hack writing. Sometimes I liked the frame tale aspect and the nods to literary forebears; sometimes I found it annoying or inconsistent or distracting. I'm glad I read it, and I'll likely read the sequel, but I'll go into it with a little hesitation.
A good book to end the day with. This is somewhere between a collection of stories and a cohesive book. The stories would not stand on their own, but within the structure of the book they draw you in.
Probably my favorite science fiction book (and series) I've ever read. Hyperion is written in a style similar to The Canterbury Tales, in which a series of stories are told by the main characters. Each story is a gem in itself, but alude to the larger storyline. The scope of the story is ambitious - spanning time, planets religion and love.
Disappointed with the ending! Or was it an ending?...
Brilliant. A master piece. Do yourself a favor and just read it.