Hyperion is phenomenal! The writing is so eloquent that it was actually shocking to believe that this was written in 1989, it felt like this had easily been written and released this year because nothing felt dated about the story, the characters or really anything involved with the storyline. It’s described as The Canterbury Tales in space, though I’ve never read The Canterbury Tales, I can’t exactly say that. What I can say is that this was truly something unique to me, as I’ve not really experienced a type of story telling like this where it felt like six different novellas tied into one large story. After reading this I can truly say that Simmons is a master of the science fiction genre by writing such a masterful tale that had me reading every chance that I got and frothing over his beautiful writing style.
Hyperion’s setting of a 29th century world has such an intricate plot with a very rich and detailed universe where humanity has colonized numerous planets. One of my favorite things is spotting references, and Simmons has a lot of them placed within the story, at one point I would say “oh this reminds me of this” and then Simmons would point that out later letting you know that’s why it’s similar, part of that is using historical themes such as Greek and Biblical Hebrew to help tell a part of the story. Hyperion has a perfect pacing that never felt sluggish or too fast moving at any point and if you’re looking for a story that is much more character driven than plot, as the focus is on learning about the characters, this is definitely the story to read. Within each story, Simmons does a great job of weaving in action and drama with stories of political power, familial love, religion and fate. What intrigues me the most is that while the story of the characters is happening, a war is underway with the Ousters, that could destroy Hyperion.
“Words bend our thinking to infinite paths of self-delusion, and the fact that we spend most of our mental lives in brain mansions built of words means that we lack the objectivity necessary to see the terrible distortion of reality which language brings.”
The story follows six pilgrims and their expedition to Hyperion, my worry with how this story was told is that I could end up not liking one or more of these stories within, but that was not the case, each story is well established and thought provoking while also being dark and tragic to their own extents and always leading back to one thing, the Shrike, a terrifying creature that is sent back in time. The differences in the style of each story is what made this so unique, one story felt somewhat like Westworld or Ready Player 1, one was a bit more comedic, another one felt like a nod to Isaac Asimov’s iRobot, while another had a Benjamin Button, 50 First Dates quality about it to give multiple parallels to how different each one of these characters are. Simmons attention to focus on these characters that are deeply complex and so very flawed is what makes this stand out the most, on top of that there is the mysterious Shrike creature that is sent back in time, a creature that is described almost like Galactus the world eater, but with a more sinister xenomorph look to it.
With everything that’s been revealed about the characters, there’s still quite a bit of mystery still left to figure out in the rest of the series and its sequel since the story ends on a bit of cliffhanger with the group reaching their destination as all their stories have now been told. I’m not a big fan of cliffhangers, but this series is old enough that all books are available, so there’s no reason for panic. Another thing I’m always leery about is multiple narrators, because if one is bad, it can put a damper on the story, but again, this was not an issue because all five narrators, Marc Vietor, Allyson Johnson, Kevin Pariseau, Jay Snyder & Victor Bevine were terrific. They made this story even better with superior performances that got me in my feels and had my spine tingling from theme sheer terror that they felt, this was perfect in every way imaginable. As Dwight would say, perfectenschlag.
Hyperion
Audible Audiobook
– Unabridged
Read & Listen
Switch between reading the Kindle book & listening to the Audible audiobook with Whispersync for Voice.
Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $3.99 after you buy the Kindle book.
Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $3.99 after you buy the Kindle book.
Prime Day Offer
Get 3 months of Audible FREE. Terms apply. Try now.
People who viewed this also viewed
1 of 1
People who bought this also bought
1 of 1
Only from Audible
1 of 1
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.
Top reviews from other countries
-
DavidReviewed in France on October 22, 2021
Un grand classique de la science fiction
Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase - SmithReviewed in Canada on December 26, 2024
The sample doesn't do it justice.
Format: KindleVerified Purchase -
magoseereReviewed in Mexico on April 7, 2025
Excelente.
Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase - Techno HippyReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2015
A cracking sci-fi read
