Hyperion

By: Dan Simmons

Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Allyson Johnson, Kevin Pariseau, Jay Snyder, Victor Bevine

Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©1989 Dan Simmons (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

Hugo Award, Best Novel, 1990
Locus Award, Best Novel, 1990
"Dan Simmons has the Midas touch: Every genre he writes - whether SF, horror, mystery, historical, or thriller - he turns to gold. Hyperion and The Fall Of Hyperion set a new standard for grand-scale science fiction." (Kevin J. Anderson, author of The Saga of Seven Suns)
"Dan Simmons was a star from the outset. It was the Hyperion books that made him a superstar. The man, quite simply, is what we in the trade call a writer's writer." (Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author)
Each of [the pilgrim's] stories would make a superb novella on its own. ( The New York Times Book Review, Gerald Jonas)

I understand why it's a classic, but...

After reading it way back when it was first published in print, I recently listened to the audiobook version and had pretty much the same reaction to it. I feel almost obligated to admire the author for his skillful weaving of a complex, multi-layered web of tales, all written in totally different styles, each of them contributing in an ingenious way to our understanding of the world that forms the backdrop to this story. Really, really well done, and I fully understand why this book is a sci-fi classic.

Alas, in the end it all sort of falls flat for me, a classic example of arts for art's sake. Some of the tales are gripping (Detective, Poet, Soldier, ) but the others just meander on without much purpose (in particular the Consul's tale). At times it feels like a sophomore in English studies trying to squeeze as many "big" words, as many memes as possible into a paragraph to impress the professor. If someone had seriously edited the book and cut 25% out, it would have been a masterpiece. Well, there's still the issue that it really ends just when it's about to become really interesting. I'm not huge fan of blatant cliffhangers books that leave essentially everything open and bring nothing to a (at least partial) conclusion.

The narration cast is outstanding. Having different characters narrated by different actors works extremely well here.The person reading the poet is brilliant!

As good as I remember

I first read this book in college, and couldn’t put it down. Coming back to it years later (in audiobook form this time), I’m just as absorbed.

Hyperion is space opera in its peak form, with vivid writing, well-realized characters, a futuristic universe that’s both imaginative and believable, and a story that pulses with mystery. Unlike most science fiction, it's also a consciously literary-minded novel, referencing works ranging from the poetry of Keats to the medieval Canterbury Tales. Anyone who's had to read the latter in high school will recognize Simmons' inspired re-imagining, in which seven travelers from very different walks of life share their personal tales with one another as they make their way on a pilgrimage towards an enigmatic alien temple and its dark, mysterious inhabitant, the Shrike. Then there are numerous nods to other works of science fiction, from Poulson to Gibson. All the thematic connections help Hyperion feel like a work somehow bigger than itself.

To be fair, Simmons sometimes gets a little too obvious with the name-dropping, which led to a bit of eye-rolling on my part, but Hyperion is still compulsively readable. The first two “tales”, by the priest and soldier respectively, are absolute page-turners. If you aren’t drawn into the story of Father Dure’s mission to the descendants of some lost colonists, who have become a little odd during the intervening centuries, then science fiction might not be for you, The Bukowski-in-space poet’s tale and the haunting scholar’s tale, have less typical science fiction plots, but were (I thought) just as good. The remaining tales, while not quite as memorable in their own right, serve to transition from the past to the larger story’s “present”. Simmons does a masterful job of gradually revealing his universe, each tale focusing in on one aspect of it, while offering more depth or new angles on what we’ve learned from previous tales. It’s a textbook example of how to set up a complex world and its backstory without a lot of expository babble.

It should be noted that Hyperion is really the first half of a larger work, which happens to be split into two novels. There’s barely an ending here, and if you want to find out how all the various plot threads are resolved, you’ll have to read the second book of the pair, The Fall of Hyperion. I didn’t think that book was quite as good -- as often happens in science fiction, a compelling setup doesn’t imply an equally satisfying resolution. But Hyperion itself is so imaginative, it’s worth a read.

As to the audiobook experience, I found the use of different voice actors to play different characters a little distracting, notably the “Darth Vader” voice of one guy, but most of them did a pretty decent job. I particularly liked the boozy, gravelly voice of the actor who played the poet.

Engrossing

I first read Hyperion when I was a teenager (and when I'd never heard of John Keats), and I was wondering if it would still hold up (and whether it's more fun if you've read some Keats). The answer is yes!

At first I was doubtful. The first chapter is very awkward because the 5 voice artists are conversing with each other and there are irksome pauses between their lines that should have been edited out - it sounds very stilted.

But hang on in there, because the meat of "Hyperion" is the five lengthy tales told by individual narrators, and this is where the novel really takes hold. Each of the stories is wonderfully engrossing and moving, and each evokes the novel's many worlds and societies in thrilling detail. They are little masterpieces of storytelling and each could stand alone in their own right; but linked together, they illuminate and develop each other beautifully. As the novel comes to its close, you realize that it's a masterpiece of formal perfection. Despite ending on a cliffhanger it's entirely satisfying.

The only disappointment for me was the reader of the Brawne Lamia tale, whose voice lacks the emotional depth of the other readers, and who lumbers the pivotal character of Johnnie with a truly awful attempt at a British accent. The other readers are all wonderful though.

This is one of the great science fiction novels and well worth a listen.

Remarkable

There are 4 books in this series and if your read Hyperion you will be hooked. Our author Dan Simmons just didn't write a masterpiece of SciFi, he wove an entire universe. He took known things like Catholic religion and created a future of what Christianity might be. Hyperion introduces us to warriors, monsters, and an illness that makes one 26 year-old girl become a baby again. The entropic tides of the time tombs becomes an enigma that keeps you glued to the pages. The descriptions of the world, wars (both ancient and futuristic) are so vivid you feel like you are there. The excitement builds to a crescendo that makes you scrabble for the next book Fall of Hyperion. Good luck stopping at just one.

Classic space opera, but it's just part one

This is a classic space opera tale, though most of it takes place on the planet of Hyperion, except in flashbacks. Seven travelers are on a pilgrimage to see the Shrike, a godlike alien being who apparently has a habit of going on bloodthirsty killing sprees and carving up most of the travelers who come to visit it. But if it doesn't kill you, it grants you a wish, or something like that. Our not-so-merry band of travelers is a diverse cast, each of whom has their own story to tell, and a dark secret. It turns out that this pilgrimage could spell the beginning of Armageddon.

An entertaining tale, though already a little dated, it's got all the elements of classic sci-fi: interstellar conspiracies, a fleet of space "pirates," AIs debating whether or not to exterminate humanity, time travel, ancient ruins guarded by an alien god, a mystery, a lot of second-guessing about who's a traitor, and a cliffhanger ending. I wish I'd known when I started listening that it was written as the first in a series and ends with a "To be continued."

Overall, a good epic space opera, grand in scale and full of big ideas, though it is not particularly cerebral. It reminded me a bit of Chalker, Varley, or Alan Dean Foster.

The multi-cast narration on this one was very good; I wish more audiobooks used a variety of voices.

Kevin J Anderson recommends?

I got this audiobook because there was a header that KJA recommends, well the only thing in common here is the length of the book. it was okay, just okay, for all the length is had none of the substance, i will get the next one in the series just to be sure, the multiple narrators is annoying especially the lady, i felt she came in and read the part with out reading the book she was totally out of sync, sounded like a t.v. actress who needed to make rent. and after listening to her i know why she needs to make rent.

Changing My Opinion About SciFi

I read this book on a friend's recommendation, and I'm glad I did. I haven't read a great deal of science fiction, and much of what I have read was unimpressive. This book makes me think I may have been reading the wrong stuff. It's smart, well-written and gripping. Definitely worth hearing.

Tough to review

For me this is tough to review b/c the writing, narration and story are fantastic and i would give them each 5 stars, that is, until the ending. This book is and was very well known in its time, won a Hugo award even but that perplexes me unless the sequel was released at the exact same time b/c this book cannot stand on its own. Had the sequel never been published, this book would have been quickly forgotten and possibly even hated due to the abruptness of the ending. I get writing a story that draws readers in and makes them want to keep reading but this book's ending is cruel to the readers. Given the succinctness of Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion (book 2), the author clearly knew exactly where the story was going and only ended the book where it ended to trap readers and force them to buy the new book. Perhaps that was the publishers decision to do it that way but to me this was an incomplete book.

That being said, i highly recommend this book (and its sequel)! The accuracy of some of the 'predictions' in this story are on par with that of Asimov and other great classic sci-fi writers and that makes it really fun to read (listen) for me personally. If i had known that book 1 and book 2 are really a single book, i would have given this 5 stars overall.

Needs end of story.

The story stopped without any conclusion. it would be better if any one thing had truly been finished.

Wow! Awesome Story and Narration!

AWESOME! This audiobook started out slow, and even with the Awesome narration I was going to quit listening to it, BUT my friend who had read the entire series told me to stick it out. I am so GLAD that I listened to him because Hyperion turned out to be AWESOME! I just finished the 2nd book "Fall of Hyperion" and am on the 3rd book "Endymion".