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Loading... Hyperion (original 1989; edition 1990)by Dan Simmons
Work InformationHyperion by Dan Simmons (1989)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Hyperion successfully mashes up several different genres while all existing in the same universe, with only the occasional suspension of disbelief required. The Shrike also makes for a memorable monster, although it's not as large a part of the book as I thought it would be going into it. The best part of Hyperion is it's melancholy view of the future. Interstellar travel is possible, but only at the price of many years of your life. You can see many generations of your family grow old and die after a single star voyage because of complications from time relativity. Planets are hooked up to a fabulously wealthy system of interconnected portals and trade, but often at the cost of environmental degradation, cultural submission, imperialist genocide of alien species, and on and on. The fate of humanity is to join together in a noisy, ignorant, rapacious Hegemony at the cost its soul. The start of the book suggests a terrifying apocalypse and the end makes you question if that apocalypse would really be that bad. I'm giving it only four stars because there are a couple of plot points and turns of phrase made me roll my eyes, but overall I liked it. Is contained inContainsWas inspired byHas as a commentary on the textAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
A stunning tour de force filled with transcendent awe and wonder, Hyperion is a masterwork of science fiction that resonates with excitement and invention, the first volume in a remarkable epic by the multiple-award-winning author of The Hollow Man. On the world called Hyperion, beyond the reach of galactic law, waits a 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. Praise for Dan Simmons and Hyperion "Dan Simmons has brilliantly conceptualized a future 700 years distant. In sheer scope and complexity it matches, and perhaps even surpasses, those of Isaac Asimov and James Blish."--The Washington Post Book World "An unfailingly inventive narrative . . . generously conceived and stylistically sure-handed."--The New York Times Book Review "Simmons's own genius transforms space opera into a new kind of poetry."--The Denver Post "An essential part of any science fiction collection."--Booklist No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Also hoping that this series will hold up through all four books. My experience with some fantasy series, even some good ones (looking at you, Tad Williams) has been that it's really difficult to sustain my interest.
*spoiler alert*
I especially liked the twist at the end, where the bad guys are suddenly maybe not quite so bad.
Looking forward to book 2! ( )