Somewhere in the many layers of the man called Okonkwo is a fan of elaborate, sweeping, epic sci-fi literature. I read Dan Simmons’ Hyperion recently because the Hugo award winning novel was seeing a resurgence in interest (it was first published in 1989) with several online sci-fi reviewers awarding the series serious praise.
The books of this genre that I enjoy tend to be on the grittier side. I prefer stories of a fictional universe with signs of wear and decay. I enjoy tales with no easy decisions and messy resolution. Just like in real life, choices should come with collateral damage. Good people get hurt sometimes. Not everyone makes it. In simple terms I don’t believe good sci-fi should be clean and shiny, with clear lines between good and bad, heroes and villains.
In comes Hyperion which, at least initially, seemed to cater to those needs. I listened to the book on audible.
It starts off as a dark tale of a group of unlucky “pilgrims” selected to go on a potentially one-way pilgrimage to the malevolent being/thing/beast called the Shrike, located in the off-world planet called Hyperion. This occurs in a future where humanity, referred to as the “hegemony of man”, has colonized hundreds of planets in the galaxy. This feat is enabled by several technological advancements, the most important being the “Farcaster” network, which provides humanity almost instantaneous travel between planets.
The good…
The first part of the book appealed to my darker tastes. It’s bloody. It’s messy. The pilgrims share their individual stories as they travel to the Shrike, and it becomes quite clear that they have all had unfortunate interactions with the Shrike itself, or Hyperion’s mysteries. The slow unveiling of these relationships, the introduction of other key players, and the reveal of the backdrop of this fictional universe (Moneta, Gladstone, the John Keats cybrid, the TechnoCore factions, the destruction of earth, the “Hegira”) kept me driving through the book. The Shrike itself is unabashedly and consistently a source of pain, sorrow and gore, but this one-sided character does not hurt the story. Also, I really enjoyed the play on religion in this fictional universe: although this is a futuristic society, the church and other forms of religion are still major players. There is even a sect/cult called the “Church of the Final Atonement”, which spends it’s time worshiping the Shrike and planning pilgrimages to the monster in Hyperion…with mostly fatal results.
The not so good…
Several intriguing possibilities were introduced, but in the end the reader was left hanging. For example, early in the story, it was insinuated that one of the pilgrims could be telling a lie. Consequently I read a good chunk of the pilgrims’ stories scanning for signs of deceit, like you would when scrutinizing alibis in a detective novel, but to my disappointment Dan Simmons did not pursue this any further. I think that was a missed opportunity. Also, the most gripping story to me was Father Lenar Hoyt’s tale, however the book really did not fit the cruciform implant experiences of Lenar Hoyt or Paul Dure as a necessary piece of the puzzle of Hyperion and/or the Shrike. It felt like a bloody tale for shock value.
By the last quarter of the book, I realized there were enough open ends to deserve at least another book, and that cut into my eagerness to power through the later chapters. I still did not know what the heck was up with Het Masteene, and soon it was obvious the pilgrims were not going to encounter the Shrike in a meaningful manner in this book. Oh well.
Review:
Regardless of the failings above, I would have given it 4 stars, but the goofy “Wizard of Oz” ending did not help, and seemed very much out of place with the dark atmosphere the book had initially developed. My final rating is 3.5 out of 5 stars. Let’s hope the second book in the series, the Fall of Hyperion, brings some closure and consistency. Overall, it was an engaging book, and a robust introduction to a fictional universe full of potential.
See the full list of books in the Hyperion series below.
3.5 Stars
Other Books In The Series:
As I read them, I plan on writing reviews for the remaining books in the Hyperion series. The full list of books are shown below. Each image links to the amazon listing, which should include the audible audio book.
Hyperion
Fall Of Hyperion
Endymion
Rise of Endymion
The Hyperion Cantos (All 4 books)
okonkwospeaks.com 