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)

Fantastic

This is not only a great story, well performed and well written. It is also particularly interesting for stepping through 6 different contrasting genres of writing extremely well. I loved this and would highly recommend it.

compared to the shrike the terminator's a wimp!

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

hyperion has 6 narrators. all of them are great! the production is top notch!

Any additional comments?

it's the 28th century. humanity fled earth b/c of an incident. one group settled among the planets whereas another group took to space. the former, the hegemony, forming a group of worlds linked by faracasters, which allow instant transmission from one place to another. the latter group, the ousters, live in space and have modified their bodies to live in space.

the hegemony is aided by the techno core, 3 factions of ais (artificial intelligences) that ceded from humanity 300 years ago. the ais help the help the hegemony run the farcasters and advise the hegemony.

hyperion is a backwater world. it doesn't have a farcaster so people have to travel there in ftl (faster than light) spaceships and travel in fugues- where they sleep the time away. ftl ships are fast, but space travel sill can take months and years b/ween the planets.

on hyperion, there are the time tombs. pilgrims travel there hoping to have a request granted by the shrike. the shrike is a 3 meter tall "thing" covered in spikes. it has 4 arms and 2 legs covered with scalpel-like spikes. it has menacing red eyes and rows of pointy metal teeth. the shrike has a tree of spikes where the shrikes victims are impaled alive, suffer, and cannot die.

there's tension b/ween the hegemony, the ousters, and the techno core. a group of 7 people are on what is possibly the last pilgrimage of the shrike church, whose followers believe the shrike will impale all humanity on his tree of spikes.

the story is comprised of each group member's story of why and how they're on this pilgrimage. each story reveals more about why they're on the brink of war and about the varying sides (the hegemony, the ousters, the techno core, and the shrike).

each story is unique and interesting, but i found the 1st one, the priest's tale a little too long. however, what is revealed has implications later in the series. this story is long! it's 4 hours, but the ending is freaky, creepy, scary, and well worth it!

the 2nd story, the soldier's tale, was my favorite. it tells colonel kassad's story of a mysterious girl he initially meets as a cadet while in the force academy's training simulation. kassad's story starts at the academy and takes his listeners through the time when he is named the "butcher of bressia."

the 3rd story, the hyperion cantos, is told by the poet, martin silenius, starts on earth. yes, he's old, but time passes for him b/c in his early years he sleeps the years away travelling b/ween the stars. martin's story is one of boom, bust, boom, bust. he's born rich, loses it all, works as a farmer, writes about his time on old earth, becomes rich, loses his money, writes a trashy series, loses his muse, moves to hyperion, finds his muse again but...oh what a muse he finds!

the 4th story is the scholars tale. it's ok. we learn why sol is traveling with a baby.

the 5th story is the detective's story. this was my 2nd favorite story. brawne lamia is a private detective who hired by a cybrid named john keats to discover who killed him. keats is an experiment of the techno core. his brain mostly resides in cyberspace and his body is mostly human with some enhancements. in this story, we get a peek into the techno core, the different factions, and their motivations.

the 6th story is the consul's story. his story is the story of his grandparents- how they met, fell in love, and died. the consul's story relates that even though technology is beneficial, there are a lot of downsides and things that get lost.

whew! i wrote more than i planned! so if you're still reading this, then know that this is a pretty good scifi book. i have read all 4. the 2nd book, the fall of hyperion, is awesome! it propelled me into book 3 and 4.

the technology is still cool and not at all outdated. the shrike imho is one of my favorite and most memorable scifi characters. you'll measure all other baddies against him, it, whatever. lol philosophically, you'll wonder how the human race should evolve, and you'll wonder how far we should develop ai.

p.s. after reading/listening about the shrike, you'll think the terminator's a wimp!!!

Makes one to want to know about Keats

Any additional comments?

It's a long listen and at times felt tedious but I persisted and was not put off by the experience. The story took me to delve into the incredible large imaginative world of Dan Simmons whom I applaud to have ingeniously patched six different story lines into one big story about Hyperion.
I am currently listening to the sequel and can't wait for the outcome.

A future filled with peril and possibility...

The presentation of this book by the various narrators is outstanding. The novel is a classic which earned a Hugo and many other awards as well. Among the best 25 SF novels ever.

Great Literature and Great Science Fiction

Hyperion is that rarest of SF novels -- one that combines believable character you care about with galaxy spanning elements of science fiction. Everything in this book was pitch perfect, including the excellent narration. I highly recommend this Simmons' offering and its sequel.

Best book in the series

I wasn't sure about this book from the first few chapters, but it turned out pretty good. Although it's described as such, it isn't very firm science fiction. And it gets softer the further into the series you go. The characters are believable and organic, although some of their stories are excessively boring and sappy, but don't last too long. The later books in the series become annoyingly sentimental, and suggest Simmons has a New Age fixation of some kind.

A must read.

Rather than going on at length as I am oft given to do, I shall simply say this is the finest Science Fiction series I have ever had the pleasure to experience. Thank you Dan Simmons for creating and sharing this incredible story.

Sci-Fi Classic

Where does Hyperion rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's an excellent "read." It is in the top 25% of books I've listened to. It has been a long time since I've listened to such overt science fiction. I'd forgotten how much I like it.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed this story very much. The characters were compelling and the richness of their lives communicated well.

Which scene was your favorite?

I loved the entire section about the Maui Covenant. It was well-told...I could imagine being there.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have liked to listen to it all at once, but it was very long. I like that in a book.

Any additional comments?

The writer is from my hometown, so I guess that's why I gave it a listen. I'm glad I did.

A great listen with some intriguing characters

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is intelligent sci-fi set in a universe that keeps you wondering what happened - and what is going to happen. This book revolves around the key characters and their stories, and each of the characters grows on you as the minutes pass.

What other book might you compare Hyperion to and why?

I haven't read or listened to any book like this before.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

This production is great! Each of the main characters have their own voice and their dialogue is acted like a radio play.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Time is running out for humanity

Any additional comments?

I will immediately begin on the next book in the series

The Jagged Jaws of the Shrike gripped my mind!

If you could sum up Hyperion in three words, what would they be?

Gripping riveting fiction

What did you like best about this story?

I actually learned to care about the multiple story lines and characters. They pushed me to run the entire series and learn the culmination of their narratives in the Great narrative. It reminded me of my own story and its relationship to the overall Epic that God is telling about existence.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

OH my the narrators! They are EVERYTHING! They open the world of other people's experiences to my own. They make the characters into people and the experiences into more than just words. My own head can really do a lot with that but when i am driving or working or need a break; when I am ready for bed.. they urge my mind into relaxation and into very sharp focus. They are the sauce that simmers the writer's work into .... what more can be said? Reality.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Oh Yes it would have been glorious but the anticipation of each session over time was more than rewarding.

Any additional comments?

to like this you will need to like Sci-Fiction. To enjoy this you will need to love people. To know this you will need to listen.