Hardcover, 481 pages
English language
Published Nov. 19, 1989 by Doubleday.
In the 29th century, the Hegemony of Man comprises hundreds of planets connected by farcaster portals. The Hegemony maintains an uneasy alliance with the TechnoCore, a civilisation of AIs. Modified humans known as Ousters live in space stations between stars and are engaged in conflict with the Hegemony.
Numerous "Outback" planets have no farcasters and cannot be accessed without incurring significant time dilation. One of these planets is Hyperion, home to structures known as the Time Tombs, which are moving backwards in time and guarded by a legendary creature known as the Shrike. On the eve of an Ouster invasion of Hyperion, a final pilgrimage to the Time Tombs has been organized. The pilgrims decide that they will each tell their tale of how they were chosen for the pilgrimage.
Forced and artificial, but a bravura pastiche of some main currents of SF. The sudden ending is annoying; I can't think of any non-pretentious reason for it.
Wasn't sure I'd like this book, but people rave about it, and it was on sale. A few years ago, but I've finally got round to it. Anyway, it's engrossing, and I do enjoy Dan Simmons' attention to detail. It's not as miserable as The Terror. I went in with no expectations, so a set of pilgrims telling their stories on the road wasn't what I was expecting. Or the fact that the book stops when they've told those stories.
I liked this, but by the end I was pretty tired of sci-fi tropes of telling the story in a different time order to conceal a twist. Then it's just looking-for-the-twist. I think I can also do with reading some books that don't keep talking about breasts and exactly how many times the protagonist has sex with the owner of the breasts.
This reminds me of Cloud Atlas, but actually …
Wasn't sure I'd like this book, but people rave about it, and it was on sale. A few years ago, but I've finally got round to it. Anyway, it's engrossing, and I do enjoy Dan Simmons' attention to detail. It's not as miserable as The Terror. I went in with no expectations, so a set of pilgrims telling their stories on the road wasn't what I was expecting. Or the fact that the book stops when they've told those stories.
I liked this, but by the end I was pretty tired of sci-fi tropes of telling the story in a different time order to conceal a twist. Then it's just looking-for-the-twist. I think I can also do with reading some books that don't keep talking about breasts and exactly how many times the protagonist has sex with the owner of the breasts.
This reminds me of Cloud Atlas, but actually a set of linked short stories. I don't think I'll read the next one though.
