Absolutely incredible. This book was phenomenal in every way. The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons is a riveting sci-fi epic brimming with heart, intensity, unpredictability, and absolutely gigantic scope. A must-read for any science fiction book reviews list! “It’s hard to die. Harder to live.” I have no idea what past-Petrik from three years ago was thinking. But I know he made a mistake not continuing to The Fall of Hyperion when he finished Hyperion for the first time back then. It is simpl...

Hyperion Cantos #2: Is this the end of days? Technology versus humankind versus outlier humans versus fundamentalists versus time travelers, oh my!! And somewhere in the middle of all this chaos, a quest for God? This mind-blowing sequel to *Hyperion* sees humankind struggling to understand how it became so vulnerable to external attack so quickly, and, most importantly, why? Plus, the Time Tombs have been opened, unleashing the Shrike. This is science fiction at its absolute finest! It's a seri...

There’s a lot going on here. Dan Simmons’ wildly popular and successful Hyperion Cantos continues from the first Hyperion to this 1990 publication, The Fall of Hyperion. While some readers of the first book were a little miffed at that book's truncated ending (ahem), word on the street was that Simmons delivered the plus-size behemoth in one package and the publisher was the one with the bright idea to split it in half. Either way, Simmons’ incredibly ambitious tale of the pilgrims on Hyperion...

After a first part that played with different humanities, ethics, AI, and a host of other topics, the series is developing more toward space opera and cosmic conflict on a grand scale.Moving slightly away from the characters and toward the meta big sci-fi is notorious for, the story shows how a strong female protagonist, and another one (I'm not sure if this is a spoiler), are wandering through the settings of an epic conflict with vast consequences in the third and fourth parts.Time travel, and...

As the pilgrims prepare to enter the Time Tombs, the war between the Ousters and the Hegemony is just hours from breaking out. Can they enter the Time Tombs quickly enough to prevent intergalactic war and the deaths of billions? Here we are, the second half of the epic Dan Simmons started in Hyperion. Kassad, Brawne, and the other pilgrims introduced in the previous book meet their destinies. However, the bigger story is the war between the Hegemony and its enemies. During my initial read, I d...

As the pilgrims seek the Shrike, that ominous thing in the eerie Valley of the Time Tombs, avoided by the frightened inhabitants of Hyperion, it's nowhere to be seen. What to do? Days pass, but the creature remains hidden, and the letdown hits them hard. They expected to be killed… The six seekers—the dying priest Hoyt, disillusioned soldier Kassad, sad scholar Weintraub (and his infant daughter, Rachel, who becomes dangerously younger each day), unstable poet Silenus, heartbroken detective Lami...

Buddy read with Athena, Desinka, Gavin & Kaora"The Final Days are here, priest. The prophecies given to us by the Avatar centuries ago are unfolding before our eyes. What you call riots are the first death throes of a society which deserves to die. The Days of Atonement are upon us and the Lord of Pain soon will walk among us."The shadow of war has fallen on the Web. The Ousters are initiating a full-scale invasion of the central planets of the Hegemony of Man. Chaos rules in the corridors o...

The problem with reading a book like *The Fall of Hyperion* is that whatever book I pick up next is probably going to feel like a load of old rubbish. Seriously, in a Shrike-like move, this book went back in time and trashed my opinion of the book I read before it, which now looks pretty shabby by comparison. The first *Hyperion* book ends on a major cliffhanger, and *The Fall of Hyperion* picks up right where it left off. The first chapter is narrated in the first person by a "new" cybrid prot...

"Nurse, this patient’s chart is very confusing.” “Which patient, Doctor?” “Uh..Mr. Kemper. He’s the one in the vegetative state.” “Oh, that’s a very sad and odd case.” “According to the patient history, he was admitted a few weeks ago with cerebrospinal fluid leaking from his nose and ears, but it seemed like he should recover. But yesterday he was brought in again, barely conscious and then he lapsed into a coma. The really odd thing is that I see no signs of injury or disease.” “That’s r...

The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons is supposedly a sequel. I swear, it even says so right there on the cover of my cheap paperback, just above the artist's slightly dodgy picture of Sol Weintraub presenting Rachel to a rather unimpressive Shrike. But honestly, it doesn't *feel* like a sequel. It feels more like the *first* book, the *main* book, of a series, which makes Hyperion feel like a prequel – a *better* prequel, sure, but a prequel nonetheless. And I seriously wish I'd read The Fall of ...