Utterly awesome. This book was phenomenal in every way. The Fall of Hyperion is a riveting sci-fi epic with heart, intensity, unpredictability, and gigantic scope. “It’s hard to die. Harder to live.” I have no idea what the past Petrik 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 simply astounding what some authors can invoke with their writing and storytelling. I have mentioned i...

Hyperion Cantos #2: It's the end of times? Technology vs humankind vs outlier humans vs fundamentalists vs time travellers oh my!! And somewhere amongst this all, a quest for God?This startling sequel to Hyperion sees humankind struggle to determine how it became so vulnerable to external attack and so quickly, and most importantly why? In addition the Time Tombs have been opened, setting the Shrike free. Science fiction saga at it's best! A series, I should make clear, that is genius for it's w...

There’s a lot going on here.Dan Simmons’ wildly popular and successful Hyperion Cantos continues from the first Hyperion to this 1990 publication. While some readers of the first book were a little miffed at that books 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 continues and his megalithi...

The series is developing more towards space opera and cosmic conflict range after the first part had played with different humanities, ethics, AI, and many other topics.A bit away from the characters, towards the meta big sci-fi is notorious for, the story shows how a strong female protagonist and another one, not sure about spoilering, are wandering through the settings of an epic conflict with vast consequences in the third and fourth part. Time travel and thereby manipulation of human civili...

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 didn'...

As the pilgrims seek the Shrike the ominous thing in the eerie Valley of the Time Tombs, avoided by the frightened inhabitants here on the planet Hyperion, it does not appear, what to do? Days pass but still the creature has remained hidden, the letdown effects them they expected to be killed... The six seekers, the dying priest Hoyt , disillusioned soldier Kassad, sad scholar Weintraub ( and infant daughter, Rachel, who becomes dangerously younger, daily) unstable poet Silenus, heartbroken dete...

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 trouble with reading a book like The Fall of Hyperion is that whatever book I read next will likely seem like a load of ol' crap. In fact, in a Shrike-like manner this book traveled back in time and slashed my opinion of the book I read prior to this one which now looks shabby by comparison.The first Hyperion book ends on a (musical) cliff hanger, The Fall of Hyperion carries on from there though the first chapter is narrated in the first person by a "new" cybrid protagonist Joseph Severn. W...

"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 right, Docto...

The Fall of Hyperion is a sequel. I swear. It says so right there on the cover of my mass market paperback, right above the cheesy artist’s rendering of Sol Weintraub presenting Rachel to a rather unimpressive Shrike. But I’ll tell you, it sure doesn’t feel like a sequel. It feels more like the first book, the main book, of a series, and it makes Hyperion feel like a prequel -- a superior prequel, but a prequel nonetheless. And I really wish I had read The Fall of Hyperion before I read its pred...