Hyperion or A Fire Upon the Deep?

[sozme]

Bought 2 paperbacks this weekend for when I finished my current novel. I'm now finished. So it's down to these 2 choices for what is next.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

What would you choose?

 

[Vince W]

Flip a coin. You won't go wrong with either choice.

 

[Rodders]

my personal choice would be Hyperion. I don't know why, but I really struggled with A Fire Upon the Deep.

 

[Lord Soth]

I didn't really like either really, although I admit I may be in the minority here

 

[Montero]

Loved Fire Upon the Deep, not read Hyperion.

BTW, Fire Upon the Deep is sort of part of a series. I read from the beginning. While since I read it so not sure how essential the previous book is as there is a fair degree of time between books I think. (Time for a re-read)

Vernor Vinge

And having been to look at Fantastic Fiction, he has written a third and fourth book to it.

 

[Grunkins]

Timely thread. I may well be making this same decision soon. I think probably the flip-a-coin route will be fine. Not like we won't read the other eventually.

 

[J-Sun]

I liked the Vinge; not the Simmons.

 

[JunkMonkey]

I'm struggling with the concept of only having two books to choose from - my TBR pile currently numbers some 300+ volumes. (Though the number of actual books in there is probably less. As I have no idea what's in there I often find I have bought more than one copy of the same book. Sometimes the same edition. I'm a real book junkie.)

Having read both (a long time ago) I would go for Fire Upon The Deep. I didn't read it as part of the series and don't remeber thinking I was missing anything. It stood on its own merits. I remember it with more fondness than Hyperion. Hyperion was probably an easier read but the ideas in Fire Upon the Deep were bigger and more interesting.

 

[ralphkern]

The Hyperion cantos everytime. One of the best series ever

 

[williamjm]

Having read both (a long time ago) I would go for Fire Upon The Deep. I didn't read it as part of the series and don't remeber thinking I was missing anything. It stood on its own merits.

It was originally a standalone which got a prequel a few years later and then a sequel a couple of decades afterwards, so it works fine on its own. I thought A Fire Upon The Deep was excellent, the prequel A Deepness in the Sky is even better, the belated sequel Children of the Sky wasn't quite up to the same standards although I still enjoyed it.

I've not read Hyperion so I can't compare it to AFUTD.

 

[quantumtheif]

A fire upon the deep. One read and you will want the series right after.

 

[gully_foyle]

I will vote A Fire Upon the Deep as well, having read it standalone. I didn't like Hyperion, although it sticks in my mind a lot more. Tough choice.

 

[Ogma]

I enjoyed both. A Fire Upon the Deep is more standalone than Hyperion imho. Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion are effectively one novel split in two, so I would say that if you read Hyperion you are probably committing to read two novels.

(I did not enjoy Fall of Hyperion as much as Hyperion.)

 

[Rodders]

And then there's the Endymion pair.

 

[Boreas]

I love both books.

"Hyperion" is not a stand alone book. The story continues directly in "The Fall of Hyperion" and you need to read both one after the other.

"A Fire Upon the Deep" easily stands alone. I also read it's prequel (published afterwards) "A Deepness in the Sky" which is set ca. 30,000 years earlier and which I liked even more. Both novels stand alone despite being set in the same universe.

So, I would go with Vinge's book first.

 

[JunkMonkey]

It was originally a standalone which got a prequel a few years later and then a sequel a couple of decades afterwards, so it works fine on its own. I thought A Fire Upon The Deep was excellent, the prequel A Deepness in the Sky is even better, the belated sequel Children of the Sky wasn't quite up to the same standards although I still enjoyed it.

Thanks for that. I'll have to go find the other two now.

 

[psikeyhackr]

Flip a coin. I read both because there is so much Hype about them. Each was unsatisfactory in different ways.

I do not regard Hyperion as science fiction, more fantasy horror to me.

psik

 

[vanwolf]

i thought both were great. deepness in the sky is a great book too.

 

[J-Sun]

.I do not regard Hyperion as science fiction, more fantasy horror to me.

Exactly.

Flip a coin. I read both because there is so much Hype about them. Each was unsatisfactory in different ways

Just out of curiosity, what didn't you like about the Vinge? You're one of the few people who seems to match me on what Hyperion is and how good it is(n't), but I liked the Vinge (agree with the others who like the prequel even more, at least based on memory, though) and you didn't, so it's interesting to me what flaws you'd find in it.

 

[psikeyhackr]

Exactly. - - Just out of curiosity, what didn't you like about the Vinge? You're one of the few people who seems to match me on what Hyperion is and how good it is(n't), but I liked the Vinge (agree with the others who like the prequel even more, at least based on memory, though) and you didn't, so it's interesting to me what flaws you'd find in it.

Actually I liked Hyperion more than I expected but I don't regard it as science fiction. The funny thing is that to me the best story was the most unscientific. The one with the woman archaeologist getting one day younger each night but only if she fell asleep and eventually becoming a baby. I found the story of her parents having to raise her backwards rather touching. But I did not intend to read Fall of Hyperion but then I found they were not really two books. Just two haves of one book. That pissed me off.

On Vinge's work I consider the idea of FTL working in one region of the galaxy and not another somewhat absurd. But then I found the story on the medieval planet with the "tines" more interesting than what was going on aboard the spaceship going to the medieval planet. However I could not accept the idea that enough information could be communicated fast enough acoustically for separate "minds" to link as a single unit.

Interesting but unworkable I thought.

psik