Dan Simmons and Hyperion

I enjoyed the Hyperion trilogy very much and my memory of it is much clearer than Endymion books. I read it about 10 years ago when I was branching out into more SF. I liked that it was delivered in little 'bites' so to speak, and I sometimes went back to reread sections.
 
elvet said:
I enjoyed the Hyperion trilogy very much and my memory of it is much clearer than Endymion books. I read it about 10 years ago when I was branching out into more SF. I liked that it was delivered in little 'bites' so to speak, and I sometimes went back to reread sections.
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I recommend his anthology Prayers to Broken Stones . It has two introduction about him Harlan Ellison and some his early stories including one set in the Hyperion universe. :cool:
 
I have read and enjoyed a few of his books. Summer of Night, (a great horror about a gang of boys and the Borja Bell) being my favourite by far. Carrion Comfort was good and at over 1, 000 pages, I didn't think the story warranted the time it took to read it. I think I have Prayer to Broken Stones on my shelves at home, but I don't remember any of the stories.

I should try and read some of his newer books.
 
I've read them twice, and would be well up for more re-readings. I find them immersive, haunting and fascinatingly clever. Not perfect, but then, what is? I actually really liked the unresolved ending of "Hyperion", and thought "Fall of Hyperion" a bit breathlessly dense by comparision. The "Endymion" books are more laid-back and lyrical- the pacing feels like epic fantasy, with a Tolkien-level obsession with the scenery. Which is fine by me! I've not read anything else by Simmons that I enjoyed as much, though "Drood" was good. It's a Tim Powers-ey psychological horror about Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, if that's your cup of tea.
 
Fiberglass Cyborg said:
I've read them twice, and would be well up for more re-readings. I find them immersive, haunting and fascinatingly clever. Not perfect, but then, what is? I actually really liked the unresolved ending of "Hyperion", and thought "Fall of Hyperion" a bit breathlessly dense by comparision.
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I've discussed the ending of Hyperion above, and I do think that The Fall of Hyperion is very clever in how it resolves everything but it has the feel of 'peering behind the curtain' and finding that the almighty Oz is actually just a man so I was strangely (but only slightly) dissatisfied with the neatness with which all the plots were tied up!

One of these days I will give Endymion a go.
 
Venusian Broon said:
I've discussed the ending of Hyperion above, and I do think that The Fall of Hyperion is very clever in how it resolves everything but it has the feel of 'peering behind the curtain' and finding that the almighty Oz is actually just a man so I was strangely (but only slightly) dissatisfied with the neatness with which all the plots were tied up!

One of these days I will give Endymion a go.
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Very true. I actually enjoyed "Fall" more the second time round because "Endymion" casts serious doubt on the reliability of the narrators in the previous two books. Meaning that some of those neat revelations aren't quite as final or even true as you'd think...
 
I dont mind reading somewhat tougher sci fi stuff like Hyperion but authors like Dan Simmons they need to learn to ease up on the hard science fiction stuff so people like me can understand the stuff a little easier.

Im more used to simpler stuff like Star Wars anyway where theyre easier to deal with
 
Ive been reading Endymion for the first time and its actually pretty good a bit better than some of the dull stuff in Fall of Hyperion.

less characters in Endymion even though i have to put up with Father Captain Soya and his ship crew traveling in space the whole time. They sort of remind me of the Imperials from the old Star Wars books
 
I read a few Dan Simmons books. Summer of Night was great. It's got a good feeling about it and its a decent enough Horror.
I read Phases of Gravity, but i'm rather embarrassed to say the i don't remember anything about it.
Carrion Comfort is a large 1000 page tome and whilst enjoyable, it wasn't brilliant.
 
urrutiap said:
Anyone know of any other good Dan Simmons books besides the Hyperion stuff?
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I enjoyed Ilium/Olympos. Not on the level if The Hyperion Cantos but quite original. I also enjoyed the Terror, a fiction based around real events.
 
Ajid said:
I very much enjoyed the first book of The Hyperion Cantos. We are taken through various individuals stories all with the feel of a slightly different Sci-Fi or Fantasy genre. The framing story was both intriguing and at times very gripping. The various worlds and factions of humanity are described incredibly well. I found most of the characters were wonderfully well developed and the locations, technology and ideas expressed exceptionally well. If you read this book you will need to read The Fall of Hyperion and my advice would be to have it ready immediately after, it really is one story in two halves.

The Fall of Hyperion tells the story from a different perspective, or maybe I should say we understand the perspective a little more. This deals much more with the galactic events as they are playing out. I enjoyed this but not as much as the first book. This started to fall into the realm of a more typical Sci-Fi book but there are some interesting ideas covered here aswell. Where the first book is based mostly on the Canterbury Tales this focuses much more on John Keats and his work.
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My opinion is similar but I consider The Fall of Hyperion to be a crappy story. If I had known the 2nd book was so bad I would not have read the 1st which explains the motivation of the characters. The segment about the archeologist is really good. "After a while crocodile."
 
Bick said:
So why randomly mention it in a thread on Hyperion? I’m a bit confused.
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Sorry Bick, but I don't really have answer. :unsure: It just popped into my head.:(
 
From what i have read, his Endymion sequels are not as well liked as the Hyperion books. It's been a while since i read them, but i remember enjoying them a lot.
 
urrutiap said:
well i think Hyperion is hard science fiction. Thats my opinion.

Newer stuff these days try too hard anyway
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It’s not “Hard Science Fiction” unless it comes from the Hardé region of France.
Anything else is just sparkling speculative fiction.
 
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