The Fall of Hyperion

This was an early exploration of the perils of AI, although it delves into all sorts of themes and questions of science vs. spirituality. Although an older book it hasn't really become dated at all, and remains as relevant today as it was when first written.This series really is something special.

My kind of book - but too complicated for me so many fantastic characters, plots and that sense of a brilliant climax - which this book most certainly has - some of the sections of the books demand that you just submit to Simmons detailed, scientific, or poetic based descriptions - stick with the read and it all sort of becomes clear - I re read so many chapters so I could understand what was going on - but really good read - on to Endymion series - which now makes the Hyperion books clearer

The sequel to Hyperion is a very different beast to its predecessor; instead of the loose collection of stories told by a small group, we get a fully formed space opera with a much wider canvas.We still follow the Shrike pilgrims, and their segments are among the most tense in the novel as they are relentlessly stalked and picked off by the bespiked killer. Each of the characters gets a chance to shine, and the bonds of friendship between them are touchingly conveyed.We are also introduced to new protagonists; the first is another Keats cybrid who, through his dreams, monitors the pilgrims and their situation. It's a neat narrative device, and also allows Simmons to continue to share his love of the poet's work.We also follow, to a large extent, the CEO of the Hegemony, which shows the wider scope of the sequel; we are drawn into the galactic war with the ousters, an escalating situation that really ramps up the stakes. There are plenty of twists to the complex tale as well, as we find out what the ousters want, what the Shrike is, and what role the mysterious AI Technocore have played in everything.This is, if anything, an improvement on the already fantastic original, and Simmons' grasp of character, story and sheer scifi wonder remain among the best in the genre. Great stuff.

I found this and its predecessor excellent reads overall. I won't go into the content, as other do (foolishly). That's for you to find out. The story is expansive, believable, revisionist and encompasses many differing styles of storyline that anyone can, and will, enjoy. I find myself wanting to recommend this series to all my friends and family, as it has a little bit of everything in it, albeit a scifi novel at heart. If you are into poetry, this will wet your intellect, but possibly annoy you. If you are religious (you probably don't read scifi, but hey) then this will make you think, or choke(!), if you are a scifi buff, you'll love it, but please don't apply science reason to the storyline too harshly. If you want a romance, you have it here, if you want politics that too! Be assured none of it is lightly done. The story-line is tightly woven, very much shows the authors interest in religion and ethics ( some views do come through) but you will finish this novel feeling sated in many ways. I for one will look up Yates.Faults in the novel? Whoever proof read this needs to be shot... Pure and simple. The English mistakes are unforgivable, the use of 'replace and paste', lazy ( lighted for lit throughout the book? Change your job!).However, read this series - it's enjoyable and worth the time you put aside.

Finally I finished this book. It was a long, complicated, drawn out road - a bit like this review - but I got there. Overall I prefer Hyperion, and I'll tell you why.Fall of Hyperion continues directly from the end of Hyperion with the Shrike Pilgrims arriving at the valley of the Time Tombs on their journey to meet the Shrike, whilst the planet Hyperion prepares for Ouster invasion and the leaders of the Hegemony prepare for war. Hegemony CEO Meina Gladstone has summoned the cybrid version of John Keats (Joseph Severn here) to help her with her plans, ostensibly to draw portraits of her, but he has a connection to the pilgrims that can be used to monitor their progress. Meanwhile there are stirrings in the TechnoCore...Gone is the structure of the previous novel, the individual tales set amongst the frame story of the pilgrimage, now replaced by a more straightforward narrative, or so you would think. Fall of Hyperion is a complicated, sprawling mess of a book, frequently jumping from world to world, from first person to third person, and from one time to another and back. When I say mess I don't mean that it's terrible as such, but merely that it's all over the place. It begins reasonably enough - chapters alternate between Severn's adventures with the politics of the Hegemony and Severn's dreams of the pilgrims' continued plight in the valley of the Time Tombs. It's not long though before Simmons abandons this and things spin out of control, both with the story itself and the narrative employed in telling it. It's a complicated story that could have been just that extra little bit clearer. Some may find the challenge of understanding it all rewarding.Complexities aside, this is an engrossing story, full of deceit and huge implications, with well-painted characters and environments - nobody can doubt Simmons' writing chops. Central to the book is a cautionary tale about over-reliance on technology and the dangers of artificial intelligence, whilst at the same time there are many other facets touched on. I'm not the most observant of readers, but I'm sure there's lots going on underneath the surface of the novels here in terms of philosophy and literature. For my tastes, there is too much poetry that I can't make sense of - yes Dan, we know you're a fan of Keats, but the poetry and obscure literary references are becoming a bit much for poor old ignorants like myself. The book starts well and ends well, with several surprises saved until the end (although they could be guessed) and many threads left open for the next books. I do find however that the mystery and confusing nature surrounding the Shrike and its actions is becoming a bit tiresome at this point.There are some niggles with the writing style, particularly with phrases that are repeated all too often. Phrases such as:"Vermilion sands""Lapis lazuli sky""(character name) made a gesture with his hand...""Sol fed Rachel one of the last nursing paks..." (I'm paraphrasing)There's also far too much nodding in this book for my liking. Everyone nods too much, or the fact that they have nodded comes up far too often. Next to shrugging this has become my new pet hate for repetition in novels.But yes, I enjoyed the book. Not as much as Hyperion, but I enjoyed it for the continuation of the story and resolution of some threads whilst others were frustratingly unresolved or new ones were added. It's more complicated than it needs to be, but the challenge is enjoyable.8/10Note: I will not be reading Endymion for a while, I need a break from this series!

A truly iconic read, the poetry, the expansion of the universe and the philosophy of conflicts. At times it felt like I was reading of a time not far in the future, fighting AIs, God, time travel, war and revolution. Brilliant

A good conclusion to book 1, though a bit repetitive in concept and not as succinct.Book 1 is a superior stand alone book, but book 2 does answer some major questions.

More alternative history than character development, but with more depth in the characters than in Asimov's "Foundation"... In fact, I'm already on the third book and my thoughts are on the set of the first three books in this series. There are elements, finally, of a perspective of long history and phases, as in the aforementioned trilogy and Asimov's extensions, as well as in those of "Dune" (Frank Herbert) and "The three-body problem" (Cixin Liu) - with the positive exception that Dann Simmons has greater literary quality. Curiosity: I used google translator to generate this text and I didn't notice any errors... even the titles of the books I wrote in Portuguese and they came out correctly.

Fantastic depiction of the human tug of war with technology. The ideas portrayed alongside the remarkable story can spring your imagination into the changing times we will undoubtedly face in future decades. Highly recommend a beautifully written story with thought-provoking concepts.

Read it, just read it.Read It!!!!!!I started with Hyperion and now I’m on a binge read for all books.I have exams, I don’t care! I need to know who god is!I have work, I don’t care! I need to know what happens to the 5 protagonists.

Smart and beautifully written.Not as striking as the Hyperion, but a worthy read full of great ideas.I want to read more books by this author.