On the eve of intergalactic war and possible Armageddon, seven pilgrims—a priest, a soldier, a poet, a scholar, a starship captain, a detective, and a government consul—set off to the world of Hyperion to seek out the unanswered questions of their lives. It will not be an easy journey, as the world on the outskirts of the Web worlds is home to the creature called the Shrike, living in a phenomenal place, called the Time Tombs, where time flows backwards. The Time Tombs are the destination of the pilgrims, carrying hope and questions to the fearsome Shrike in what they suspect to be the end of their lives.
Dan Simmons’ Hugo Award-winning novel Hyperion is a spectacularly well written work that uses nonlinear storytelling with multiple narrators and points of view to beautifully create a universe 700 years in the future, when Earth has been destroyed for 400 years. The novel is comprised of six tales from the pilgrims—six tales from seven pilgrims; you’ll have to read the book to find out why—telling their secrets that brought them on the journey. These stories are framed by the central story of their journey, in a style reminiscent of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.
While the pilgrims’ stories vary in tone and style, it does not hamper the flow of the novel. Some stories are elegantly written, while others are based on high thrills and action—one story’s even in the film noir fashion, but with a science fiction twist—but all contain complex themes that add to the overall theme presented in Hyperion.
Simmons writes in a fashion similar to Frank Herbert’s Dune series. It’s filled with detailed and elegant prose, but once the reader gets started on the novel, it’s hard to put down. The only downside one could find with Hyperion would have to be the ending. Simmons does a good job wrapping up the pilgrims’ stories—but the novel as a whole leaves on a cliffhanger that, by itself, works as reinforcement to the theme of an unknowing future, but is still disappointing. That being said, The Fall of Hyperion was written shortly after Hyperion as the conclusion of the story. He also wrote Endymion and The Rise of Endymion, which are set in the same universe as this novel, but a couple hundred years in the future.
It is no surprise that Simmons won the 1990 Hugo Award for Best Novel for Hyperion. This is a superbly written book, plain and simple. It’s innovative, yet written in a retro style comparable to that of the science fiction novels of the 1960s and ’70s. The extensive use of frames in the novel adds a higher level to the story, rather than deterring from it as happens in most novels.
Any reader who picks up Hyperion will be in for an enjoyable ride, and will be disappointed when the ride ends. Luckily, The Fall of Hyperion is there to continue the tale.
