[Salt-Man Z]

I totally agree about Simmons' endings. I think Fall of Hyperion ended best, but Rise of Endymion and Olympos both left me disappointed. (Exhilarated, but disappointed.)

My take on Simmons now is: it's not about the destination, just enjoy the ride.

[cerveza_fiesta]

stone monkey;303296 said:

I've read a fair bit of Simmons' work after I read Hyperion in the early 90s - I'm still convinced Ilium is his best work. I'd probably put The Terror next; it starts as a fantastically atmospheric piece, with a truly grim mood of cold and inevitable doom and then takes a sudden left turn into the land of batshit crazy.

I've noticed that he seems to have difficulty ending his stories - whilst I like The Fall of Hyperion a lot, I still find it something of a disappointment after the stylistic and imaginative pyrotechnics of its prequel - I actually find it hard to believe that they were written as a single piece, the differences between them are so jarring. And don't even get me started on Olympos.

The wiki article says contrary to popular belief they were not written as one piece. Lots of people just think so bcs of the abrupt ending of Hyperion.

....However, in a post on his Web forum,[2] Dan Simmons has disputed this version of events, saying that Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion were not submitted as one manuscript, but that Hyperion was submitted first and Fall of Hyperion was written later. The second two novels take place three hundred years later in the chronology of the story, and contain an almost entirely-new cast of characters, although the events of the earlier novels provide important background

Full article

[Crimson Dragoon]

Definitely agreeing with the people that said Weintraub's story was heartbreaking. Also, a Hyperion movie might be in the works.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?c...id=51630&type=0

[Werthead]

Reading Hyperion for the first time now.

Pretty good. I'm detecting similarities between Simmons and Reynolds, although Simmons is a somewhat better prose writer based on this one book. I really wish I'd read it ten years ago though, when it would have probably utterly blown me away.

[GardenGnome]

Hyperion is great. The next 3 books are so-so. Fall of Hyperion is good, then the Endymion books... I didn't like the main story line all that much, which is a problem I guess However, the storyline following one of the "bad" guys was great. He got too little attention.

Ilium was great, tried to read Olympos (or whatver the next book was called) several times, but never managed to get past the first 100 pages or so.

[zeeny]

I bought the Terror without knowing anything at all about the plot. It was superb. Way, way, way better than the Ilium/Olympos saga. I'd really recommend it to anybody who likes Simmons' works. A different set of awesome.

[maynard]

I've never been as enamoured with Simmons as some others here. The Hyperion cantos never really touched me and I only read about 50 pages of Ilium. I heartily recommend 'The Terror' though. A bloody brilliant book.

[Abyss]

Simmons is one of those authors who inspires diverse responses. No one says 'he sucks', but he's not everyone's cup of tequila.

I've read both Hyperion boks and a few short stories. Planning to pick up Endymion and subsequent eventually.

- Abyss, thinks the Shrike would make a great coat rack...

[caladanbrood]

So I have The Hyperion Omnibus (I assume it's Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, not the Endymion ones) and The Terror sitting on my bookshelf - any recommendations on which to read first?

[drinksinbars]

hyperion is bloody awesome - so is endymion as well.

[cerveza_fiesta]

I'd strongly recommend Hyperion. Super interesting and hasn't lost my interest yet. I'm about 2/3 through

[stone monkey]

If I were you I'd do the Hyperion one first, just to see where Simmons is coming from. And it's a big juicy read that you can really get your teeth into too. It's also an interesting historical piece too, if you're interested in the history of sf that is; as it's one of the books that kicked off Modern Space Opera as a subgenre.

[caladanbrood]

Sounds pretty unanimous

[Werthead]

My take:

Quote

Few books come as universally-applauded in the genre as this one. It was getting to the point where people seemed to be questioning my fitness to blog about SF since I hadn't read Hyperion, so I thought it was time to take the plunge. For those likewise ignorant of the book, Hyperion is the first in a four-volume sequence known as The Hyperion Cantos, consisting of Hyperion (1989), The Fall of Hyperion (1990), Endymion (1996) and The Rise of Endymion (1997). The sequence is heavily influenced by both the poetry of John Keats and the work of Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales is the clear structural inspiration behind the first novel.

The 28th Century. A war is brewing between the Hegemony of Man and the Ousters, a race of 'barbaric' humans living in arkships drifting in the depths of space. As the war drums sound, seven individuals are summoned to the remote frontier world of Hyperion by the Church of the Shrike, the godlike entity who roams that world killing people for unknown reasons or hanging their still-living forms on its giant mechanical tree. As the seven pilgrims journey through space to Hyperion, then on a gruelling ground journey across the planet even as the Hegemony and Ousters do battle in orbit, they tell each other the tale of how they came to this place and the reason for their interest in Hyperion and the Shrike.

It's a pretty straightforward structure, and indeed the book comes across as a collection of linked short stories with a prominent framing sequence. What is unusual is that Simmons varies his style slightly between each story, so the Priest's Tale is a mystery (albeit a mystery enlightened by electricity-spewing trees); the Soldier's Tale is a war story; the Poet's Tale is one of hubris; the Scholar's Tale is an almost heartbreaking tragedy; the Detective's Tale is a thriller; and the Consul's Tale is a romance told across decades. Simmons' writing skills here are extraordinary, with some stunning imagery and moments of emotional intensity transmitted through clear-cut but often evocative prose. Each story is a contained narrative in itself, but also contributes to the whole.

Hyperion (*****) is simply unmissable for anyone interested in the genre. It is available from Gollancz in the UK, either by itself, as part of the Future Classics range or in an omnibus with its immediate sequel, The Fall of Hyperion. It is also available in the USA from Bantam Spectra.

[Dag]

I read "Hyperion" and "Fall of Hyperion" years ago, and was amazed by these books. So I persuaded my Ma (who has never really been a big fan of SF) to read them. Grudgingly she did so... and now, years later, they still count among her favourite books. The Priest's story has made the strongest impression on both of us. When we later switched to the "Endymion" part of the Cantos, well.. we were both slightly disappointed. I cannot say those last two books were bad, but somehow they just couldn't draw me in like the first two.

As to his other books - my first attempt to read "Olympos" (I haven't read "Ilium") has failed, but I'm ready to give those books a second chance. And I'm still chewing on "Terror" and just can't get to the end...

[stone monkey]

It's, let's say, advisable to read Ilium before you read Olympos as a) it's a much, much better book and you probably won't know what the hell's going on if you don't..

[thrinidir]

Hyperion is one of my favourite books. The first book is absolutely stunning and the characters' stories really resonated with me (I especially loved Sol Weinertaub's recollection of how he coped with his ever-youngerd daughter). The second book is a good conclusion to the series (but not a classic as the first). Enjoyed Endymion, but lets face it, it's a pretty straightforward space opera; nothing grand about that.