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-- Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent sci-fi,
By
This review is from: The Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos) (Paperback)
The Fall of Hyperion is part two of the four-part Hyperion Cantos. In Hyperion we met seven pilgrims on their journey to the Time Tombs of the Shrike. We heard their stories - distinct and vivid stories with little overlap, except that they all ended up on the Shrike pilgrimage just as war threatened to envelop the Hegemony. The Fall of Hyperion begins as where Hyperion leaves off - the Time Tombs are opening and the Ousters are on the verge of attack. I will resist any temptation to reveal the plot, but I will say that the Fall manages to explain an awful lot. Hyperion introduces various loose ends in terms of technology, key players and history. Rather than neatly ignore these, as most authors do, Simmons hits them head-on in the Fall and in doing so weaves a very credible story. The two books are a natural pair, although they do work better as distinct novels rather than a single large tome, and are an excellent read. Highly recommended and amongst the best sci-fi I have read in the last 5 years. Still not convinced? Okay, there is more. Much more. Hyperion sets the scene for Endymion and the Rise of Endymion - the completion of the four novel saga. The Endymion books are quite extraordinary - they are profound, absorbing and truly moving, and they set Simmons apart as one of the greatest storytellers of our time. To read Endymion you need to read Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion. Click to purchase!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Sci-Fi Stories Ever!!!,
By
This review is from: The Fall of Hyperion (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
"The Fall of Hyperion" is truly masterful and riveting. Told in a more conventional, linear fashion than "Hyperion", this narrative focuses on the government of the Web and its leader, Meina Gladstone, as observed by Joseph Severn, a cybernetic re-creation of the poet John Keats, as well as the seven Shrike pilgrims, who may affect the war's outcome. Simmons pits good against evil, with the religions of man and those of the machines battling for supremacy. The Time Tombs are opening and the pilgrims all must confront the Shrike in their own way. Many of the answers to our questions are answered, and I loved every minute of the unveiling. And yet there are unanswered questions: Where DID the Shrike come from? What will become of the hegemony now that interstellar travel has changed so drastically? This is truly wonderfully grand science fiction with a literary nod to the poet John Keats.
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just superb,
By Alex Fell (Rugby, Warwickshire, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Hyperion Omnibus: Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
Although written coming on for twenty years ago, the two novels that make up this omnibus edition, "Hyperion" and "The Fall of Hyperion" are absolutely "must-reads" for all serious lovers of literary SF.The first book sets out the stories of a disparate group of travellers, brought together to visit the machine entity/deity the Shrike at its "lair" in the Time Tombs on the planet of Hyperion. Ostensibly, this is an attempt to avert an invasion of the settled universe by a swarm/fleet of Ousters (humans who have opted out of the mainstream human culture, which is run and regulated by AIs). However, each has a personal reason to visit the Shrike (a normally fatal enterprise) and on the course of the journey, each tells their tale. Thus, the book is a sort of mini-Decameron for the SF crowd, with the author adopting a different tone for each segment. It is supremely written, each segment explaining more of the overall milieau and pushing the plot forward as well as delineating the characters. The second book focusses less overtly on the characters of the original book, as the action broadens out into the political background of the setting and the action taking place on other worlds, as the Ouster invasion and its ramifactions develop. This is more conventional in its structure, but nevertheless riveting, and building to a highly satisfactory conclusion (though it is one of those books which you don't really want to end, so immersive is the story). The writing is superb all the way through, brimming with ideas and packing a great deal of "sense of wonder", but also maintaining a high degree of action-packing and also, in parts, very moving emotionally (the last is not often a feature of even the best SF). And while fairly highbrow in places (the poet Keats is quite big in the storyline) it carries along the reader (like myself) who is not expert in these things without being annoying or patronising. Perhaps the masterstroke of the books is the "character" of the Shrike, a sort of emblem of the mystery at the centre of the books (rather like the black monoliths in 2001). But the Shrike is also horrific and unpredictable, and every encounter with it is memorable. As stated above, the books are about 20 years old. But they seem hardly dated, and the quality of the writing is some of the highest (maybe the highest) in the genre. Having read a lot of SF, and modern SF too, these really stand out for me as "core texts". I was initially put off reading Dan Simmons because I was only aware of his horror writing - don't be, this is pure, fabulous SF of the highest order. Everyone raves about these books - there is a reason.
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