Hyperion by Dan Simmons!!!! - Page 2

bropous · 03-08-2007, 05:46 PM

Actually, I'm starting to like "Fall of Hyperion", but it's early days yet. It is eminently more readable than the first, maybe now that the side stories are out of the way the storytelling is coming through.

The Telcontarion · 03-08-2007, 08:11 PM

Now you like it...

bropous · 03-12-2007, 01:39 PM

Well, yeah, I'm certainly enjoying it more than the cumbersome "Hyperion" [AKA, Canterbury Tales Redux].

I guess what killed Hyperion for me were the endless tales of the individual pilgrims. I think Dan could have given us their bare-bones sketches and stuck to getting the story rolling, but that's just my personal tastes.

He is a very good writer, and I am glad to see that Ilium and Olympos weren't just "one-offs". Had I read "Fall" first and then gone back and read "Hyperion", maybe their individual tales would have been more interesting for me.

trolls' bane · 08-26-2009, 08:08 PM

This thread too deserves a bump, because, IMHO, the Hyperion Cantos is the best set of books I've ever read.

I probably have to admit that Simmons' over-use of cliffhangers is a bit annoying, but I think overall it was an interesting book all the way through. I've never really seen concepts such as time travel dealt with in this manner, nor any of the "fringe" sciences dealt with, and I think they're dealt with rather well.

On a slightly unrelated note, after finishing the Cantos I've been trying to get a hold of one of Teilhard de Chardin's books, particularly, of course, the Phenomenon of Man. They seem to be really hard to come by, and the only one I found even when searching all the local libraries was a book on geology.

The Telcontarion · 08-28-2009, 09:41 PM

Thanks for reviving this thread bane. Hyperion is and exceptional book and Dans Simmons a more than worthy author.

I really should get around to reading his books of other genres, as of now I have only read the sci-fi. Except his first book, Song of Kali, which was a horror book; interesting but not so exceptional. He is a jack of all trades and his detective books like hard case have rave reviews not to mention his other attempts at horror like Carrion Comfort and The Terror.

trolls' bane · 08-29-2009, 06:41 PM

The guy who recommended Hyperion to me told me that it was so exceptional that once I was finished, I wouldn't be able to read anything else. He was only half-right, because I am reading Ilium/Olympos well enough.

03-08-2007, 05:46 PM	#21
bropous EIDRIORCQWSDAKLMED DCWWTIWOATTOPWFIO Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Littleton, CO Posts: 1,176	Actually, I'm starting to like "Fall of Hyperion", but it's early days yet. It is eminently more readable than the first, maybe now that the side stories are out of the way the storytelling is coming through. __________________ "...[The Lord of the Rings] is to exemplify most clearly a recurrent theme: the place in 'world politics' of the unforeseen and unforeseeable acts of will, and deeds of virtue of the apparently small, ungreat, fogotten in the places of the Wise and Great (good as well as evil). A moral of the whole (after the primary symbolism of the Ring, as the will to mere power, seeking to make itself objective by physical force and mechanism, and so also inevitably by lies) is the obvious one that without the high and noble the simple and vulgar is utterly mean; and without the simple and ordinary the noble and heroic is meaningless." Letters of JRR Tolkien, page 160.

03-08-2007, 08:11 PM	#22
The Telcontarion The one true King of the human race, direct descendant of Adam and heir to the kings of old. "You owe me your fealty." The Tar Minyaturion Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: By the shores of cuivinien Posts: 694	hah!! Now you like it... __________________ Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Ecclesiasticus 2:1-5 1 My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation... ...4 Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. 5 For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

03-12-2007, 01:39 PM	#23
bropous EIDRIORCQWSDAKLMED DCWWTIWOATTOPWFIO Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Littleton, CO Posts: 1,176	Well, yeah, I'm certainly enjoying it more than the cumbersome "Hyperion" [AKA, Canterbury Tales Redux]. I guess what killed Hyperion for me were the endless tales of the individual pilgrims. I think Dan could have given us their bare-bones sketches and stuck to getting the story rolling, but that's just my personal tastes. He is a very good writer, and I am glad to see that Ilium and Olympos weren't just "one-offs". Had I read "Fall" first and then gone back and read "Hyperion", maybe their individual tales would have been more interesting for me. __________________ "...[The Lord of the Rings] is to exemplify most clearly a recurrent theme: the place in 'world politics' of the unforeseen and unforeseeable acts of will, and deeds of virtue of the apparently small, ungreat, fogotten in the places of the Wise and Great (good as well as evil). A moral of the whole (after the primary symbolism of the Ring, as the will to mere power, seeking to make itself objective by physical force and mechanism, and so also inevitably by lies) is the obvious one that without the high and noble the simple and vulgar is utterly mean; and without the simple and ordinary the noble and heroic is meaningless." Letters of JRR Tolkien, page 160.

08-26-2009, 08:08 PM	#24
trolls' bane Entmoot Secretary of the Treasury Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Campsite-by-Giraffe Posts: 5,408	This thread too deserves a bump, because, IMHO, the Hyperion Cantos is the best set of books I've ever read. I probably have to admit that Simmons' over-use of cliffhangers is a bit annoying, but I think overall it was an interesting book all the way through. I've never really seen concepts such as time travel dealt with in this manner, nor any of the "fringe" sciences dealt with, and I think they're dealt with rather well. On a slightly unrelated note, after finishing the Cantos I've been trying to get a hold of one of Teilhard de Chardin's books, particularly, of course, the Phenomenon of Man. They seem to be really hard to come by, and the only one I found even when searching all the local libraries was a book on geology. __________________ KI6PFA Amateur Radio Operator

08-28-2009, 09:41 PM	#25
The Telcontarion The one true King of the human race, direct descendant of Adam and heir to the kings of old. "You owe me your fealty." The Tar Minyaturion Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: By the shores of cuivinien Posts: 694	Thanks for reviving this thread bane. Hyperion is and exceptional book and Dans Simmons a more than worthy author. I really should get around to reading his books of other genres, as of now I have only read the sci-fi. Except his first book, Song of Kali, which was a horror book; interesting but not so exceptional. He is a jack of all trades and his detective books like hard case have rave reviews not to mention his other attempts at horror like Carrion Comfort and The Terror. __________________ Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Ecclesiasticus 2:1-5 1 My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation... ...4 Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. 5 For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

08-29-2009, 06:41 PM	#26
trolls' bane Entmoot Secretary of the Treasury Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Campsite-by-Giraffe Posts: 5,408	The guy who recommended Hyperion to me told me that it was so exceptional that once I was finished, I wouldn't be able to read anything else. He was only half-right, because I am reading Ilium/Olympos well enough. __________________ KI6PFA Amateur Radio Operator

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