Hyperion
Dan Simmons
481 pages, read it
in paperback
I love having
friends. I love having friends that
read. I love having friends that read
what I want to read and I love it even more that we can pick a book seemingly
at random and all be enamored with it.
Since June's Lucid book club book was an easy read we opted for some
'side-pot' action and this is what we selected, Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Lucky us.
Hyperion follows
seven pilgrims to a back-water planet where they are going to meet the
Shrike. The Shrike is that sharp looking
thing on the cover and is full of nasty, and as assuredly as it is sharp it
also loves to flay. While it
historically has only been interested in the lands surrounding its home, it
recently has decided to start slaying people everywhere in a statement of 'I
don't give a fuck.' On the rare chance
the Shrike is not collecting ornaments for his tree he might grant a wish to a
pilgrim or more likely add you to the tree.
The expanding circle of Shrike's carnage and a combination of several
other galactic events puts Hyperion front and center stage in this play. The story itself is actually a series of
stories from each of the pilgrims on their way and is about how or why they are
on the trip in the first place. Since
the Shrike only likes prime numbers to grant a wish, we have seven forlorn
spirits, which include a Catholic Priest, a scholar type, a private eye, a
soldier, a space captain, and the former Consul of Hyperion. Each possesses a unique and interesting
story to tell about why they are on the pilgrimage.
I can gladly say
that I enjoyed all of the stories. Some
are of course more appealing than others and from looking at several of the
reviews, I find my own favorites (Three Score and Ten) are not necessarily in
line with others which I think is great.
There is a story for any type of adventurous reader and they all have
been thought out and written superbly.
Near the end of the book I begun to panic. How can Mr. Simmons tie this all up? I have questions? Oh right, this is a series
of four books...thank the Shrike because I want more.
Hyperion is
high-science fiction; make no mistake before embarking on this tale. It has grand spaceships with faster than
light travel, ships that float on grass, weapons of infinite destruction and
its chalk full of words and meanings that are never really fully
explained. Concepts such as The All
Thing and Farcasting, are touched on and used often but are not explained
beyond function or ability. Words like
Hellwhip and Deathwand are meant to describe things, weapons in this case, but
again are rarely expanded upon. Please
understand this before you undertake it.
I know some readers must have everything explained, at least enough to
allow them to be comfortable with a concept but Hyperion does not always do
that, in fact most of the time it does not.
In this particular instance, enjoy the ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment