Hyperion

By: Dan Simmons

Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Allyson Johnson, Kevin Pariseau, Jay Snyder, Victor Bevine

Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it.

In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope - and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

©1989 Dan Simmons (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

Hugo Award, Best Novel, 1990
Locus Award, Best Novel, 1990
"Dan Simmons has the Midas touch: Every genre he writes - whether SF, horror, mystery, historical, or thriller - he turns to gold. Hyperion and The Fall Of Hyperion set a new standard for grand-scale science fiction." (Kevin J. Anderson, author of The Saga of Seven Suns)
"Dan Simmons was a star from the outset. It was the Hyperion books that made him a superstar. The man, quite simply, is what we in the trade call a writer's writer." (Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author)
Each of [the pilgrim's] stories would make a superb novella on its own. ( The New York Times Book Review, Gerald Jonas)

Definitely worth a listen.

Excellent book. I've seen this title on the shelf, but I never picked it up. Once I noticed it was available from audible, I figured I'd give it a try. I was not disappointed. This was just an outstanding story. It was well read by the cast and Dan Simmons is at the top of his game as he weaves the different threads of the story together. Also, it is Unabridged!! Seriously, give it a try, I'm betting you won't be disappointed. If you are like me, you will be hooked and you will need to get the other 3 books in this series! Actually, if I ever get a free moment, I might try to read them as well as listen.

Auditory Thrill

What did you love best about Hyperion?

“Prologue. The Hegemony Consul sat on the balcony of his ebony spaceship and played Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp Minor on an ancient but well-maintained Steinway while great, green, saurian things surged and bellowed in the swamps below."

In print the opening sentence of Dan Simmons’ novel Hyperion packs a potent punch. Listening to the same sentence in the audiobook version by Audible, the same strong oomph is lent by the prose, yet now new dimensions are added. Instantly there is a haunting quality to the very first words which is downright exhilarating.

I listened to the first few evocative paragraphs of the book five times in awe before I was able to wrench my thumb away from the rewind button. It is not merely narrators that read this book, it is truly voice artists. The bass/baritone voices of the male narrators and the contralto of the female narrator is like fine quality paint brushes. They use inflection, pitch, pause, falsetto, strength, whisper and timbre to paint and colour the picture of the story so masterfully written by Dan Simmons. I travel a lot and usually listen to my books using the text-to-speech function on my Amazon Kindle. I have grown quite accustomed to the monotone computer generated voice on the Kindle and perhaps that is the reason why I was blown away by the quality of this audio book…

As to actual the story… I have read all four books of the Hyperion Cantos before. I have always wanted to re-read it.

Dan Simmons tells a Chaucer-esque story of seven pilgrims making their way to the strange planet Hyperion. Unexplained forces surround their final destination, the time tombs, which makes it impossible for space- and aircraft to land close by. So begins the long trek of the seven pilgrims to the mysterious time tombs.
By not quite mutual agreement the pilgrims decide to tell their stories as they travel. I was disappointed at the end of each story, wanting to know more, but soon became engrossed in the next tale. As each pilgrim tells their story, the background of the Hyperion universe unfolds and one learns the chronicle of how Old Earth was destroyed and how humans fleeing in seed ships colonized the galaxy.

I am not going to pen down any plot spoilers here, but if you are into Sci-Fi (with a little fantasy mixed in) get the book, it is mind blowing to say the least.

Superb

Superb worldbuilding, deeply wrought ideas about religion, social and political systems with well-realisted characters. But this series also has great tension, plot and pace. Although the later books/audio's slow down in places, and there's some repetition. The narration quality varies throughout the series, sometimes very annoyingly but not in this first book of the series. Well worth a download.

Very good, strange ending

Would you listen to Hyperion again? Why?

Yes. it's complicated in a good way. I think listening twice would make one understand the story/stories (and the characteres) better

What other book might you compare Hyperion to and why?

Canterbury tales

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

The consul

The Canterbury Tales in space

Dan Simmons does an excellent job of character development and moving the plot along at a reasonable pace considering the vast size of this work. The story is not extremely hard science fiction because the author only makes cursory attempts to explain the mechanisms of travel or the levels of technology mankind has achieved, that being said, the story suffers very little for this. The style and eccentricities of man in this future age create a garish picture of humanity which is all too imaginable. Overall it's an enjoyable listen with an extremely able narrator. There are a couple errors in recording when CDs or sections are mentioned so it cannot receive full marks.

One of Sci-Fi's greatest books

This is just an amazing book. The reading is also excellent for the whole series.

Great language, unique environment

Mr Simmons paints a vivid picture with his mastery of the English language.
The backstory for this novel is quite rich, and the author could easily create several more novels just from the materials he only hints at.

Excellent Audio Performance

Would you listen to Hyperion again? Why?

I plan to listen to Hyperion again, if only to listen to the Poet's tale again. Hilarious and poignant at the same time.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hyperion?

The throwbacks to old earth, references to Keats, The similarities between this and Foundation, and the Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The characters are brought to life by the voice actors chosen to play them. Like a radio drama, the call and response created by the voice actors creates something a bit different than your standard audio book. Lamia's narrator was a little stiff, but all in all the voice acting was convincing...especially the Poet.

Much More than Pilgrims' Tales

At first, it seems like the bulk of the story will be several more or less separate tales, told by pilgrims on their journey. This book is so much more than that. The tales themselves are there, but they are not anywhere near as disconnected as they first appear.

Also there is quite a bit happening with the Pilgrims and also the rest of the galaxy between the tales.

The multiple narrators work fine . . . each voicing both their character's tale whole, and also their individual characters in the scenes between. Some of them are quite good, but the rest of the series is narrated by Victor Bevine alone. He did a great job on those three books, but there is of course a notable shift when the first book ends with multiple narrators and the second picks up with just one of them. From a series perspective, I think I'd have preferred him alone on this book as well for continuity.

And the second book certainly picks up from this one. The only form of ending in this book is the reaching of the destination of the pilgrimage. All the rest of the story threads remain open for "Fall of Hyperion." I like reading (listening) to series, so this isn't a problem from my perspective, but if you're looking for a stand alone book this isn't one.

I very much recommend this book.

Wonderfully Entertaining

There were parts that were a bit drawn out, but over all I thouroghly enjoyed it. I couldn't stop listening to find out what would happen next.

The end was a bit of a let down. I am going to check if there is a Hyperion 2, right now.