The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons
After reading Hyperion, there was no doubt in my mind that I would be reading the rest of the novels in the series. I enjoyed the first novel so much that I grabbed the second novel and started reading even knowing that there were other things I should be reading for the book podcasts I am on.
In Hyperion, the first novel in the series, seven pilgrims are sent to the planet Hyperion, an out of the way planet on the edge of Hegemony space. The pilgrims are to seek out the Shrike, a creature of mythical proportions. The shrike is known for causing much pain and suffering to its victims. While traveling to a place on Hyperion known as the Time Tombs, the characters decide that they will tell each other their stories of encounters with the Shrike. The journey to the Tombs is long and it is thought that the stories will help the pilgrims get to know each other, understand why they were chosen to make the trip, and for entertainment purposes. Along with the pilgrim’s stories, there is war on the way with a race known as the Ousters, who are planning to conquer Hyperion.
One thing that is certain as far as I am concerned, is that The Fall Of Hyperion is a very complicated book and I am finding it difficult to summarize, but I will try. So, as they say, here goes nothin’...
It would seem that there are three distinct stories going on in this book. That of the pilgrims as they move in and around the Time Tombs, but sometimes it is told as a communication from Brawne Lamia (one of the pilgrims) to Joseph Severn, the second of a pair of “cybrid” reincarnations of the poet John Keats. Lamia has been fitted with a subcutaneous device that allows her to transmit the experiences of the pilgrims to Severn. Severn receives these transmission in the form of dreams that he can remember. He reports his dreams to the leader of the Hegemony of Man, CEO Meina Gladstone. For a good portion of the story, we see what is happening to the pilgrims through the dreams related by Severn.
Along with the exploits of the pilgrims, there is a war that is raging in space between the Hegemony and the invading Ousters. At the beginning of the story, CEO Gladstone is being advised by a few high-ranking officers of the FORCE, or the Hegemony military. The commanders have analyzed the Ousters numbers and their attack on Hyperion and report that the Hegemony forces will, in short time, easily defeat the Ousters. This proves to be a gross overstatement and the war quickly gets out of hand as the Ousters overrun the Hegemony forces and begin attacking Hegemony occupied worlds. There are billions of lives at stake, even though the Ousters do not travel by Farcaster (a type of transportation that allows one to travel from place to place instantaneously; it also connects all of the worlds in the Hegemony). Instead, the Ousters use what is known as Hawking Drive which is much slower, but that doesn’t matter because the Ousters seem relentless.
When CEO Gladstone learns that the Ousters are not flesh and blood beings, but rather are TechnoCore androids, she hatches a plot to destroy the Farcaster network where the TechnoCore (much like our internet, but far, far more sophisticated) resides.
The most compelling part of the story is the fate of the pilgrims themselves. They are:
- Martin Silenus - Poet who is hoping to finish an epic poem called the Hyperion Cantos.
- The Consul - A diplomat who is bitter toward the Hegemony, and has also been an agent of the Ousters.
- Brawne Lamia - A private detective who had/has a relationship with Joseph Severn.
- Sol Weintraub - A scholar who is bringing his infant daughter to the Time Tombs to reverse an infliction that is causing her to age backward toward her birth. Rachel, Sol’s daughter became ill when touched by the Shrike as an adult archaeologist studying the Time Tombs.
- Fedmahn Kassad - A former FORCE officer who seeks to destroy the Shrike and kill Moneta, the Shrike’s keeper and Kassad’s former lover.
- Lenar Hoyt - A Catholic priest who is hoping to die so his mentor Father Paul Dure can live again. He wears a thing called the Cruciform that allows him to be resurrected as Dure upon his death.
All of their stories are compelling and if you want to learn more about them, you’ll just have to read the book. If I summarize much more, I will be giving some major spoilers, even beyond the ones I have already given. Let just suffice to say that The Fall of Hyperion is a complicated story that is very involved and engaging. There are many facets to this story and they all seem to be interwoven in such a way that makes is hard for me to summarize in just a short space without telling the story.
As in the previous volume, I loved the way that the story unfolds and how Simmons writes it. He changes voice numerous times as he moves from one character to another, but the descriptions of what things look, feel, and smell like are quite poetic. The use of language in this book is beautiful. His descriptions of people, places and things are just fun to read as well as providing a complete picture that I was able to visualize as I read. The places he talks about in this book are places that are colorful and interesting and I would love to visit them myself. As for the people, they become entities that one cares about and are engaging; even the not-so-nice characters are living, breathing people while one reads.
The main motivation I had for reading this second book in the Hyperion series was to find out the fate of Sol Weintraub and his daughter Rachel. This was the most compelling story for me and I was not disappointed in the outcome. I could feel Sol’s pain as he had to make decisions, very difficult decisions, and finally came to the conclusion that he was going to have to trust the Shrike to grant his wish to restore Rachel to normal. Along with Sol’s story, the other pilgrims stories were just as appealing and interesting in their resolutions, but for some reason, I latched onto that one character, who, to me, was the one that had suffered the most. I do think that whoever reads The Fall of Hyperion, may find that while they sympathize with all of the pilgrims, as well as many of the other characters, that each reader may be able to identify more with one than the others.
I found this series when I searched for science fiction to read that would be something new and different. In looking back over what I read, while it may be classified as Sci-Fi, it is also a story that might appeal to Fantasy fans as well. I think that putting this book, and the one before it into a single category might limit who would enjoy these books. It is very much a work of fantasy; there are some very ‘magical’ things happening in this story that makes me think it is a Sci-Fi and fantasy story. There is the Shrike that would cause nightmares in many people, there is the quest of one individual character to take the Shrike down, and there is even a ‘magic’ carpet that carries one character across the planet to return with help.
In any case, the Hyperion Cantos books are well worth looking at whether you are a fan of one genre or the other. In my estimation, they are entertaining, engaging, and fascinating stories that are well written. But reader be warned, they are also very complex in their content and, should you decide to give the series a look, you will need to pay attention.
Well, there it is…
Qapla’!
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