Hyperion

By Dan Simmons

This book is a trap. Don’t start reading it until you have the sequel lined up next to it on your table; madness that way lies.

Hyperion is also the finest piece of science fiction I have read in a good long time. I haven’t had sufficient time to let it sink in and work on me, but I would say it certainly ranks in the top 20 books I have ever read, and given time to travel around my head a few more times, it seems likely to rise yet higher.

This book appeared twice in the last few weeks on the side tables and library shelves of two people the opinions of I respect. It was a funny little coincidence, but I take that seriously, so I picked it up off the library shelf and I took it with me to Hawaii. That in itself was a but of a coincidence too, in that one of the locations of import in the book is a place called Maui-Covenant (true, I wasn’t on Maui, but I’ll call it close enough for Science Fiction). Synchronicity is important to me, and I felt like this book came along at just the right moment. It is about travelling, and the essence of humanity, how we tell each other our stories, and how doing so binds us together.

It is also a very classic post-Earth space epoch. All the standard science fiction structures are there; the seemingly benevolent interstellar empire trying to recreate the best about Old Earth and move past the mistakes seemed to spring from her soil. The fantastic but feasible technology that allows the diaspora of mankind to spread past all human reckoning. The pervasive and piebald mysticism that arises in the face of phenomenon beyond human experience and understanding. Each of these is deftly executed and remarkably robust. In fact that is what makes this novel so extremely satisfying; while it contains each of these standard elements, it treats each as its own critical part not to be neglected in favor of anything else.

Rare indeed is the author who can manage to generate a palpable fear and an equally compelling eroticism. To pair a moving sense of the mystic and a convincing technical vernacular. To give each character a distinct and evocative voice while maintaining a gripping continuity. Not only are these seldom found together in pairs, I have never encountered each and all together in such measure and balance as in this book. Dan Simmon has created nothing less than a masterpiece in this novel by his ability to do so with such grace and artistry.

Hyperion is a planet at the center of a mystery the known universe have been unable to fathom. Phenomenon that defy all of man’s learning and the best of its efforts to unfold persist on this far flung world that has resisted all efforts to bring it into the fold of the Hegemony.  Time works in ways that cannot be explained and a creature known as the Shrike, a four armed creature covered in metal spikes with glowing red eyes roams the outlands leaving death in his wake. Now on the verge on an intergalactic war, seven pilgrims are selected to make a final pilgrimage to the Shrike who, legend says, will grant either a final wish or death.

Each pilgrim seems an unlikely choice in their way, and with no discernible connection either to each other or the Shrike.  As the journey begins and their tales unfold, we begin to see the ways in which a priest, a warrior, a scholar, a ship captain, a poet, a mercenary, and a diplomat are all deeply bound to both Hyperion and each other.  Each character speaks in a distinct and wholly convincing voice. Simmons switches effortlessly between the male and female characters and persuades entirely with both.

To give away more would spoil the pleasure of letting the reader sink into this excellent tale unhampered by expectation. Suffice it to say I found it utterly engrossing and totally satisfying. Funny, moving, horrifying and sexy. It is the best of all that literature has to offer, if you will allow yourself to submit to the Shrike’s dangerous embrace.

Highly Recommended