I can’t believe I’m linking to the tard’s website, but this is super cool:
Da Dwarf
I remember reading Hyperion. I rememner enjoying reading Hyperion. I can’t for the life of me remember anything about Hyperion. It’s about time to re-read it.
Yikes! Shrikes!
Oh so worried. The link says they’ve already completely changed the story, so that lovely Leo can be in all three movies. (In the books, the first two are a few hundred years before the last two, with different characters.)
I’m rereading the series right now, and it is as good as I remember. I really hope they don’t screw this up.
H.
Bah, another series that should have ended at book one. It was a bit like Canterbury Tales. The pilgrimage was interesting, as were the many mysteries, and they should have been left at that – mysteries. I didn’t need it all explained, but the subsequent books insisted on logical answers for every ridiculous thing. It’s the whole Force vs. mido chloridans again, or whatever they’re called. I hope they get Tom Cruise to star in the movie.
If you haven’t read Hyperion and you have any taste for grownup science fiction, put it at the top of your list. Now if only they’d do this for Stephen R. Donaldson’s Gap series…
Damn straight. Gap series was consistently better, but it’s hard arguing with the method of space travel used in the Hyperion universe.
Engage.
splat
Agreed. That’s why I stopped reading after Endymion.
I read, and enjoyed, Hyperion and Return to Hyperion. The end of Return seemed to wrap everything up, so I didn’t even think of looking for additional books. Show how in touch I am with the sci-fi book world these days.
Are the subsequent books worth picking up, or should I leave it be with the first 2 books?
They are all works of genius in my opinion. Each one expands and reshapes, providing fresh perspectives.
Da Dwarf
Agreed. That’s why I stopped reading after Endymion.[/quote]
I have only just finished Hyperion and plan on picking up the next one. The pilgrimage and back stories were excellent, but I really wanted something more at the end. I, obviously, realized things were not going to be wrapped up many pages before the end, but the walking off into the sunset of the human race ending did not leave me all warm and fuzzy inside.
My question is:
Are you guys saying that not only does Simmons wrap things up in Steven Spielberg type exposition, but every drop of mystery (which Hyperion was steeped in) is ruined?
If that is the case, my interest in picking it up has taken a severe hit. Although, I have to find out what happens to the little girl. Having a 2.5 year old girl, that storyline was agonizing.
No, the first two are totally worth your time. It’s books three and four that come under considerable (and, I think, deserved) criticism. The series should have ended permanently with the stunning second novel.
OK, whew! Thanks Dave. I will meet back here after completing the second for further guidance. 
I guess I’m in the small minority that didn’t even like book 2.
I thought book 1 was great, and while I understand that he couldn’t keep the mysteries indefinitely, book 2 didn’t really get into anything I cared about after book 1. I read them a long while ago, so I can’t get into too many specifics, but I remember that it had a whole lot of stuff about AIs, not much about the shrike, a lot about the poet, not much about the other characters from book 1 (except the Yeats robot?).
I just was tremendously disappointed, and I haven’t picked up the other two books. FWIW, Simmons is a real hit & miss author for me–I liked “Song of Kali” , but couldn’t finish “Carrion Comfort” (both horror novels). I liked “Hard Case”, but couldn’t get halfway through “The Crook Factory” (both thrillers). I liked “Phases of Gravity.”
And so on.
Gavin
Book 2 killed the series for me too (it was a Keats, not Yeats robot btw). I lost all interest in it. I did read one other Simmons book, a horror story set in a small town that focused on children combating some evil attempting to manifest itself fully in our world. It was a fun read. I should give him another try I guess.
For a slightly different opinion, I do think that the books went downhill through the series, but that all four were well worth reading.
Geoff
The book was “Summer of Night” and it is a truly awesome read. I liked all 4 hyperion books. The first two were originally treated as standalone and definitely left some mysteries unexplained. The next two clean up pretty much all the loose ends and tie it in a neat package…
But you all have to admit the Shrike was awesome.
His crime fiction Hard Case novels are pretty decent airplane/beach reads also.
I saw one in the store and read the first few pages and someone attacked the hero and the hero ended up jamming the guys hand down the garbage disposal to get him to talk. Then after he got what he wanted, he shot him I think. Or threw him off a balcony. It was a bit too hard case for me.
I got Hardcase because it got raves from a forum on yahoo.com. Kinda reads like Rambo.
Rise thread, rise from the ashes!!
I just finished Hyperion, and was a bit disappointed. I generally enjoyed it up until the non-ending. I was particularly miffed at the well-known-20thC-fiction reference he throws in right at the end (trying not to spoil things here), which I felt was a bit trite and cheap. Perhaps after the hurt has subsided I will forget the ending and read the next book, but I’m rather dis-inclined right now. I thought the pilgrim’s stories were interesting, but sometimes a bit clumsy.
Edit: and because I know you all loved it, I want to mention that I do appreciate all the Canterbury Tales, Keats and classical mythology references, but it was still a cheap shoddy ending. Bah humbug.