Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)

by Dan Simmons

A stunning tour de force filled with transcendent awe and wonder, Hyperion is a masterwork of science fiction that resonates with excitement and invention, the first volume in a remarkable epic by the multiple-award-winning author of The Hollow Man.

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the reach of galactic law, waits a 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.

Praise for Dan Simmons and Hyperion

“Dan Simmons has brilliantly conceptualized a future 700 years distant. In sheer scope and complexity it matches, and perhaps even surpasses, those of Isaac Asimov and James Blish.”—The Washington Post Book World

“An unfailingly inventive narrative . . . generously conceived and stylistically sure-handed.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Simmons’s own genius transforms space opera into a new kind of poetry.”—The Denver Post

“An essential part of any science fiction collection.”—Booklist

• ISBN10: 0553283685
• ISBN13: 9780553283686
• Publish Date: 1 February 1990 (first published 26 May 1989)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 496
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780553283686

Reviews

[Ben Pick]

I wanted to like this book, but it didn't stick with me. As the story is a series of backstories for the characters involved, it felt like waiting buildup and anticipation which wasn't delivered until the sequel.

[alessio]

Recensione pubblicata originariamente sul mio blog Arte della Lettura

Recensione Hyperion (senza spoiler)

Leggere Hyperion si è rivelata una fatica non indifferente. Pietra miliare della narrativa fantascientifica e libro vincitore di innumerevoli premi letterari,  evidentemente il numero di questi ultimi è direttamente proporzionale alla noia che proverò durante la lettura. Ho impiegato quasi due mesi per leggerlo, eppure ho deciso di non abbandonarlo per via della curiosità che è riuscito a trasmettermi.

Trama

Hyperion narra la storia dei vari protagonisti tramite l'utilizzo di flashback, i quali riempiono buona parte del libro.
Questi personaggi devono effettuare un viaggio diretti verso un mostro/dio e nel corso del loro viaggio scopriremo i motivi per cui sono collegati a tale entità. Ogni flashback viene narrato con lo stile della persona parlante, il che significa che abbiamo storie estremamente logorroiche miste a storie quasi scorrevoli.

Ogni storia inizia in modo lentissimo, dovendo introdurre da zero personaggi, ambienti ed eventi, e quando inizia a farsi un po' interessante si conclude. Inoltre la prima storia, quella del Sacerdote, è la più lunga, pesante e noiosa di tutte e sei le storie. Non un ottimo inizio devo dire.

Una nota particolare va al finale non esistente. Hyperion non ha un finale, il libro si conclude proprio nell'attimo in cui poteva riscattarsi e farmi cambiare idea. Tutto viene lasciato in sospeso in favore del seguito, La caduta di Hyperion. Per questione di principio non acquisterò il seguito, ma leggerò la trama online (Nota: Ad oggi, Febbraio 2020, non trovo più i libri singoli, ma sarei pure costretto ad acquistare il mattone Mondadori con il ciclo completo).

Worldbuilding

Dan Simmons ha creato un universo di notevoli dimensioni e ricco di elementi da lui inventati, come sistemi politici, popoli, tradizioni, oggetti e molto altro.
Purtroppo niente di tutto ciò ci viene descritto chiaramente, ma viene tutto accennato. Questo è sicuramente un modo valido per costruire un mondo inventato, ma è poco piacevole iniziare la lettura e venire travolti da decine e decine di termini sconosciuti, parole a cui non ci è possibile collegare né un'immagine né una descrizione basilare.

Personaggi

Hyperion basa tutto sui racconti delle vite dei protagonisti e, ironicamente, pochi di loro sono interessanti e memorabili. Alcuni di loro non hanno interazioni o dialoghi utili al di fuori del loro racconto (Sol Weintraub, Brawne Lamia, Padre Lenar Hoyt), altri sono totalmente inutili (Het Masteen).

Conclusioni

Un libro ricco di elementi interessanti a livello fantascientifico, tant'è che comprendo appieno il perché dei vari premi ricevuti. Purtroppo però  l'ho trovato molto noioso e lento. Inoltre si è obbligati ad acquistare un secondo libro per avere un'esperienza di lettura completa, cosa piuttosto sgradevole.
Altre recensioni sul mio blog Arte della Lettura

[Mercy]

Dios, este libro ha sido... uf, no tengo palabras para explicar lo genial, lo maravilloso, lo bien construido que está, los personajes tan complejos y diferentes entre sí. Cada una de las historias de los personajes me atrapó de inicio a fin, aunque mi favorita creo que ha sido la del profesor. Dios, QUE HISTORIA. Y todo lo que hace por su niña. Eso sí es amor.
Aunque la verdad es que podría decir lo mismo del resto. Por ahora no sé que más decir, o sea, sí, pero no saldrá bien. Escribiré una reseña objetiva en el blog.

[Kate (Blogging with Dragons)]

I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel that made me feel swindled--until Hyperion. I picked up this sci-fi novel because I was fascinated by the mystery surrounding the godlike Shrike. What is it? Why do people worship it? And why go on a pilgrimage to confront something referred to as the “God of Pain?” Just what was the Shrike’s plan—to save the world or to destroy it? Those were just a few of my questions. To my dismay, none of them were answered.

Instead, I found myself reading what amounted to a book of short stories. The pilgrims on the quest to meet the Shrike, shared their stories. They hoped to find a connection in their pasts that would reveal why they were chosen for their current dangerous quest. They also anticipated that this exchange of stories would reveal which one of their number was actually a spy.


Expecting them to meet the Shrike and get some definitive answers, I slogged through the short stories. A few of them were really interesting, but others were so bad that I ended up skimming them. And when I finally finished the last of the short stories, the characters went to sleep and the book ended. I really couldn’t believe it. The pilgrims didn’t even meet the Shrike, which I mistakenly thought the book was about in the first place.

I suppose this ending (which I won’t call a cliffhanger because it was in no way suspenseful), was supposed to make me want to rush out and buy the sequel, but I’m afraid that I’d get just another filler book, like Hyperion, that had so much potential, but fell flat. Ultimately, if you love Sci-fi novels, maybe you will enjoy this book for what it is—a collection of short stories, without any real connection or ending.

[adamfortuna]

Probably my favorite science fiction book (and series) I've ever read. Hyperion is written in a style similar to The Canterbury Tales, in which a series of stories are told by the main characters. Each story is a gem in itself, but alude to the larger storyline. The scope of the story is ambitious - spanning time, planets religion and love.

[tamc]

Am not even half-way through, but excellent Sci-Fi book. I've heard there is a cliff hanger at the end, so I've already requested the second book from the library. There is a total of 4 in the series.

[wyvernfriend]

It's a story that echoes the Decameron and The Canterbury Tales, seven people tell the stories behind their going to Hyperion. Home to the Shrike and some tombs that no-one understands. Shrike will give one of them their wish but the others will die.

It's interesting and while the story continues into other books it doesn't induce me to continue reading.