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Slow But Interesting Read

Posted : 6 months ago on 19 February 2008 09:23 (A review of Hyperion)

If you enter Hyperion believing it to be a single novel, you will be surprised that this notion is slightly off. The book is really 6 short stories, told as background stories for the main characters, and the main story which in this book is serving as the carrier for the 6 short stories. It gives the book a 2nd person narrative, switching from 1st to 3rd person, but this only happens when the story changes from a background story of a character to the present time.

Hyperion starts as 7 Pioneers, traveling to a planet called Hyperion, where a creature, completely composed of metal spikes and loves to kill, called the Shrike exists in an ancient artifact called the Time Tombs. The reason for the voyage is to have the Shrike grant the wish of one of the pioneers. According to legend, whomever has their wish granted lives to return but all others on the voyage will be sacrificed to the Shrike, which he impales on a giant steel tree.

The novel then proceeds to move along at a slow pace, documenting how the travelers get to Hyperion and make their way to the Shrike's home. During this voyage, all the pioneers tell their reason for participating in the voyage, which is where the short stories come into play. You learn about the universe and the history of how everything works together. You will have to stretch your mind a bit in some places to get an idea of the type of technology the author is speaking of but a lot of the definitions of terms house familiar concepts. (ex: Farcaster portals are basically a portal that allows a person to travel instantly to the other portal located thousands of light years away on a separate planet)

In summation, it is a good read but some parts may be a little tough to get through as the story is sort of light on action but the concepts presented in the book are so interesting, I kept reading because I wanted to know what was going to happen. It's not for everybody, but science fiction fans should pick it up. (You will also need to read The Fall of Hyperion, the second book in the series)

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