M. Weald

I read the book Hyperion by Dan Simmons based on the recommendation of a friend who described it as the Canterbury tales in space. It was an intriguing sell to be sure, and I can’t believe it took me so long to get to this incredible tale of interstellar pilgrims coming to meet a metallurgical Lord of Pain seemingly sent backwards through time. Suffice to say I enjoyed it a lot, and I’ll do my best to keep this spoiler free for those who haven’t read it.

So, where to start? John Keats I suppose. I have to admit, I’ve never been much of a reader of poetry. To be sure, I have poetry books on my shelves. But most, if not all, are of the spoken word variety. The likes of George Watsky, Rudy Francisco, Harry Baker, Phil Kaye, and Sarah Kay are the poets whose works I have. And while I enjoy reading them from time to time, I still prefer hearing them spoken, shouted, or whispered as the author intended. All that to say, I don’t know much about classical poetry. I appreciate it, surely, but it’s never quite connected for whatever reason. So, John Keats. I bring him up because his presence is felt throughout this sci-fi novel: from a city named after him on the planet of Hyperion, to the titular planet itself being a reference to the unfinished epic poem John Keats worked on till his death. But the threads go deeper; through characters and plot, Keats’ influence is there. Of course, all of that was lost on me while reading the book. That and a great deal of other literary references. My head is nearly always too busy being stuck in realms of the more fantastical variety. Didn’t catch near a thing till doing research afterwards. So I guess what I’m saying is, you don’t have to know a thing about Keats to enjoy this book. Or a thing about the fine art of poetry, or literary fiction. All I knew was that Keats was a long dead English poet of some renown, but beyond that my knowledge was as blank as the characters’ knowledge of the Lord of Pain’s, the Shrike’s, intentions.

The novel takes place in the year 2732, and the Hegemony of Man exists on planets connected by farcasters, portals that allow for instantaneous travel from place to place. Beyond the Hegemony’s influence are the Ousters, humans who live without gravity on stations floating through the blackness of space. These Ousters also live beyond the influence of the AIs, entities of the TechnoCore who aid the Hegemony. Dan Simmons, the author, does a brilliant job revealing through each of the pilgrims’ stories the intricate web of history and crossed motivations that serve to define each of these major powers, one intriguing detail at a time. I will admit that, as is common for sci-fi novels written before the turn of the century (it was published in 1989), it does take a minute to feel comfortable in Hyperion‘s universe. There is a lot of new lingo and unfamiliar technologies that have to be learned before one’s footing can feel steady, before one can leave assimilating a feel for the environment as a background task so conscious effort can focus on the threads of character and plot. One’s willingness to deal with that is subjective, but I found the process both enjoyable and rewarding in Hyperion‘s case.

As I mentioned in the beginning, this novel was compared to The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer when it was recommended to me, and that predominately comes down to structure. The story unfolds as it follows the seven – an auspiciously prime number – pilgrims as they progress to the Time Tombs on the planet of Hyperion in order to ask a request of the Shrike. While this main arc is occurring, each of the pilgrims tells the tale of how they came to be on their journey, their motivation for meeting a terrifying and deadly being of unknown origin as interplanetary war looms large. It is through these tales that the universe is described, through the lens of these diverse pilgrims. I won’t tell their stories here, for it would only be a pale imitation, but suffice to say each of their tales is illuminating. The final particularly so. Humans act as humans will, and if the past is any indication, the march of humanity across the stars will mostly likely contain many of the same foibles expansions of kingdoms and dynasties on this Earth have held. The book’s ending was unique. Satisfying and reflective. But perhaps most intriguingly, not at all in the way I had expected. I know there are more in the series. Undoubtedly I will read them someday. But for now, I think I’ll just reflect on Hyperion for a spell. That and try to whittle down my to be read list one book at a time of course.

All the best,

M. Weald