Hyperion - Dan Simmons

[Lateralus]

Well, for no reason other than it had an endorsement from Iain M Banks on the front, I have just bought and read Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I've really been enjoying Sci-Fi recently and have been ploughing through Iain M Banks and Alastair Reynolds, and wanted to try something else, so went for a long wander through the Sci-Fi section of Borders and found this. It's the first in 4 books in the series, and I liked it a lot and have now ordered the remaining 3.

Firstly, although it is similar in many respects to the books by the aforementioned authors, it is not "hard" Sci-Fi in that it is not terribly concerned with the science aspects and is much more focused on the characters. However, I gather that it still falls into the "space-opera" category, and I found it a very compelling read.

The story itself is superficially a little basic, and concerns 7 people who are chosen as pilgrims to go to a distant planet beyond the more fully-controlled areas of space. None of the pilgrims are particularly aware of why they are going, and in trying to find a common thread, each takes their turn to tell the story of how they have ended up on the pilgrimage. The chapters that make up these different stories are what effectively fills the book, and they were all very compelling. In a way, since the book is the start to a series as opposed to a stand-alone story, it is somewhat setting the scene in some regards, but having an entire book effectively devoted to character development meant that although comparatively little had happened in their pilgrimage, having it placed in the context of their respective stories made it all take on far greater significance.

The story for each character is written a little differently, so as to reflect the fact that different people are telling them. This was a feature that I liked a lot in the style of the book. For example, one character is a private investigator, and her story was told in the first person and had more than a nod towards film noir which made me chuckle. In my head, I started reading the chapter in a thick New York drawling accent.

The lack of emphasis or explanation for many of the scientific items in the book was certainly a contrast to the other Sci-Fi I've read recently, but the book was still very enjoyable and I'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the genre. Have any other 5punkers read this book, or any other by Dan Simmons? I'd be interested to know what other people make of him, and also for recommendations for other similar authors to add to my collection.

[Roman Totale]

I noticed this book whilst on an Alastair Reynolds buying binge. It tweaked my interest then, and now I find out there is a noir style private detective my interest has been tweaked even more.

I'll give it a go once I've got through my massive backlog of things to read (I'm similar to a woman in a shoe store when I enter Waterstones - I always leave with more things than I was intending to buy).

[Anery]

Ive read Dan Simmons before, Illium and Olympos. I loved the story line but sometimes the writing style was a bit hard work.

[Lateralus]

Well, I’ve now finished the remaining 3 books to this series (Fall of Hyperion, Endymion and Rise of Endymion) and my feelings are distinctly mixed. Dan Simmons has been praised as a writer of Sci Fi, Fantasy and Horror, and I think that these books certainly blur the boundaries between the genres a bit at times. That’s no bad thing, just an observation. However, increasingly towards the end of the series, he mixes some unbelievable (but acceptable in a novel) bits of science with esoteric concepts relating to love. I’ve no problem with love being discussed in books, but to try and take on the concepts of religion (features very largely in the latter 2 books) and love in the context of a broad-reaching sci-fi book is just a bit much I think. The other main influence on the book is poetry, specifically that of John Keats. I’ve not read any of his stuff, or poetry in general, and have never really had a burning desire to do so either.

The basic storyline is quite good, and there are a few good twists in there too, but I think that my main problem with the books was the dialogue. There were a few scenes which were just pretty shit, and a few things that really irritated me for no particular reason. For example, there are multiple references to how the protagonist interprets and is very familiar with the gestures of another key character. The sheer repetition of this, along with the fact that he keeps calling her “kiddo” just didn’t work for me.

I think my basic summary would be that the author is great at coming up with complex stories, but could maybe do with some help on the characters and the actual transmission of the story into a book. I'd certainly agree with Anery's comment above. I’ve heard that a film is in the pipeline of at least the first book (probably the best of the 4, but you’d really have to read all of them), and if it was made in a style true to the books, it will come out distinctly cheesy. By the end, it had moved away from what I thought were the main questions to be answered, and left too many things completely open. I don’t want to give too much away if anyone else is reading them, but you’ll see what I mean.

As an analogy to game reviews, it’s worth a sweep, but it’s not got much replay value. I enjoyed reading it at the time, but I’ll probably not bother reading it again.