Reviews

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

realtomato_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

the lord of pain awaits us all 

bgoldber88's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

mark_b's review against another edition

3.75

Hyperion is the name of the planet where a group of travelers are bound on a pilgrimage/quest that is the subject of the book. The story is told in the style of Canterbury Tales,  with each of the travelers telling their tale to the group. These tales make up the bulk of the book, and provide the backstory that makes the plot coherent. One of the travelers tells her tale in the style of a hard-boiled Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett detective story, which was amusing but also a little odd. The book ends on a strange note. I won’t spoil it here, but it wasn’t satisfying. There’s a sequel: I haven’t decided if I care enough to read it. 

cw_mck's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bibliobeccas_bookshelf's review against another edition

This is the worst book I've ever read, it was convoluted & painful to read. It is written in the format of 6 short stories outlining the history of each character and then poorly/loosely smooshed together at the end to serve the main plotline, but all of the dragged on and I simply did not care about a single one of these characters. There are so many things that I hate about this book that I have to dot point them because thinking about it too much infuriates me. 1. Every sci-fi trope you can think of is shoved into this book so forcefully and in such subpar manner that the majority of it does not add any value to the actual storyline 2. Lazy writing, adding a "sci-fi word" to a generic word 3. Poor writing skills, there is a literal sentence in the book "knowing that I was being careless and not caring" additionally there was multiple spelling errors 4. Personal peeve of an overly religious plot, ableism, xenophobia & general coloniser vibes. 5. This feels like it was an opportunity for someone to write down all their viterol and pass it off as "fantasy literature". I feel many people will argue that this is a reflection of the time the book was written but I am not a subscriber to that line of thinking. Many books written in this period can make their point without the needless bigotry that this author chose to include.

re2's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

thegreathailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

whatisjacobreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Some of the individuals stories are more interesting than others but all of them felt important and necessary.

Philosophical but not overtly so because so much of what it’s supposing must take place on another planet in the future. 

It was very interesting and I’m glad I don’t have to wait to read the conclusion, I don’t know how much better the second book will be because the reason the first was so exciting to me was it was a bunch of “heroes journey” storylines. But the book was so well written that I’m  expecting greatness for part 2. 

alghesny's review against another edition

5.0

And so my muse was found...
Despite the cheesy ending, the book was one hell of a journey. I loved the writing of Dan Simmons and particularly enjoyed the ethical, political, and existential "queries" he explored within the novel. Dan appeared to be well read and the way he incorporated cultural elements into his well-built world was nothing short of marvelous. I look forward to read the rest of the series

boborson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0