The Fall of Hyperion
by Dan Simmons
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Book Summary Information
Author: Dan SimmonsEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-03-01
ISBN: 0553288202
Number of pages: 528
Publisher: Spectra
Book Reviews of The Fall of Hyperion
Book Review: "Dreams are all that separate us from the machines."
Summary: 5 Stars
Beware the ghost in the machine, lest it be mankind's downfall. In this case, beware the TechnoCore of Dan Simmons' World Web, the human spawned web of artificial intelligences that dominates humankind. In the far future of 800 years from now, humans live in a web of planets interconnected by farcasters and instantaneous communication, created or allowed by the Core for mankind's convenience, or so it is thought. What a tangled web has been woven though. One would think by the year 2800 people would have learned the lesson that there is no such thing as a free lunch, but that is not so. The Core has its own agenda, hidden from everyone.
This book picks up where Hyperion left off, so the story of the pilgrims is continued, but there is far more to be revealed as Simmons delves deep into why the pilgrims are on Hyperion, what The Shrike is and its purpose, and what is the TechnoCore's deadly agenda. The figure of John Keats looms more ominously in this volume, since his persona has now been "reincarnated" into another cybrid, Joseph Severn, the namesake of the real Keats' artist friend. The "Joseph Severn" cybrid becomes more and more like the real John Keats of 19th century England, to the point he becomes ill with tuberculosis and a friend is by his side to comfort him in his last moments, though this time the friend is Leigh Hunt, an aide to CEO Meina Gladstone, in another of Simmons' witty literary references. (The real Leigh Hunt was a poet friend of John Keats.) The way the Severn character is interwoven into the pilgrims' story is that he is connected to them via Brawne Lamia's data implant and is able to access her dreams and thoughts. The only weakness in this device is that Severn claims his images are fuzzy, but we get full details aplenty when the pilgrims' tales are told. The Keats character becomes increasingly more important to the story and to the survival of humankind, so it is no surprise that even as his physical body dies, his AI persona lives. "On he flared" is the last line of this book as well as Keats' poem "The Fall of Hyperion," a fitting ending.
The pilgrims' adventures become otherworldly, defying time and space, but Simmons has created such a place where everything that happens is believable. For example, Father Paul Dure, a peripheral character in the first novel, comes back to life in this one, and he travels the labyrinths of Hyperion to see horrors unimaginable only to exit on the Vatican's planet, Pacem, where he runs into Joseph Severn, of all people. None of it seems contrived or unbelievable. Brawne Lamia has some wild adventures of her own that transcend her physical body, Fedmahn Kassad finally finds his mystery lover, Sol Weintraub does not have to make the dread decision to sacrifice his daughter Rachel because that decision ends up not being his to make, Martin Silenus, the old Satyr himself, finds his muse again and literally cannot be torn away from it, and Het Masteen, as in the first book, plays an unfinished role. The story of the Ousters is elucidated and expanded on, so we get some wonderfully descriptive glimpses into their bizarre, alien world, but it becomes clear they are not the dreaded enemy once thought. The real war is against the TechnoCore, and when revelations are made as to what the Core has done, humans will not let it dominate them again.
As with Hyperion, Simmons writes masterfully with beautiful prose that sounds like poetry, full of color and light, metaphor, and literary allusions. This is a learned person's book, not a light read, yet one that is easily accessible without being haughty or abstruse. If you have read John Keats' poetry or know about his life, the book becomes richer. If you know about Teilhardian theology, Dure's philosophy and distress over his faith/lack of faith becomes more real. But if you have not had these intellectual experiences, you can still enjoy the book and learn much from it. Maybe this book will inspire you to pick up a book by Teilhard de Chardin or to read Keats' poems. Or maybe not, but that is your choice. Either way, this is one of the best science fiction books ever written, and must be viewed as the continuation of Hyperion, not as merely a sequel.
Summary of The Fall of Hyperion
In the stunning continuation of the epic adventure begun in Hyperion, Simmons returns us to a far future resplendent with drama and invention. Onthe world of Hyperion, the mysterious Time Tombs are opening. And the secrets they contain mean that nothing--nothing anywhere in the universe--will ever be the same.
The stunning continuation of the epic adventure begun in Hyperion. On the world of Hyperion the mysterious Time Tombs are opening. And the secrets they contain mean that nothing--nothing anywhere in the universe--will ever be the same.
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