Today I’m doing a deep dive into one of Sci-Fi’s most well-known and beloved series, The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons. Please note that I will be referring to elements from the entire series, so beware of spoilers!
Among the many instalments of Sci-Fi epic, few have been as influential in recent years as Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos. For those who may not know, Simmons’ writing initially came into the limelight with he publication of his seminal work, The Song of Kali. Following the success of this work of horror fiction, Simmons ventured into several other literary genres, including Science Fiction.
Most famous among his sci-fi, the Hyperion Cantos is a far-reaching, ambitious epic tetralogy, or, more aptly described, “double duology”. This point is important, particularly when bearing in mind the narrative contours of the first two books in the series, which were originally written and intended by Simmons to be published as single massive book. The initial manuscript had in fact been so long that Simmons was asked to split the work into two (which he did). The vast length of the books was not the only place where Simmons’ distinctive writing style shines through in this series.
Another distinctive element of the Hyperion Cantos, particularly the first book Hyperion, is its careful blending and interweaving together of various Sci-Fi literary types, including: Hard Sci-Fi, Soft Sci-Fi, Space Opera, Cyberpunk, Time Travel, and Cyberpunk Noir. In this regard, it is very difficult to describe the Hyperion Cantos with a single generic sci-fi subtype designation. In addition to this, Simmons extensively draws from and builds on the modern classics of Sci-Fi, from the likes of Frank Herbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, and William Gibson. Simmons doesn’t limit generic references to Sci-Fi alone, the entire structure of Hyperion follows Geoffrey Chaucer’s classic Canterbury Tales, and more than one copy/clone/duplicate of poet John Keats plays a central role within the saga’s complex plot.
Moreover, Simmons is heavily indebted to several world religions for his world building. For example, the predominantly Buddhist planet, T’ien Shan (the Mountains of Heaven), plays a major role within the latter two books; Christianity plays an important role throughout the series; and Sol Weintraub’s Jewish understanding of Abraham and the Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22) are central to his character growth. Not to mention that the Church of the Shrike (or as the group prefers to identify: The Church of the Final Atonement) serves as an antagonistic New Religious Movement in the story. Setting aside several errors that Simmons makes in his descriptions of world religions within the books, his attempt to integrate spirituality, mythology, and classical literature into his novels is commendable.
The other thing I would like to mention in a general way before moving into the individual installments of the series is Simmons’ highly innovative and interesting use of point of view (POV). The books, especially Hyperion, frequently switch between multiple perspectives, giving you snapshot glimpses of a much more complicated whole, serving to weave together a vast and rich galaxy at the forefront of the series.
Hyperion (1989):
This is the flagship book in the series. For me, this was the strongest and most interesting entry in the series. As an academic, I was impressed with Simmons’ ability to copy the narrative framework from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, which recounts the journey of several pilgrims who each tell their stories preceding the pilgrimage. Hyperion adapts this format, with its seven featured pilgrims making their way to Hyperion to the Tomb Tombs. As each pilgrim proceeds to tell us their stories, the book switches to reflect their POV. This has the effect of reading like several shorter sci-fi novellas which have been stitched together within the broader narrative framework of the book.
Individual accounts within this book also delve into different generic types. Lenar Hoyt’s tale delves into cosmic horror, Fedmahn Kassad’s section reads like military sci-fi, Brawne Lamia’s reads like cyberpunk, etc. This creates an interesting ‘feeling’ while reading the first book since readers will each have their own preferences for generic type and, thus, will likely then prefer certain pilgrims’ tales over others. For my part, my favorite was probably Brawn Lamia’s, though both Lenar Hoyt’s and Sol Weintraub’s come in as close seconds.
Now the net effect of reading these six tales together (notably one of the seven pilgrims does not tell their story) is that it causes the reader to invest heavily in the principal characters within the book as they slowly make their way through space, and then on Hyperion to the Time Tombs. In spite of the massive length of the book, by the middle of the story I was extremely eager to proceed and discover what secrets the Time Tombs and its guardian, the enigmatic Shrike, held. However, the book ends off on a massive cliffhanger, and after reading several hundreds of pages, one feels almost as if the entire first book was simply a massive, yet highly entertaining, prologue.
Central to the series as a whole is the mysterious identity and purpose of the Shrike, a massive metallic being who largely serves as an antagonist to the heroes in the first book, but returns to help (seemingly) the protagonists in subsequent instalments. While portrayed as the guardian of the Time Tombs in Book one, the Shrike’s appearance is usually accompanied with horror tropes and descriptions.
The Fall of Hyperion (1990):
The second book picks up immediately after the end of the first, with the seven pilgrims having reached the valley of the Time Tombs, standing at the entrance. However, the POV switches to that of Joseph Severn, the second of two Joseph Keats cybrid clones. (Cybrids are basically entities with human bodies and A.I. minds in this series.) This book quickly ramps up into an epic space battle. The TechnoCore, a collection of A.I.s, is revealed to be the true and ultimate enemy of humanity, as opposed to the Ousters which were sort of Scapegoated in the previous instalment. Meina Gladstone, the supreme political leader of humanity, is forced to make a difficult decision to attempt to destroy the entire TechnoCore, but in such a way that will severely limit future human intergalactic travel, leaving much of human civilization across the galaxy isolated. Sometimes, when reading this book, it almost felt as if Simmons were attempting to write his own version of Frank Herber’s Butlerian Jihad (a robot-human war alluded to in Dune).
Endymion (1996):
Book 3 begins a new duology, picking up 274 years after Book 2. While several characters from the previous instalments return (including Martin Silenus, Lenar Hoyt, and Rachel), the book primarily focuses on Aenea, the daughter of Brawne Lamia and the first John Keats cybrid. The choice to jump forward in time was important for the series since it had been previously established in the first duology that Fedmahn Kassad had traveled into a apocalyptic future, leaving the reader wondering whether that dystopian future will come to pass or not (SPOILER: it both does and it doesn’t).
The Rise of Endymion (1997):
Book 4 concludes with the final confrontation between humanity (primarily in the form of the Pax and rebel factions), the Ousters, and the TechnoCore. The Shrike’s true identity is revealed. However, the explanation, at least in the opinion of this reader, remains rather enigmatic. Basically, it is a sort of A.I. fused with the remnants of Kassad’s personality that is sent back to the past. It is revealed that at certain points in the series, the Shrike had been under the control of the TechnoCore, while at other times it had been under the control of future humanity, while at other times it works semi-autonomously based on Kassad’s personality traits.
Thoughts on the Series as a Whole:
While I was initially excited while reading Book 1, the direction taken in Book 2 was a bit underwhelming. The most interesting elements from Book 1 were already lost within Book 2, particularly the attempt at following a medieval framework, the constant playing around with sci-fi sub-genres, and the masterful use of multiple POVs. Books 3 and 4 did pick up a bit and read almost like a classical fantasy quest or journey. However, the playing around with time and timelines within the second duology often muddles up the series as a whole, rendering portions of the first two books that formerly seemed clear on their own, now rather confusing. For my part then, I thought Hyperion was a masterwork of modern Sci-Fi, but the sequels were somewhat disappointing, going in very, very different directions from what had been established in Book 1.
That said, Simmons is known for his innovative use of genre and subversion of expectations. This is abundantly clear in his debut novel, The Song of Kali, so likely some of this shift of focus and narrative in Hyperion Cantos is deliberate. However, I found the final reveals of the identity of the Shrike unconvincing and confusing. I did find Aenea’s story to be quite interesting, but her identification as the One Who Teaches was strange and seemed to stretch the features of her character in bizarre directions that require a suspension of disbelief.
Anyways, that’s all for now.
Time for me to Farcast out of here!