Hey bookworms! A couple of corrections: First, I do know that it is Lois Bujold, not Louis. Sometimes it just isn't worth starting over because of a simple speaking error. Also, I realize I say "Featherstone" at the end instead of "Gladstone." My bad. I was talking to someone on the Discord about Preacher and got the names goofed up. Thanks!

Fall of Hyperion is easily one of the best pieces of sci fi ever written. The pay off is masterful and well earned.

Fall of Hyperion is almost as good as Hyperion but the structure/style of Hyperion is unbeatable. It's a tough act to follow but a very satisfying conclusion.

Just finished this book about an hour ago and absolutely loved it. I thought it was the perfect sequel

I understand your frustrations with the book. I think I understand the change in focus based on Simmons inspirations for the novels. Your star wars analogy was hilarious! I think the reason that I loved it so much was that I wasn't expecting the focus on the war and the technocore. I thought it was going to be a straight continuation with the main characters. To each their own, I guess.

I’m over half way through “The Fall of Hyperion” and I love it, can’t say it’s better or worse but am impressed with the expanding world building with this book and the revelations the pilgrims experience a d think it’s a great sequel 📚😷🙏

The Canterbury Tales structure of Hyperion was so cool to me as a teenager when I was initially read it. I don't think I ever finished the series, but I remember having a fantastic time reading the first one. I also had a small psychedelic phase in my mid 20's and I thought about the Shrike a lot.

For me, I can't think of Hyperion and Fall as two different books. Fall of Hyperion is simply a longer, 7th narrative POV that falls in with the same framework as the original book, I feel it simply zooms out into the current time rather than zooming in on the past. Not the least bit disappointing for me, love them both.

Interesting because for me the second book is so much more epic and mind blowing that it makes the first book in retrospect appear just like a nice little prequel story like with the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

I felt like this book fleshed out the universe created in Hyperion. We now knew the characters from Hyperion (except maybe Father Hoyt). So now we see the completion of their story and it's put in its fuller context. I think maybe the pilgrims' stories could have been completed in the first novel, and Gladstone and Severn could have been the second story, with references to the pilgrims. But that would have made the two books more standalone. Illium is good: I read it last summer. And I just finished rereading the next two novels in the Cantos. They really add a lot to the universe.

The Fall of Hyperion is like if the second half of the Lord of the Rings was told by the eyes of a random hobbit in the Shire: he does his own things and from time to time he hears what's going on with Sauron. Probably still good but it's just not what a reader wants.

goddamnit, been a while since I read those and now they'll have to back on the re-read list! Thanks Mike!

This really helped thank you, because I've literally just finished book 2 and i was so lost and confused for most of this book, so this explanation really helped me to understand this book better! ❤

yes I've been anticipating this!

Finally diving into book two today. I've been so nervous because I feel like you and I have similar feelings about a lot of books. So I'm hoping since I've set realistic expectations, I'll be able to enjoy it.

Great content! You are one of the best Booktubers. You have an excellent, funny personality and you know your books! Thank you for your hard work.💕

Thank you for another great review! I ended up liking this book but I did find it a bit jarring about the change from the first book. I ended up treating it like it wasn't much of a sequel but a completely separate story with sort of guest appearances by the main characters of the first.

Remember in in Hyperion when Martin started getting frustrated in how everyone started their story with a story about someone else? That's how The Hyperion Cantos is. It starts out with the story of the final pilgrimage, but that's not really what the overall story is about.

Can't wait to watch your video on Endymion and Rise of Endymion!

Thanks, great review.

Book one shows us 6 snippets of the magic system. I expected the end to be a reveal/twist/puzzle that ties it all together to beat the big bad. But he realized he was in a corner so ended it and went to another PoV.

The part when Sol handed Rachel off to the Shrike had me in literal tears. That “say yes, daddy”…. So tough.

Read The Fall of Hyperion by John Keats and then you will understand the structure of the second book - and why it's brilliant.

Yo, I literally just got the omnibus edition like a month ago! So psyched to read it now!

What is interesting is that the story structure for book two makes sense after reading The last 2 books. He is an interesting writer. I loved all the Books.

I really liked the book, but i think you are spot on in your review. I loved the expanding of the universe and the politics and the AI and all that jazz. In fact i enjoyed it so much so, i ranked Fall ahead of Hyperion when I read them back to back. I think if you are into the hardcore techno sci-fi, Fall will suit you well.

Mind kept blowing reading the end of the series. I still contemplate its implications often. Push through, it made me grow personally.

Loved both part 1 and 2 of Hyperion. Both really surprised me, and I liked them, but not for the reasons I thought I would. Both books were just so much weirder than I anticipated, but somehow I was still very thrilled and satisfied.

Finally, thank you for the review Mike, I enjoyed to hear your thoughts a lot. I agree with your opinion about the book, I enjoyed the story and the characters a lot. The new main character was hower not my favorite and I was also very confused about the conclusion. Thank you for the video

I’ve been waiting for this video! I loved both of these Hyperion books, but you’re not wrong. Definitely a strange choice/direction with M Severn. I too was a bit confused by the end of it.

thanks for putting into words what I've thought about this book since I read FoH last year. I enjoy the world Simmons created so much so I enjoyed the book for that, but I had the same frustrations as you. Stay with the group on Hyperion, less Severn and Hegemony higher-ups.

I always felt that the first book was a setup to something else. Then the second book really got into the underlining storyarcs and it really hooked me up. It is very intelligent writing and it all makes sense in the end, loved it. I actuallyy like the second book more because of that. Here we see things comming together and the story gets explained. I read the books twice and I REALLY loved them. To me it's not two books, it's one book. (my actual copy is one book) So yeah to me the strength of the series is the underlining storyarc, that is what is't all about. The pilgrim stories are a setup to something else.

Really interesting how you see the second book. For me the first book was basically just a setup for the second one and I loved every single page of the Fall of Hyperion and how it got just more and more nuts and I could not put it down for a second.

I'll tell you what, for as much as I loved this book as much as the first, I understand what you're saying and even agree with you. When I first started Fall of, (I read them back to back) it was jarring, I wasn't expecting to continue thru the eyes of that character. But I still rolled with it, and my love for the story comes from the world building and technocore and the world web. I loved all that shit. And the ENDING, like, the very end, I thought that was a jaw dropper. The only real bummer here is that you seem talked out of Endymion. Which is a shame, because not only did I enjoy it, but I feel like it's something that you would enjoy too. It's completely different from the first two, because it's picking up far into the future after the fall, but it's an adventure story, and a fellowship. Hell, one could even argue that it's a coming of age, considering how young the character is, and what she is put through. But hey, if you decide to do Ilium, I'll be right along side with ya (because I didn't read those yet). Great review, man, for real 👍

I enjoyed The Fall of Hyperion even more than Hyperion but they are quite different so I see why fans can be divided. I enjoyed the world building and the writing in Hyperion but I wanted more plot progression in the current timeline and to learn more about the Shrike and the Time Tombs. The Fall of Hyperion started a little slowly but once it got going it really delivered for me. The way it expanded on the TechnoCore, the Void Which Binds, the Ousters, and the Templar Brotherhood was all fascinating to me. I think it provided satisfying conclusions to each of the travelers' stories as well. Some of them hit me really hard. I didn't mind spending time with Gladstone and Severn. Gladstone was a fantastic character and her storyline connected the importance of the pilgrims to the rest of the universe, and Severn was a clever way to connect the two as well as continuing to weave the influence of Keats into the narrative. I understand that the Shrike confrontation wasn't entirely clear. I would have preferred something more concrete but that's not really the type of writer Simmons is. There are hints provided in Endymion and The Rise of Endymion but there's never a conclusive explanation. I enjoyed Endymion and The Rise of Endymion as well but they are quite separate. The main characters are different and the plot is new. The duologies are definitely Book 1A and 1B then 2A and 2B. If you loved Hyperion but didn't enjoy The Fall of Hyperion then you might not like the sequels because they get further away from what Hyperion was. However if you're open to something new then you might enjoy jumping back into that universe. Endymion is a great adventure with lots of world hopping. The Rise of Endymion is more philosophical and ethereal and might not be for everyone but sticks the landing if you're looking for that kind of thing.

Greetings! Writing here for a first time and I recently discovered your channel and enjoy your thoughts. I am nearing the end of "Fall of Hyperion" and I'm also confused not just with the narrative itself, but the method of storytelling, the approach of Dan Simmons. But the book is still amazing and I have to say, it is even written more beautifully in some moments than the original! I had the same feeling with God Emperor of Dune btw. While I was reading God Emperor I was sure that this is the greatest Dune book and its End really disappointed me. Then I realized that Heretics and Chapterhouse actually explain deeply what and why God Emperor ended that way. I guess Endymion will explain the same way. But despite those feelings, Hyperion and The Fall are a stunning experience. Need 50-60 pages to end The Fall. And I can't wait to start Endymion. I know it won't conquer my mind and heart as Dune, but still love Hyperion and have a total respect to Dan Simmons.

So, I finished this book like an hour ago. I haven't watched the video yet because I wanted to form my opinions beforehand. I figured I'd share them here first, then watch the video later and come back here to say what I think about what you said. I'm going to put my thoughts after watching the video here so the spoilers I gave are still the last part of the comment. AFTER WATCHING So, I agree with all the good by I acutally liked the structure, as I said before. I think saying that the main 7 are relegated to cameos is a bit unfair, since we do get a ton of chapters in from their perspective, and we do see almost everything, including a lot of stuff that was happening at the same time but in different places. I do agree that the final showdown with the Shrike was a let down, though. And a big one. BEFORE WATCHING First, I want to say that I really enjoyed the first almost 90% of the book. I was very interested in all storylines and I thought that Severn was a genius solution to the problem Dan Simmons would eventually come to when trying to tell all stories if he was sticking to one POV (which he did, technically). I loved the philosophical themes, the machinations (pun very much intended) of the Core, the whole cybrid deal and such. I loved all of this so much that at, like, 85% of the book, I was ready to give it 5 stars, a 10/10 grade and determine the first part of Hyperion Cantos (Hyperion + Fall of Hyperion) one of, if not the, best books I've read. And then 2 things happened. Spoilers ahead, folks. 1 - Brawne Lamia. What was that? Just a few chapters before, I was happy that Kassad hadn't bested the Shrike in a 1v1, because it wouldn't make sense to me, even with the skinsuit. And then she just flies and turns the Shrike into glass????? 2 - Johnny saving Rachel. I didn't really like him being able to just tell everyone what to do and avoid an even bigger catastrophe, but it was fine to me because it was somewhat prepared through the whole book. First, he could see stuff that was happening to everyone when he dreamed. Then, he was able to summon the visions while awake. Later, he could communicate as well. Ok, fine. But releasing the Erg, merging with it, taking Rachel from the Shrike's arms while conveniently he couldn't fight back was too much to me. Aside from these to 2 things, I really liked the book. I'd give it a 9/10 or 4 to 4.5 stars, I think

I just finished Fall of Hyperion a few days ago and I loved it! Not as much as book 1, which was a masterpiece, but I still rate it very highly. That said I completely understand all of your criticisms. I had a very similar reaction as I started reading it, I just wanted to focus on Hyperion and th Time Tombs! Over the course of the book however Dan Simmons won me over with these new developments and I got very sucked in. I was also a little lost on the ending, like I think I kind of get? Maybe? not sure... There were a few other things that didn't quite live up to my expectations but overall I was quite satisfied in the way things unraveled. All in all great review Mike!

I just finished Fall of Hyperion & was surprised by all the mixed reviews. I actually enjoyed the rantings of the new Keats cybrid. His omniscience felt unearned but i did enjoy seeing the downfall of humanity from an all seeing perspective. A lot of people said in reviews they skimmed over techno core stuff which i think leads to a lot of confusion on the ending. I would not recommend reading this if you do not like techno future babble( i could listen to that origin world AI spit out nonsense about humanity all day). The final chapters were a let down though no matter how much you understand. I'm ok with the resolution but it felt like we skipped over some unknown final scene or battle. Trying to pump myself up to read the next 2 books as i understand they are not about the main cast all.....no Martin Silenus :(

Hey Mike! I have been following you for quite some time and read what you recommend. So I picked up this series. I was surprised at your review…when you read the book as a whole it has one theme and blends perfectly well. And its not the Shrike. Its not disjointed at all but brilliantly put together as a story about the human race as a species. The main character doesn’t shift to Keats but the possibility that humankind had lost itself in its creation of AI. To think this was written in what..the 90’s can be seen as almost prophetic. Give it another read my friend!

I really enjoyed the book I love the world building that went on, that really hooked me. Overall I think the first half was a little bit of a struggle to get through but about half way through it really hit a stride and I enjoyed the back half more.

I loved this book even more than the first one, but I get your complains. I was a little confused with the book starting in 1st person, and had to figure out who was this guy keept me intreging and it shocked me when it's finally revealed at the second chapter. I love how this book manages to tell this huge story with more than eight points of view, one of them in 1st person, some times with the narration in present and others in past, and it always feels amazing. Like you said things starts to getting messy at the beggining, so it was a nonstop read, each chapter suprised me more and i was so invested with this fascinating characters and how it was narrated. I understand why you didn't like that thing at the ended, but I fell it will be resolved in the next books, and there's a scene in the book where characters talk about a Deux ex Machina and it fells so... inteligent? my god Simmons know what he's doing.

Mike, I appreciate that you make it clear that these reviews are your opinion and you don't discourage anyone from reading them and you make that clear too. It just feels like a lot of book reviewers don't make that clear and I genuinely appreciate that.

In my mind, The Fall Of Hyperion is more about Severn and his connection to John Keats. How he and Brawne are the parents of The One Who Teaches. Especially after the last few paragraphs, it seems to point you in the direction that the book was a prequel. If only Simmons had focused a book on The One Who Teaches.

I just finished with Fall of Hyperion and it automatically became my favourite Sci-Fi series of all time. There is no single weak character in the books, the dialogue is top notch. It has cyberpunk, it has somewhat gothic, Warhammer-esque elements; epic battles and giant spaceships that can obliterate entire planets. It is full of heartbreaking moments. It has The Shrike - one of the most terrifying creatures ever written; discussions on philosophy, religion and artificial intelligence. It's a story about friendship, sacrifice, facing the impossible and so much more. It's so relevant that it feels as though it's written yesterday. For me, I liked the books more than Dune. Who cares about nitpicking when the book is just so good, once you immerse yourself completely in it. Not reading the two Hyperion books is like being a Fantasy fan and not reading The Lord Of The RIngs.

Late to the party. I just finished Fall of Hyperion earlier today. I must say, joy it. I do understand why it is you didnt care for it as much. It is an extremely valid point Mike. Like you said, there is a difference between not liking something and not appreciating the talent. I did not view your review as being negative

Please read the two Endymion books. They’re directly related to Hyperion.

Mike, I totally agree with you here. When I finished "The Fall of Hyperion" two days ago, I was unsure how I felt. The book has great things, mainly the worldbuilding and the final twists in the Hegemony x Ousters x TechnoCore war. Dan Simmons's prose is excellent, the character work is great, and the plot, in general, keeps getting more interesting with every page turn. However, a lot of stuff is also set up but never pays off (or does it poorly). A lot of things don't seem to go anywhere. There are plenty of moments in the book that I don't know why they are there. Many answers are left unanswered, and although part of them seems to be deliberately a mystery and that's ok, many more were intrinsic to the main plot and were still badly explained if explained at all. The third act alone, however exciting, felt very rushed and left many things badly concluded. I'm still going to read Endymion and finish the series sooner or later, but I can't escape the disappointment regarding "The Fall of Hyperion".

I am a big fan of Simmons horror novels and loved Hyperion when I read in the 2000s but i never jived with Fall. I always felt like I should go back and complete Fall because imma be heard good stuff about the Endymion books

Very well articulated criticism. I agree with your take on the problems with the book's narrative structure. That being said, I really think you should take a look at Endymion. You might be positively surprised, especially as regards character work.

Just finished it for a third time. I do enjoy it but totally get what you are saying...I feel much the same way, and I absolutely recommend Endimyon. Slow intro, but that is ok. I feel it is a step between the first two books.

I loved all the books. Each one is a little different at the start and you have to get your barrings on the universe again. Then it starts expanding the Universe even more.

Having read all of the Hyperion Cantos, I really think you should finish Endymion/Rise of Endymion. There are some truly amazing parts of those books, and while I wasn't a huge fan of Fall of Hyperion, I thought that it redeemed itself in the end(ymion).

The first and third books are my favorites. I think you'd like Endymion a lot, but, unfortunately, none of the books are as tight as the first one. They're not bad, though, and have amazing ideas & concepts.

I almost didn’t want to read this book bc of Mikes reaction, but then I remembered this is the same guy who doesn’t like the Name of the Wind. I’ll give it a try

It reminds me of my own reaction to the duology (I did however continued on with Endymion). I read it in the early 90s and halfway through the first volume I got excited to the point it felt to me like I might finally have found something that might resonate with me as strongly as Dune did, but I also thought the second book didn’t live up to my expectations and the series fell down a few pegs in my mind, to the level of some the lesser known Herbert sequences like Pandora. The Endymion books are very different, I sort of enjoyed them. I’m not sure I’d pick Ilium. It’s a good showcase of Simmons’s vast literary culture and writing skills but I mostly remember it for being a bit tedious. And ultimately that may sum my thoughts about Hyperion. I have an excellent memory and books stay with me for a very long time. I’m finishing a reread of The Stand and I’m realizing as I go that some moments and scenes have stayed with me for almost 40 years now. I do have some memories of Hyperion that I recognized listening to your review of book 1, but your review of Fall didn’t trigger anything specific, and I’m even vaguer on Endymion. That basically all faded over time, which isn’t a great sign with me. Your enthusiastic review of Hyperion sort of made me want to reread it one day. We’ll see. The TBR slate is full for now.

Hey man, if you see this, can you let me know what you mic set up is? Audio is great on your videos.

Now I wanna read it...you make me want to read this one ☝️😂😂

Good review. I think I liked it more than you but it's definitely a strange follow up to the first book. Doesn't really follow smoothly in tone or structure, but still a lot of great moments and he certainly created a fascinating world. Feels like a rather disjointed pair of books. Still, the first one was god tier, and I thought 'Fall' was solid enough to keep me engaged.

My favorite Dan Simmons book is Summer of Night…especially if you’re a big fan of Stephen King’s It!

This is another series I have in my kindle. I’ll get to it…….at some point

I had mixed feelings about "The Fall of Hyperion". The first book was Simmons laying out all the ingredients, the sequel was him stuffing all the ingredients into a blender and turning it on high. I liked the fast paced narrative, with very few dull moments. The chaos of the story structure made for an engaging ride as the story spins from sub-plot to sub-plot like a tornado, but the way it was written also created some confusion for me. One thing I can say for sure if that whatever predictions you had for the second book after reading the first, they will be wrong. "The Fall..." did a lot of interesting exploration of a range of sci-fi ideas. One aspect that seems relevant to the world of 2023 is the idea of sentient AI forming a plot to wipe out humanity. The book also covers mind-machine interfaces, time travel, technological dependence, and virtual space. I'll admit though, having recently read William Gibson's "Neuromancer" and Philip K Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", some of the concepts seem a little derivative. Overall worth reading, even though a lot of it didn't really gel together very well, especially Kassad's story, and Rachel's as well. I read "The Fall..." about nine months after the original, I would recommend reading them closer together. Also, I read "Fall" over a period of six weeks in short sittings while I was busy, I would recommend reading it when you have time to focus in for long periods of time, there is a lot to keep track of that can get lost in between sessions.

I won't say 'gimmick' because that's too dismissive, but I always felt the first one was better as a collection of short stories, but somewhat unsatisfying as a novel. I enjoyed the stories immensely though, especially how each one was sort of a love letter to a different time in sci-fi fiction. The second one is... less any of those things.

Best t-shirt yet + a Lobot reference! Children of the 70’s unite!

Please read Fall of Hyperion and the Endymion series too. It will complete the series. Also please read the Ilium series too!!

I finished two days ago, I understand what you find frustating but I still like it a lot. The only thing that frustated me was the shrike part...it was totally a letdown.

I am now 1/3 into the 4th book and it seems to me like the books follow Martin’s work a bit. 1st amazing book that tells the stories that get you hooked. 2nd one the followup that is more ambitious in its philosophy and religious symbolism, but less people appreciate. 3rd one, although don’t get me wrong I did like, seems like more stories from the universe you love, as were the Martin’s sequels. Yet to see how the 4th ties in.

I wouldn't pick Ilium over Endymion unless you're either a big fan of the Iliad and The Tempest or totally ignorant of them. I find one's milage with his post Cantos stuff depends on how engaging you find his source material/literary inspiration.

Totally agree. “Relegated to cameos” sums it up perfectly. Towards the last quarter of the book I think things got way too ridiculous, even for sci-fi. Especially concerning the Shrike. Still enjoyable enough tho

Have not gotten enough Lobot in the Expanded Universe ;) - but would never have increased his presence at the expense of Luke, Leia and Han.

I was trying hard to figure out your complaint about the narrator or narrative center. You've got a two-book story, and the first book is told by six different people, and now you cavil at adding a seventh? I think it comes with how long you went between reading the two books. By the time you read Fall, the six characters of Hyperion were cemented in your mind. If someone (like, say, me) were to read them back-to-back, then the sentimental value wouldn't latch on to just the six, but would continue unbroken into the second book. Just a thought.

Oh cmoon, I really liked the characters from the first book and the first book absolutely hooked me. Why?? Why??? I hate the idea of seeing glimpses of the pilgrims through someone elses dreams.

Hyperion style is The Canterbury Tales.

I’m definitely down to read the first book but the second one I’m kinda iffy on.

This feels like I how I felt about the sequel to alien. Good movie on its own, but not what I wanted from a sequel to the first. Although I feel like that’s an uncommon opinion

I'm halfway through FoH and am close to DNFing as the structure is such a huge step away from Hyperion (which I absolutely loved.) There are too many trippy sequences which I'm not a big fan of as they come across as self indulgent and pretentious. I'm sticking with it as I've heard the ending is satisfying.

Are you saying this didnt go in the direction you were hoping for?

When’s the third age of madness review coming 🤔

Fall of Hyperion was suck a different take than Hyperion. With how good book 1 was, book 2 would have a hard time living up to the high standards set before it. I liked it, but it didn't go in the direction I was expecting. I will get to book 3 when I can, and I hope things pick back up.

Felt that Hyperion was a Sci-Fi book with a focus on deep character development. Fall of Hyperion was a Sci-Fi book with a deep focus on Sci-Fi. Enjoyed both very much but the story telling from the 1st book was my favorite part of the series.

Sadly I have to agree. The ending was quite disappointing in my opinion, especially the confrontation with the shrike and lack of explanations. Still enjoyed the book overall but the last few chapters really failed to stick the landing.

Agreed this book just seemed odd compared to the first one and was not nearly as satisfying. Mainly because it just kept reminding me of the later books in the Dune series. But will finish off at some point. Just didn't grab me enough to binge through.

*shrike cultists* 🤪 yessssss. Btw, you're gonna really DIG Ilium. Hopefully you'll review it but one can also understand if you stop here with the let down of the Fall of Hyperion. After watching this review, my forgotten angst was reignited. watching you talk about your disappointment was like me looking in the mirror years ago.

Well, I'm pretty character driven. But I'll give this series a try eventually I guess.

I reallly liked this book, I think I was even more engaged than with the first one which I thought unbeatable. Thr only thing that pissed me were two continuity mistakes (or were they three?). Beta readers should have been more alert

A fair review. Hyperion towers over the second book as it towers over almost everything else in the genre and in fairness, Simmons wanted it to be one long tale. The Endymion books are not a must-read, I like them more than most, but the last book is 200 pages too long and he loses his way. I recommend his “Carrion Comfort” one of the greatest horror books ever written and a favorite of your guy Mr. King.

I was also not a fan of the narrative structure, but it actually had the opposite effect. I kinda grew disinterested in most of what the Hyperion gang was up to, with the exception of a couple of instances, and mostly interested in the broader political story. Like much of what the gang was up to felt like inconsequential and fillery (despite loving their stories in book 1), and was taking attention away from the far more consequential and interesting broader story, and so I kept wanting to go back to the pov storyline. All in all, the book was at least in part, an actual slog, which is in contrast with how gripping the first book was. PS. Also Jesus Christ the Keats stuff. I felt like he way overdid it.

I didn't enjoy Fall of Hyperion much. Looooooved the first one, but all the characterwork and set-up done in the first one is thrown away in Fall of Hyperion. It focuses on new characters and becomes a basic sci-fi story. Barely gives any significant time to the characters from the first one. It wasn't a bad book, but it was a bad sequel. Probably won't reread it or start any of the other sequels.

I couldn’t make it past the thugs trying to decide whether or not to kill the Consul in that silly accent of theirs. Had a tough time following the narrative structure in general.

Reading all four is worth it 110%. It is meant to be read in full. The Full Hyperion Cantos is the new bible of the future.

I also had my issues with "Fall of Hyperion", so was a bit reluctant to read the Endymion sequels. This was unfounded, because I ended up loving those books (with "Rise of Endymion", the 4th book, possibly my favorite of the whole series). So please give them a try. FOH is the weakest book in the series IMO.

Some of Simmons other books, especially horror, are excellent.

i liked the series better and better as it went along

Its very difficult to beat the best

Dan Simmons shouldn't be allowed to write long narratives, he always, ALWAYS loses focus and ruins the amazing potential of what he's doing when he has the room to do it. It's why I like Song of Kali the best, it's short enough that he can't go off the rails at all.

I was so eager to see your reaction to Fall Of Hyperion, since I knew you've been disappointed by it. Well, here comes my thoughts ;) 1) Comparison to Star Wars : Oops ! You're a little off with your comparison here. I'll explain you why (spoiler free !) A. The narrative of Fall Of Hyperion is coming through the eyes of a new character that BINDS the stories together. Staying spoiler free, I won't tell why, but still you should see it by now. 2) Narrative : It is a more of a story binding character, than a separating one. I understand very well your point of view, but to myself it made it more of a page turner in order to get more of the pilgrims, than a set down. Yup ! I remember of being annoyed at some point, but never at the point of saying that I didn't like it anymore. 3) Final fight : Dan Simmons also lives by this leitmotiv : don't feed the reader as if they were dumb, and show them absolutely everything : let them guess and question their thoughts. Well, I understand that it feels uncomplete, or quite unfinished/unfocus. You are right : there are some answers in the other books, but I think he really wanted it that way. The narrative can't know everything, so we have to do with the narrative spectrum available. I think I had the same perception as you though, about this final fight also. Anyway ! 4) My conclusion to your reaction : I feel you ! That's too bad it annoyed you so much, because that's such a great universe. To me it's #1 SF of all time. Still, you have book #3 and #4 to redeem ;) 5) Endymion and Rise Of Endymion Don't expect it as Hyperion and Fall Of Hyperion near sequel !!! New characters, far from them. If I had to compare the switch between Hyperion/FOH vs Endymion/ROE, I'd compare it to Ender's Game. The switch between Ender's Game and its sequel is something. Well, expect that kind of switch. Always fun to hear you Mike ! Keep it going :)

I liked Hyperion FAR more than Dune or Ender's Game.

All of the philosophical monologues about God by Sol were incredibly shallow. The kind of things a child would say.

Yeah... the second book had some great twists and turns. Some of which I guessed others were more of a surprise and also very well done. But uhh.. bruh that ending was almost as anti climactic as the first book only slightly better. And this dude seriously ended the book with "somewhere over the rainbow".. (there is the prologue after but still, the ending before the prologue in the second book and the ending of the first book were both so cheesy... in the first one they just walk hand in hand to the sunset while singing some other song) SPOILERS Moneta being Rachel I guessed. But the book intentionally tries to mislead you in dumb ways. Lile Brawne sees Rachel / Moneta multiple times. But on the last time she recognizes her as Rachel first and then is like "omg it's Moneta"... bruh what? You've seen this chick before... Never made clear why Moneta turned into a metal creature while fng Kassad. And their "romance" is laughable... they have spoken like 3 minutes in total. All the rest was just them having sex or fighting with each other or others. But they are somehow madly in love .. ? Kassad's sacrifice is super anti climactic. Also at no point is it ever actually properly explained what Rachel's job is all in this. Like.how does she hold the shrike in check. Why would the creature listen to her or care? She's his enemy aftetall... The final battle is against thousands of shrikes and kassad dies. What even is the point of sending the shrike back? There is so kuch faux intellectual meandering. So many flawed religious nonsense. "Abraham wasn't sacrificing his son for God, he wasnt the one being teated, he was the one testing God to see if God would stop him from killing his son... which would prove God is worth being worshipped ... " That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And it's written as if it's this super deep theological concept. I HATE poetry. I hate poetry soo much and Simmons seems to love poetry. But the entire time I also get this feeling that he's very very bad at poetry. Which I might be wrong about since I don't know anything about poetry. But it was so annoying. Bro no your shtty poetry is not deep. Robots talking poetry is dumb. Why would the AI recreate Keats ffs. Another thing that was pretty obvious as soon as it became a thing, was that Brawnes half cybrid baby was the new Prophet. The God AI screamed by human.. uhh imagination was dumb. The whole concept of the AI God didn't make sense esp considering its motivations are completely unclear. Why would the machines use human brains as computing units. When the comlogs etc humans carry likely have more computing power. The AI creating cruciforms to keep a bunch of humans alive as living computers is kinds cool. But again makes little sense. Esp considering they want to wipe out 99.9% of humanity are the remaining slowly retarding cruciform humans enough? The web was more magic than tech. Like the AI are afraid to leave their place in the web when "their place" is literally all of the known web. Vut there is this secret ghost web you see and it's full of ... bears.. and tig.. yes.. yeah it's dumb AF. Like I get that it's kinda trying to capture the early cyberpunk style data highway stuff that you jack into and then fly through data super highways with data sky scrapers etc. But Simmons makes it into a jungle with data grass.. .uhh idk man I'm just tired at this point Also bro this guy had so little creativity in naming stuff. "The all thing" etc Also 'Cyberpuke' is legit the worst term I've ever heard. Just say cyberpunk you fk. If you want to pay homage to Gibson etc just say CYBERPUNK. Wtf is a cyberpuke. The sci fi gibberish he often used became too much. It felt like an early star trek script Man the book had some great twists and turns but there is so much wrong with it. Ah also fk your dumb tree ships bro. People legit hyped those things up as super imaginative. Man literally just decided a tree is a space ship And in the end, he's talking about what happens to all those worlds when the farcasters / spheres are destroyed. All the world's have stereotypical stuff lol. For new Meca he talks about "explosive martyrdom". For the other Muslim world he has Shiite radicals slaughter thr Sunnis and then create theocratic Iran in space, ruled by mollahs and all... "

I prefer Endymion to the fall of hyperion. The characters and story are better structured.