#hyperion cantos

[virginiaoflykos]

What to read after Light Bringer? (Series similar to Red Rising)

August 2023 update!

Red Rising is my favorite series of all time, and since I first read it, I have sought series and books similar in both spirit and execution. Some of these recs are books I haven’t read personally, but have often come up in discussions with other users!

1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

Status: ongoing, expected 10 books in total, 4/10 out at the moment

Book 1: The Way of Kings. The Way of Kings takes place on the world of Roshar, where war is constantly being waged on the Shattered Plains, and the Highprinces of Alethkar fight to avenge a king that died many moons ago.

2. The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone

Status: finished, 6/6 books out.

Book 1 (in publication order): Three Parts Dead. Comprised of 6 standalone books set in the same universe, the Craft Sequence tells the tales of the city of Alt Coulumb. The city came out of the God Wars with one of its gods intact, Kos the Everburning. In return for the worship of his people, Kos provides heat and steam power to the citizens of Alt Coulumb; he is also the hub of a vast network of power relationships with other gods and god-like beings across the planet. Oh, and he has just died. If he isn’t revived in some form by the turn of the new moon, the city will descend into chaos and the finances of the globe will take a severe hit.

3. Hierarchy by James Islington

Status: ongoing, 1/3 planned books out

Book 1: The Will of the many. The Will of the Many tells the story of Vis, a young orphan who is adopted by one of the sociopolitical elites of the Hierarchy. Vis is tasked with entering a prestigious magical academy with one goal – ascend the ranks, figure out what the other major branches of the government are doing, and report back. However, that isn’t quite as easy as Vis or anyone else thought it was going to be…

4. Suneater by Christopher Ruocchio

Status: ongoing, 5/7 books out

Book 1: Empire of Silence. Hadrian is a man doomed to universal infamy after ordering the destruction of a sun to commit an unforgivable act of genocide. Told as a chronicle written by an older Hadrian, Empire of Silence details his earlier adventures and serves as an introduction to the characters and the setting.

5. Dune by Frank Herbert

Status: completed, 6/6 books out

Book 1: Dune. Set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or "spice", a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities.

6. The Expanse by James S A Corey

Status: completed, 9/9 books out

Book 1: Leviathan wakes. Set hundreds of years in the future, after mankind has colonized the solar system. A hardened detective and a rogue ship's captain come together for what starts as a missing young woman and evolves into a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.

7. The First Law by Joe Abercrombie

Status: completed. 3 books in the original trilogy + 3 standalone books + 3 books in the newest trilogy

Book 1: The Blade Itself. The story follows the fortunes and misfortunes of bad people who do the right thing, good people who do the wrong thing, stupid people who do the stupid thing and, well, pretty much any combination of the above. Survival is no mean feat, and at the end of the day, dumb luck might be more of an asset than any amount of planning, skill, or noble intention.

8. Cradle by Will Wight

Status: completed, 12/12 books out

Book 1: Unsouled. Lindon is Unsouled, forbidden to learn the sacred arts of his clan. When faced with a looming fate he cannot ignore, he must rise beyond anything he's ever known...and forge his own Path

9. Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons (one PB’s favorites)

Status: completed, 4/4 books out

Book 1: Hyperion. The story weaves the interlocking tales of a diverse group of travelers sent on a pilgrimage to the Time Tombs on Hyperion. The travelers have been sent by the Church of the Final Atonement, alternately known as the Shrike Church, and the Hegemony (the government of the human star systems) to make a request of the Shrike. As they progress in their journey, each of the pilgrims tells their tale.

[anathemafiction]

"... she had been prepared to open the front door of the house to the wolf while most of the family hid upstairs, safe behind locked doors. Only now the day had arrived, and wolves were coming in through every door and window. She almost smiled at the justice of it, at her ultimate foolishness in thinking that she could uncage chaos and then control it."

— Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion

[retroscifiart]

Art by Noriyoshi Ohrai for Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos

[thefoilguy]

Shrike from Hyperion Cantos - Aluminum Foil Sculpture

[cassowariess]

I love that when I go into the Hyperion Cantos tag there are two types of people:

Type A: "Oh god, the spiritual horror. This book has moved me to tears."

Type B: "I want to fuck the Shrike."

[leo-fie]

There aren't enough Dyson Trees in Science Fiction.

I can't believe Dan Simmon's Hyperion was the first time I heard of this concept.

It's a tree that's a space ship. A space ship that is a tree. It's the most delicious idea! Where is it?

It's called Dyson after Feeman J. Dyson, a mathematician and physicist, who also thought up the Dyson Sphere. A concept I'm sure many are familiar with. (There's also the O'Neill Cylinder, that colony thing at the end of Interstellar)

A Dyson Tree is a construct where a plant grows inside a comet or asteroid or something and produces it's own atmosphere. With a human crew it could easily be envisioned as a system where humans produce CO2 and the plant produces oxygen. Slap on some thrusters and you have a space ship. Some artificial gravity and you have a tree instead of a bush.

Tree houses! In space!

And it's not just some fancy scifi nonsense, oh no! An actual nerd thought of this!

[the-cosmic-creature]

im 100 pages into Hyperion by Dan Simmons, and holy shit the first part is an amazing piece of sci fi horror

[void-which-binds-ai]

How Hyperion's Shrike would look like as a female.

[haveyoureadthisscifibook]

vote YES if you have finished the entire book.

vote NO if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[stainlesssteellocust]

I thought I knew The Terror from somewhere

It’s based off an old Dan Simmons book!

Just imagine if AMC had picked up Hyperion instead

Tumblr would have been making old man yaoi out of Martin and Sad King Billy

or thirstposting over Brawne Lamia

if we ever got to Endymion it would be a shame bc it’s a bit of a downgrade, but on the plus-side we’d get posts saying “I want Rhadamanth Nemes to kick my teeth in. Sexually.”

you think Neil Gaiman’s ‘vore him with your pussy’ bit was sketch, wait until That One Scene with Kassad and Moneta

Just picture it. We could have sexualised the Shrike

[thisworldisablackhole]

Long time no see. I have been extremely distracted by video games lately. Helldivers 2 has consumed the past few weeks of my life, and I also just decided to take another stab at Elden Ring, so this book took me much longer than usual to get through

Hyperion's format of storytelling actually lends itself to longevity though, as it's essentially a collection of short stories. This worked out nicely for me because I didn't have to worry about forgetting any details after not touching the book for a few days in a row. To sum things up quickly, the stories are shared by a group of pilgrims who are travelling to the Time Tombs on Hyperion to request council with the Shrike; the mysterious Lord of Pain and/or bloodthirsty murderer who's intentions are unknown. All the citizens of the Web know is that the Shrike holds insurmountable power and secrets. That alone was enough to hook me in.

Each character takes turns sharing their backstory of why they decided to join this potentially fatal pilgrimage, and it is through these stories that the world of Dan Simmons' immense universe comes to life. Hyperion takes place in a distant future where Earth has been destroyed and humans have officially become an interstellar species. Almost every planet in the galaxy is not only inhabited, but connected by "farcaster" portals (a technology passed down to humans via the AI conduit) which makes access to these planets almost instantaneous. These planets are part of the "World Web", which is governed by the Hegemony (because of course the entire universe is going to be ruled by one totalitarian government). Hyperion is the only planet that sits outside of the Web, and it's incorporation into the Hegemony is highly debated due to the absolutely violent, maniacal God that roams it's plains.

Time is a very important aspect of this book. Not only are the Time Tombs themselves very central to the plot, but there is also the problem of time debt. To put it simply, people who often travel in space ships at a speed faster than light experience less time than those who don't. 9 months of space travel for one person could be 10 years of local time for their family back home. This makes the universe quite unique, because as citizens of the Web experience time at different speeds, the cultures and technologies of past and future begin to bleed together. The result is a book where the exact time period is really hard to pin down. Descriptions of 19th century peasants are contrasted by space ships and laser guns, and it gives the whole book a really special vibe that is equal parts confusing and exciting.

If I have one gripe with this book, it's with the inconsistency of the writing itself. Hyperion often shifts in and out of sci fi genius in one moment, and then eye roll inducing space opera pig fodder in the next. Some of the pilgrim's stories are really imaginative and unique, and then others read like something I would have written when I was 12. I don't fault Simmons for letting his inner child run rampant throughout the novel, but some of the romance and power fantasy action scenes were just a bit too shallow. Regardless, the world building is so fun that even the most shallow stories climax with intriguing information and a foreboding twist that will engage you further in the plot and make you feel more connected to the individual characters.

Overall I'd say this is an essential read simply due to the innovative ideas and masterful storytelling. It's genius is sometimes bogged down by adolescent fantasies, but it's not enough to detract from the central plot, which is definitely meaty enough on it's own to keep you engaged. From what I've been told, the second book doesn't follow the same format of storytelling, so I am really excited to jump into it. As much as I enjoyed getting to know the characters through their individual sub plots, I am looking forward to a more straight forward story arc. I must find out more about the Shrike.

4/5

[spacemiddenzz]

not funny didn’t laugh + you fell off + ratio + i’m impaling you on a chrome tree of thorns existing outside the constraints of time, causing you to be in unceasing agonizing pain eternally with no hope of death to release you

[bowelfly]

martin silenus and the shrike from the hyperion cantos, but as weevils

my piece for @bluedotjpeg a secret santa art trade on my discord

[apenitentialprayer]

The whole planet reeks of mysticism without revelation. To hell with it.

Fr. Paul Duré S.J. (Dan Simmons’s Hyperion, page 35)

[cassowariess]

Can't believe Hyperion has a 69 joke in it.

This book was written in the 80s.

[leo-fie]

Pater Hoyt: Let me tell you this tragic story of the slow death of my church, the desperation of believers to save it, the most terrifying trees, the dismissiveness of science for "unimportant" subjects, and a concept of immortality so gruesome it makes priests question the existence of god.

Sol Weintraub: Let me tell you about the slow death of my only child, about time and inevidability and being a parent, about having to witness your daughter wake up confused and frightened every single day and my powerlessness to help her. Let me tell you about the Binding of Isaac and my lifelong struggle to square this circle.

The Consul: Let me tell you about the doomed rebellion of a beautiful world and the death of it's ecosystem. About how interstellar travel and relative time separate people. About my lifelong struggle to fight my grandmothers fight to the detriment of my own person to the point where I do not even have a name.

Martin Silenus: Let me tell you about my incredibly long life and all the stuff I've lost. I lost earth, my family, my ability to speak. How I became unfathomably wealthy writing shitty pulp fiction. And how the one time I tried to build something it failed. About the work I could never finish.

Brawne Lamia: Let me tell you about our Robot Kings and how humanity is unable to stop whatever they are doing. About how everything you have been told about our history might be a lie. About corruption and murder in the highest office of our government. And about the cute twink I met, fell in love with, got pregnant from and then lost.

Het Masteen did not live to tell his story.

Fedmahn Kassad: Let me tell you about my incredibly hot secret girlfriend and about all the sex we had in detail!