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#1 |
The one true King of the human race, direct descendant of Adam and heir to the kings of old. "You owe me your fealty." The Tar Minyaturion
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: By the shores of cuivinien
Posts: 694
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Hyperion by Dan Simmons!!!!
The Hyperion series by Dan Simmons:
Your thoughts, impressions, interpretations on this fantastic series. Also thoughts on any of his books are welcome. Illium is also quite impressive.
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Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Ecclesiasticus 2:1-5 1 My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation... ...4 Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. 5 For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; |
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#2 |
The one true King of the human race, direct descendant of Adam and heir to the kings of old. "You owe me your fealty." The Tar Minyaturion
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: By the shores of cuivinien
Posts: 694
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I hope some of you guys have read hyperion, six views and no replies yet. If you haven't read this series, I strongly suggest you do, the matrix and the terminator has nothing on this book. The Shrike is one of the most terrifying antagonist I have ever read about.
However the themes are so familiar to the offer mentioned movies that I wouldn't be suprised that they all had the same source; god I hope not, I love Dan's work.
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Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Ecclesiasticus 2:1-5 1 My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation... ...4 Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. 5 For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; |
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#3 |
Advocatus Diaboli
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Reality
Posts: 3,767
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Awesome series!
I especially liked the first two, but the whole series was very creative and well-written (in a literary way) for a scifi book. Highly-recommended! ![]()
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Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever. |
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#4 |
the Shrike
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: San Francisco, CA <3
Posts: 10,647
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<- points to title.
Loved the first two books, the next two were a bit weak, IMO. But the first two were astounding. Loved how Hyperion gradually revealed each characters' stories, and journeys.
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"Binary solo! 0000001! 00000011! 0000001! 00000011!" ~ The Humans are Dead, Flight of the Conchords |
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#5 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium)
Posts: 14,363
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I read the first one but found no mention of there being a sequel, so I was not really impressed. The whole book is basically just a set-up with everybody's story why they're going -they're interesting enough, mind you- but IMO it all failed to deliver as you didn't learn what happened when they arrived, which seemed to me the more interesting part. I thought that was a bit cheap, promising much and delivering naught, and that while Hyperion was such a lauded book.
The only thing I found really interesting was the tree-ship and the notion of the time-tombs. When I learned there was another book, the story just didn't compell me enough to want to know what happened afterwards.
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We are not things. |
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#6 |
Advocatus Diaboli
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Reality
Posts: 3,767
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Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion should really be thought of as one book for the reasons you mentioned. Unfortunately, they were not released as such, and I can see how just reading the first would leave things quite incomplete.
The second book moves things along all together and wraps up just about everything the first one leaves open.
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Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever. |
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#7 | |||
An enigma in a conundrum
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 6,476
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Quote:
Editorial Reviews On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope--and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands. Quote:
Though 'Hyperion' is dependent upon its sequel and ends with a tooth-grinding cliff-hanger, it is in its way self-contained. 'Hyperion' is centered on the six pilgrims' tales, their pasts, the terrible needs which drive them to confront what is almost certain death--or worse. Each of the tales is written in a unique style, and each introduces a new element to bind the story as a whole. All are wrenching, even disturbing in their intensity, in their focus on the deepest possible of human suffering. Do not read this book if you're looking for a light, fun read. In fact, forget it. This book defies all expectations, serves up horrors that were hitherto unimaginable if you are even remotely sane. Dan Simmons is in this book exploring a world that has lost its soul and is decaying by inches. To underscore that decay, the tales focus on the underpinnings of humanity--death, love, parenthood, art--and twist them into the most horrific contortions possible. The tale of the cruciform, for example, investigates with terrifying clarity the possibility of there being a fate far, far worse than death. Quote:
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#8 |
Death of Mooters and [Entmoot] Internal Affairs
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 2,870
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I've read his Ilium and Olympos, and thought them fairly good. At least Ilium, Olympos didn't have the same intensity. Had some really interesting concepts, like the scholar caugth in the middle of a 're-enactment' of the Iliad.
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Fëanor - Innocence incarnated Still, Aikanáro 'till the Last battle. |
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#9 |
Enting
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Gondolin. in travian.it server5
Posts: 91
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I saw in Hyperion a different point. It is a work of art by itself, both in the literature sense and in the science fiction sense. Seven stories, all different, all terribly unexpected. It is somewhat like "the wizard of oz", but very different of course.
And in my opinion it is a book to itself, and no sequel was needed. It was beautiful as it ended. In my opinion, the two sequels are very different from the first, and much more main-stream science fiction. The first is the real masterpiece, maybe because it leaves completely to our imagination what happens when The Shrike appears. But that's just my opinion... ![]()
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The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day! What does "LOL" mean? |
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#10 | |
The one true King of the human race, direct descendant of Adam and heir to the kings of old. "You owe me your fealty." The Tar Minyaturion
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: By the shores of cuivinien
Posts: 694
|
Quote:
The savior of the universe, it was well done.
__________________
Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Ecclesiasticus 2:1-5 1 My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation... ...4 Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. 5 For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; |
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#11 |
The one true King of the human race, direct descendant of Adam and heir to the kings of old. "You owe me your fealty." The Tar Minyaturion
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: By the shores of cuivinien
Posts: 694
|
I have to say I disagree with the ultimate message of the story though, which is that we don't repeat we just die and go into oblivion, end of story.
We are infinate beings, and I think that the magnitude of the story illustrated this well. So that was a twist at the end that I did not expect. I was very desappointed.
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Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Ecclesiasticus 2:1-5 1 My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation... ...4 Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. 5 For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; |
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Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Dan Simmons' "Ilium" and "Olympos" | bropous | Fantasy and Sci-Fi Novels | 12 | 02-08-2011 08:53 PM |